"There  must  be  life  in  him  yet,  sir— nigger  as  he  is." 

— The  Sea  Lions,  page  334. 


THE  SEA  LIONS 


OR 


THE    LOST    SEALERS 


BY 

J.   FENIMORE    COOPER 


'Daughter  of  Faith,  awake,  arise,  illume 
The  dread  unknown,  the  chaos  of  the  tomb 
Melt,  and  dispel,  ye  spectre  doubts  that  roll 
Cimmerian  darkness  o'er  the  parting  soul " 

CAMPBELL 


NEW  YORK 
JOHN   W.   LOVELL   COMPANY 

150  WORTH  STRKET,  CORNER  MISSION  PLACE 


,  UC  Sama  Van  1885 


PREFACE. 


IF  anything  connected  with  the  hardness  of  the  human 
heart  could  surprise  us,  it  surely  would  be  the  indifference 
with  which  men  live  on,  engrossed  by  their  worldly  ob- 
jects, amid  the  sublime  natural  phenomena  that  so  elo- 
quently and  unceasingly  speak  to  their  imaginations, 
affections,  and  judgments.  So  completely  is  the  existence 
of  the  individual  concentrated  in  self,  and  so  regardless 
does  he  get  to  be  of  all  without  that  contracted  circle, 
that  it  does  not  probably  happen  to  one  man  in  ten  thai: 
his  thoughts  are  drawn  aside  from  this  intense  study  of 
his  own  immediate  wants,  wishes,  and  plans,  even  once  in 
the  twenty-four  hours,  to  contemplate  the  majesty,  mercy, 
truth,  and  justice  of  the  Divine  Being  that  has  set  him,  as 
an  atom,  amid  the  myriads  of  the  hosts  of  heaven  and 
earth. 

The  physical  marvels  of  the  universe  produce  little  more 
reflection  than  the  profoundest  moral  truths.  A  million 
of  eyes  shall  pass  over  the  firmament  on  a  cloudless  night, 
and  not  a  hundred  minds  shall  be  filled  with  a  proper 
sense  of  the  power  of  the  dread  Being  that  created  all  that 
is  there — not  a  hundred  hearts  glow  with  the  adoration 
that  such  an  appeal  to  the  senses  and  understanding  ought 
naturally  to  produce.  This  indifference,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, comes  of  familiarity  ;  the  things  that  we  so  constantly 
have  before  us  becoming  as  a  part  of  the  air  we  breathe, 
and  as  little  regarded. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  this  disposition  to  disregard 
the  Almighty  Hand,  as  it  is  so  plainly  visible  in  all  around 
us,  is  that  of  substituting  our  own  powers  in  its  stead.  In 
this  period  of  the  world,"  in  enlightened  countries,  and  in 
the  absence  of  direct  idolatry,  few  men  are  so  hardy  as  to 
deny  the  existence  and  might  of  a  Supreme  Being  ;  but, 
this  fact  admitted,  how  few  really  feel  that  profound  rev- 
erence for  him  that  the  nature  of  our  relations  justly 


4  PREFA  CE. 

demands  !  It  is  the  want  of  a  due  sense  of  humility,  and 
a  sad  misconception  of  what  we  are,  and  for  what  we 
were  created,  that  misleads  us  in  the  due  estimate  of  our 
own  insignificance,  as  compared  with  the  majesty  of 
God. 

Very  few  men  attain  enough  of  human  knowledge  to  be 
fully  aware  how  much  remains  to  be  learned,  and  of  that 
which  they  never  can  hope  to  acquire.  We  hear  a  great 
deal  of  god-like  minds,  and  of  the  far-reaching  faculties 
we  possess  ;  and  it  may  all  be  worthy  of  our  eulogiums, 
until  we  compare  ourselves  in  these,  as  in  other  particu- 
lars, with  Him  who  produced  them.  Then,  indeed,  the 
utter  insignificance  of  our  means  becomes  too  apparent  to 
admit  of  a  cavil.  We  know  that  we  are  born,  and  that  we 
die  ;  science  has  been  able  to  grapple  with  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  these  two  great  physical  facts,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  most  material  of  all — those  which  should  tell 
us  what  is  life,  and  what  is  death.  Something  that  we 
cannot  comprehend  lies  at  the  root  of  every  distinct  divis- 
ion of  natural  phenomena.  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and 
no  farther,  seems  to  be  imprinted  on  every  great  fact  of 
creation.  There  is  a  point  attained  in  each  and  all  of  our 
acquisitions,  where  a  mystery  that  no  human  mind  can 
can  takes  the  place  of  demonstration  and  conjecture.  This 
xnnt  may  lie  more  remote  with  some  intellects  than  with 
>thers  ;  but  it  exists  for  all,  arrests  the  inductions  of  all, 
conceals  all. 

We  are  aware  that  the  more  learned  among  those  who 
disbelieve  in  the  divinity  of  Christ  suppose  themselves 
to  be  sustained  by  written  authority,  contending  for  errors 
of  translation,  mistakes  and  misapprehensions  in  the 
ancient  texts.  Nevertheless,  we  are  inclined  to  think 
that  nine-tenths  of  those  who  refuse  the  old  and  accept 
the  new  opinion,  do  so  for  a  motive  no  better  than  a  dis- 
inclination to  believe  that  which  they  cannot  comprehend. 
This  pride  of  reason  is  one  of  the  most  insinuating  of  our 
foibles,  and  is  to  be  watched  as  a  most  potent  enemy. 

How  completely  and  philosophically  does  the  venerable 
Christian  creed  embrace  and  modify  all  these  workings  of 
the  heart  !  We  say  philosophically,  for  it  were  not  possi- 
ble for  mind  to  give  a  juster  analysis  of  the  whole  subject 
than  St.  Paul's  most  comprehensive  but  brief  definition 
of  Faith.  It  is  this  Faith  which  forms  the  mighty  feature 
of  the  church  on  earth.  It  equalizes  capacities,  conditions, 
means,  and  ends,  holding  out  the  same  encouragement 


PREFACE.  5 

and  hope  to  the  least,  as  to  the  most  gifted  of  the  race  ; 
counting  gifts  in  their  ordinary  and  more  secular  points 
of  view. 

It  is  when  health,  or  the  usual  means  of  success  aban- 
don us,  that  we  are  made  to  feel  how  totally  we  are  insuf- 
ficient for  the  achievement  of  even  our  own  purposes, 
much  less  to  qualify  us  to  reason  on  the  deep  mysteries 
that  conceal  the  beginning  and  the  end.  It  has  often  been 
said  that  the  most  successful  leaders  of  their  fellow-men 
have  had  the  clearest  views  of  their  own  insufficiency  to 
attend  their  own  objects.  If  Napoleon  ever  said,  as  has 
been  attributed  to  him,  " Je  propose  et je  dispose"  it  must 
have  been  in  one  of  those  fleeting  moments  in  which  suc- 
cess blinded  him  to  the  fact  of  his  own  insufficiency.  No 
man  had  a  deeper  reliance  on  fortune,  cast  the  result  of 
great  events  on  the  decrees  of  fate,  or  more  anxiously 
watched  the  rising  and  setting  of  what  he  called  his 
"  star."  This  was  a  faith  that  could  lead  to  no  good  ;  but 
it  clearly  denoted  how  far  the  boldest  designs,  the  most 
ample  means,  and  the  most  vaulting  ambition,  fall  short 
of  giving  that  sublime  consciousness  of  power  and  its 
fruits  that  distinguish  the  reign  of  Omnipotence. 

In  this  book  the  design  has  been  to  portray  man  on  a 
novel  field  of  action,  and  to  exhibit  his  dependence  on  the 
hand  that  does  not  suffer  a  sparrow  to  fall  unheeded.  The 
recent  attempts  of  science,  which  employed  the  seamen  of 
the  four  greatest  maritime  states  of  Christendom,  made 
discoveries  that  have  rendered  the  polar  circles  much  more 
familiar  to  this  age  than  to  any  that  has  preceded  it,  so  far 
as  existing  records  show.  We  say  "existing  records;" 
for  there  is  much  reason  for  believing  that  the  ancients 
had  a  knowledge  of  our  hemisphere,  though  less  for  sup- 
posing that  they  ever  braved  the  dangers  of  the  high  lati- 
tudes. Many  are,  just  at  this  moment,  much  disposed  to 
believe  that  "  Ophir  "  was  on  this  continent ;  though  for 
a  reason  no  better  than  the  circumstance  of  the  recent 
discoveries  of  much  gold.  Such  savans  should  remember 
that  "  peacocks  "  came  from  ancient  Ophir.  If  this  be  in 
truth  that  land,  the  adventurers  of  Israel  caused  it  to  be 
denuded  of  that  bird  of  beautiful  plumage. 

Such  names  as  those  of  Parry,  Sabine,  Ross,  Franklin, 
Wilkes,  Hudson,  Ringgold,  &c.,  &c.,  with  those  of  divers 
gallant  Frenchmen  and  Russians,  command  our  most  pro- 
found respect  ;  for  no  battles  or  victories  can  redound 
more  to  the  credit  of  seamen  than  the  dangers  they  all  en- 


6  PREFA  CE. 

countered, 'and  tlie  conquests  they  have  all  achieved.  One 
of  those  named,  a  resolute  and  experienced  seaman,  it  is 
thought  must,  at  this  moment,  be  locked  in  the  frosts  of 
the  arctic  circle,  after  having  passed  half  a  life  in  the  en- 
deavor to  push  his  discoveries  into  those  remote  and  frozen 
regions.  He  bears  the  name  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  philosophers  of  this  country  ;  and  nature  has  stamped 
on  his  features — by  one  of  those  secret  laws  which  just  as 
much  baffle  our  means  of  comprehension,  as  the  greatest 
of  all  our  mysteries,  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God — a 
resemblance  that,  of  itself,  would  go  to  show  that  they  are 
of  the  same  race.  Any  one  who  has  ever  seen  this  impris- 
oned navigator,  and  who  is  familiar  with  the  countenances 
of  the  men  of  the  same  name  who  are  to  be  found  in  num- 
bers amongst  ourselves,  must  be  struck  with  a  likeness 
that  lies  as  much  beyond  the  grasp  of  that  reason  of  which 
we  are  so  proud,  as  the  sublimest  facts  taught  by  induc- 
tion, science,  or  revelation.  Parties  are,  at  this  moment, 
out  in  search  of  him  and  his  followers  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Providence  which  has  so  singularly  attem- 
per s. '  the  different  circles  and  zones  of  our  globe,  placing 
this  turner  a  burning  sun,  and  that  beneath  enduring  frosts, 
will  have  included  in  its  divine  forethought  a  sufficient  care 
for  these  bold  wanderers  to  restore  them,  unharmed,  to 
their  friends  and  country.  In  a  contrary  event,  their 
names  must  be  transmitted  to  posterity  as  the  victims  to  a 
laudable  desire  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  human  knowledge, 
and  with  it,  we  trust,  to  increase  the  glory  due  to  God. 


THE    SEA    LIONS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"When  that's  gone, 

He  shall  drink  naught  but  brine." — Tempest. 

WHILE  there  is  less  of  that  high  polish  in  America  that 
is  obtained  by  long  intercourse  with  the  great  world,  than 
is  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  European  country,  there  is 
much  less  positive  rusticity  also.  There,  the  extremes  of 
society  are  widely  separated,  repelling  rather  than  attract- 
ing each  other  ;  while  among  ourselves,  the  tendency  is  to 
gravitate  toward  a  common  centre.  Thus  it  is,  that  all 
things  in  America  become  subject  to  a  mean  law  that  is 
productive  of  a  mediocrity  which  is  probably  much  above 
the  average  of  that  of  most  nations  ;  possibly  of  all,  Eng- 
land excepted  ;  but  which  is  only  a  mediocrity  after  all. 
In  this  way,  excellence  in  nothing  is  justly  appreciated, 
nor  is  it  often  recognized  ;  and  the  suffrages  of  the  nation 
are  pretty  uniformly  bestowed  on  qualities  of  a  secondary 
class.  Numbers  have  sway,  and  it  is  as  impossible  to  resist 
them  in  deciding  on  merit  as  it  is  to  deny  their  power  in 
the  ballot-boxes  ;  time  alone,  with  its  great  curative  influ- 
ence, supplying  the  remedy  that  is  to  restore  the  public 
mind  to  a  healthful  state,  and  give  equally  to  the  pretender 
and  to  him  who  is  worthy  of  renown  his  proper  place  in 
the  pages  of  history. 

The  activity  of  American  life,  the  rapidity  and  cheap- 
ness of  intercourse,  and  the  migratory  habits  both  have  in- 
duced, leave  little  of  rusticity  and  local  character  in  any 
particular  sections  of  the  country.  Distinctions,  that  an 
acute  observer  may  detect,  do  certainly  exist  between  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  man,  between  the  Northerner  and 
the  Southerner,  the  Yankee  and  Middle  States'  man  ;  the 
Bostonian,  Manhattanese,  and  Philadelphian  ;  the  Tucka- 


8  THK    SKA    f.IO.YS. 

hoc  and  the  Cracker  ;  the  Buckeye  or  Wolverine,  and  the 
Jersey  Blue.  Nevertheless,  the  world  cannot  probably 
produce  another  instance  of  a  people  who  are  derived  from 
so  many  different  races,  and  who  occupy  so 'large  an  ex- 
tent of  country,  who  are  so  homogeneous  in  appearance, 
characters,  and  opinions.  There  is  no  question  that  the 
institutions  have  had  a  material  influence  in  producing 
this  uniformity,  while  they  have  unquestionably  lowered 
the  standard  to  which  opinion  is  submitted,  by  referring 
the  decisions  to  the  many,  instead  of  making  the  appeal  to 
the  few,  as  is  elsewhere  done.  Still,  the  direction  is  on- 
ward, and  though  it  may  take  time  to  carve  on  the  social 
column  of  America  that  graceful  and  ornamental  capita.! 
which  it  forms  the  just  boast  of  Europe  to  possess,  when 
the  task  shall  be  achieved,  the  work  will  stand  on  a  base 
so  broad  as  to  secure  its  upright  attitude  for  ages. 

Notwithstanding  the  general  character  of  identity  and 
homogeneity  that  so  strongly  marks  the  picture  of  Ameri- 
can society,  exceptions  are  to  be  met  with,  in  particular 
districts,  that  are  not  only  distinct  and  incontrovertible, 
but  which  are  so  peculiar  as  to  be  worthy  of  more  than  a 
passing  remark  in  our  delineations  of  national  customs. 
Our  present  purpose  leads  us  into  one  of  these  secluded 
districts,  and  it  may  be  well  to  commence  the  narrative  of 
certain  deeply  interesting  incidents  that  it  is  our  intention 
to  attempt  to  portray,  by  first  referring  to  the  place  and 
people  where  and  from  whom  the  principal  actors  in  our 
legend  had  their  origin. 

Every  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  map  of  America  knows 
the  position  and  general  form  of  the  two  islands  that  shel- 
ter the  well-known  harbor  of  the  great  emporium  of  the 
commerce  of  the  country.  These  islands  obtained  their 
narnes  from  the  Dutch,  who  called  them  Nassau  and 
Staten  ;  but  the  English,  with  little  respect  for  the  ancient 
house  whence  the  first  of  these  appellations  is  derived,  and 
consulting  only  the  homely  taste  which  leads  them  to  a 
practical  rather  than  to  a  poetical  nomenclature  in  all 
things,  have  since  virtually  dropped  the  name  of  Nassau, 
altogether  substituting  that  of  Long  Island  in  its  stead. 

Long  Island,  or  the  island  of  Nassau,  extends  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson  to  the  eastern  line  of  Connecticut  ; 
forming  a  sort  of  sea-wall  to  protect  the  whole  coast  of  the 
latter  little  territory  against  the  waves  of  the  broad  Atlan- 
tic. Three  of  the  oldest  New  York  counties,  as  their  names 
would  imply,  Kings,  Queens,  and  Suffolk,  are  on  this 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  g 

island.  Kings  was  originally  peopled  by  the  Dutch,  and 
still  possesses  as  many  names  derived  from  Holland  as  from 
England,  if  its  towns,  which  are  of  recent  origin,  be  taken 
from  the  account.  Queens  is  more  of  a  mixture,  having 
been  early  invaded  and  occupied  by  adventurers  from  the 
other  side  of  the  Sound ;  but  Suffolk,  which  contains 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  two-thirds  of  the  surface  of  the  whole 
island,  is  and  ever  has  been  in  possession  of  a  people  de- 
rived originally  from  the  Puritans  of  New  England.  Of 
these  three  counties,  Kings  is  much  the  smallest,  though, 
next  to  New  York  itself,  the  most  populous  county  in  the 
State  ;  a  circumstance  that  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  two 
suburban  offsets  of  the  great  emporium,  Brooklyn  and 
Williamsburg,  happen  to  stand  within  its  limits,  on  the 
waters  of  what  is  improperly  called  the  East  River  ;  an 
arm  of  the  sea  that  has  obtained  this  appellation  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Hudson,  which,  as  all  Manhattanese  well 
know,  is  as  often  called  the  North  River  as  by  its  proper 
name.  In  consequence  of  these  two  towns,  or  suburbs  of 
New  York,  one  of  which  contains  nearly  a  hundred  thou- 
sand souls,  while  the  other  must  be  drawing  on  toward 
twenty  thousand,  Kings  County  has  lost  all  it  ever  had  of 
peculiar  or  local  character.  The  same  is  true  of  Queens, 
though  in  a  diminished  degree  ;  but  Suffolk  remains  Suf- 
folk still,  and  it  is  with  Suffolk  alone  that  our  present 
legend  requires  us  to  deal.  Of  Suffolk,  then,  we  propose 
to  say  a  few  words  by  way  of  preparatory  explanation. 

Although  it  has  actually  more  sea-coast  than  all  the  rest 
of  New  York  united,  Suffolk  has  but  one  seaport  that  is 
ever  mentioned  beyond  the  limks  of  the  county  itself. .  Nor 
is  this  port  one  of  general  commerce,  its  shipping  being 
principally  employed  in  the  hardy  and  manly  occupation 
of  whaling.  As  a  whaling  town,  Sag  Harbor  is  the  third 
or  fourth  port  in  the  country,  and  maintains  something 
-like  that  rank  in  importance.  A  whaling  haven  is  nothing 
without  a  whaling  community.  Without  the  last  it  is 
almost  hopeless  to  look  for  success.  New  York  can,  and 
has  often  fitted  whalers  for  sea;  having  sought  officers  in 
the  regular  whaling  ports  ;  but  it  has  been  seldom  that  the 
enterprises  have  been  rewarded  with  such  returns  as  to 
induce  a  second  voyage  by  the  same  parties. 

It  is  as  indispensable  that  a  whaler  should  possess  a  cer- 
tain esprit  de  corps,  as  that  a  regiment,  or  a  ship  of  war, 
should  be  animated  by  its  proper  spirit.  In  the  whaling 
communities,  this  spirit  exists  to  an  extent  and  in  a  degree 


JO 


THE    SEA    LIONS. 


that  is  wonderful,  when  one  remembers  the  great  expan- 
sion of  tins  particular  branch  of  trade  within  the  last  five- 
and-twenty  years.  It  may  be  a  little  lessened  of  late,  but 
at  the  time  "of  which  we  are  writing,  or  about  the  yeai 
1820,  there  was  scarcely  an  individual  who  followed  this 
particular  calling  out  of  the  port  of  Sag  Harbor,  whose 
general  standing  on  board  ship  was  not  as  well  known  to 
all  the  women  and  girls  of  the  place  as  it  was  to  his  ship- 
mates. Success  in  taking  the  whale  was  a  thing  that  made 
itself  felt  in  every  fibre  of  the  prosperity  of  the  town  ;  and 
it  was  just  as  natural  that  the  single-minded  population  of 
that  part  of  Suffolk  should  regard  the  bold  and  skilful 
harpooner  or  lancer  with  favor,  as  it  is  for  the  belle  at  a 
watering-place  to  bestow  her  smiles  on  one  of  the  young 
heroes  of  Contreras  or  Cherubusco.  His  peculiar  merit, 
whether  with  the  oar,  lance,  or  harpoon,  is  bruited  about, 
as  well  as  the  number  of  whales  he  may  have  succeeded  in 
"making  fast  to,"  or  those  which  he  caused  to  "  spout 
blood."  It  is  true  that  the  great  extension  of  the  trade 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  by  drawing  so  many  from  a 
distance  into  its  pursuits,  has  in  a  degree  lessened  this  local 
interest  and  local  knowledge  of  character ;  but  at  the  time 
of  which  we  are  about  to  write  both  were  at  their  height, 
and  Nantucket  itself  had  not  more  of  this  "  intelligence 
office  "  .propensity,  or  more  of  the  true  whaling  esprit  de  corps, 
than  were  to  be  found  in  the  district  of  country  that  sur- 
rounded Sag  Harbor. 

Long  Island  forks  at  its  eastern'end,  and  may  be  said  to 
have  two  extremities.  One  of  these,  which  is  much  the 
shortest  of  the  two  legs  thus  formed,  goes  by  the  name  of 
Oyster  Pond  Point  ;  while  the  other,  that  stretches  much 
farther  in  the  direction  of  Block  Island,  is  the  well-known 
cape  called  Montauk.  Within  the  fork  lies  Shelter  Island, 
so  named  from  the  snug  berth  it  occupies.  Between  Shel- 
ter Island  and  the  longest  or  southern  prong  of  the  fork 
are  the  waters  which  compose  the  haven  of  Sag  Harbor — 
an  estuary  of  some  extent  ;  while  a  narrow  but  deep  arm 
of  the  sea  separates  this  island  from  the  northern  prong, 
that  terminates  at  Oyster  Pond. 

The  name  of  Oyster  Pond  Point  was  formerly  applied  to 
a  long,  low,  fertile,  and  pleasant  reach  of  land  that  extended 
several  miles  from  the  point  itself,  westward,  toward  the 
spot  where  the  two  prongs  of  the  fork  united.  It  was  not 
easy,  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century,  to  find 
a  more  secluded  spot  on  the  whole  island  than  Oyster  Pond. 


THE    SEA    LION'S.  Ix 

Recent  enterprises  have  ance  converted  it  into  the  ter. 
minus  of  a  railroad  ;  and  Greer.  Port,  once  called  Sterling, 
is  a  name  well  known  to  travellers  between  New  York  and 
Boston  ;  but  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  present  century  it 
seemed  just  as  likely  that  the  Santa  Casa  of  Loretta  should 
take  a  new  flight  and  descend  on  the  point,  as  that  the  im- 
provement that  has  actually  been  made  should  in  truth 
occur  at  that  out-of-the-way  place.  It  required,  indeed,  the 
keen  eye  of  a  railroad  projector  to  bring  this  spot  in  con- 
nection with  anything  ;  nor  could  it  be  done  without  hav- 
ing recourse  to  the  water  by  which  it  is  almost  surrounded. 
Using  the  last,  it  is  true,  means  have  been  found  to  place 
it  in  a  line  between  two  of  the  great  marts  of  the  country, 
and  thus  to  put  an  end  to  all  its  seclusion,  its  simplicity, 
its  peculiarities,  and  we  had  almost  said,  its  happiness. 

It  is  to  us  ever  a  painful  sight  to  see  the  rustic  virtues 
rudely  thrown  aside  by  the  intrusion  of  what  are  termed 
improvements.  A  railroad  is  certainly  a  capital  invention 
for  the  traveller,  but  it  maybe  questioned  if  it  is  of  any  other 
benefit  than  that  of  pecuniary  convenience  to  the  places 
through  which  it  passes.  How  many  delightful  hamlets, 
pleasant  villages,  and  even  tranquil  country  towns,  are  los- 
ing their  primitive  characters"  for  simplicity  and  content- 
ment by  the  passage  of  these  fiery  trains,  that  drag  after 
them  a  sort  of  bastard  elegance,  a  pretension  that  is  de- 
structive of  peace  of  mind,  and  an  uneasy  desire  in  all  who 
dwell  by  the  wayside  to  pry  into  the  mysteries  of  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  the  region  it  traverses ! 

We  are  writing  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  nineteen.  In  that  day  Oyster  Pond 
was,  in  one  of  the  best  acceptations  of  the  word,  a  rural 
district.  It  is  true  that  its  inhabitants  were  accustomed  to 
the  water,  and  to  the  sight  of  vessels,  from  the  two-decker 
to  the  little  shabby-looking  craft  that  brought  ashes  from 
town  to  meliorate  the  sandy  lands  of  Suffolk.  Only  five 
years  before  an  English  squadron  had  lain  in  Gardiner's 
Bay,  here  pronounced  "  Gar'ner's,"  watching  the  Race,  or 
eastern  outlet  of  the  Sound,  with  a  view  to  cut  off  the  trade 
and  annoy  their  enemy.  That  game  is  up  forever.  •  No 
hostile  squadron,  English,  French,  Dutch,  or  all  united,  will 
ever  again  blockade  an  American  port  for  any  serious  length 
of  time — the  young  Hercules  passing  too  rapidly  from  the 
gristle  into  the  bone  any  longer  to  suffer  antics  of  this  nat- 
ure to  be  played  in  front  of  his  cradle.  But  such  was  not 
his  condition  in  the  war  of  1813,  and  the  good  people  of 


12  THE    SEA,    7,/aV.V. 

Oyster  Pond  had  become  familiar  with  the  checkered  sides 
of  two-deck  ships,  and  the  venerable  and  beautiful  ensign 
of  Old  England,  as  it  floated  above  them. 

Nor  was  it  only  by  these  distant  views,  and  by  means  of 
hostilities,  that  the  good  folk  of  Oyster  Pond  were  ac- 
quainted with  vessels.  New  York  is  necessary  to  all  on 
the  coast,  both  as  a  market  and  as  a  place  to  procure  sup- 
plies ;  and  every  creek,  or  inlet,  or  basin,  of  any  sort, 
within  a  hundred  leagues  of  it,  is  sure  to  possess  one  01 
more  craft  that  ply  between  the  favorite  haven  and  the 
particular  spot  in  question.  Thus  was  it  with  Oyster  Pond. 
There  is  scarce  a  better  harbor  on  the  whole  American 
coast  than  that  which  the  narrow  arm  of  the  sea  that  di- 
vides the  point  from  Shelter  Island  presents  ;  and  even  in 
the  simple  times  of  which  we  are  writing  Sterling  had  its 
two  or  three  coasters,  such  as  ttrey  were.  But  the  true 
maritime  character  of  Oyster  Pond,  as  well  as  that  of  all 
Suffolk,  was  derived  from  the  whalers,  and  its  proper  nu- 
cleus was  across  the  estuary,  at  Sag  Harbor.  Thither  the 
youths  of  the  whole  region  resorted  for  employment,  and 
to  advance  their  fortunes,  and  generally  with  such  success 
as  is  apt  to  attend  enterprise,  industry,  and  daring,  when 
exercised  with  energy  in  a  pursuit  of  moderate  gains. 
None  became  rich  in  the  strict  signification  of  the  term, 
though  a  few  got  to  be  in  reasonably  affluent  circum- 
stances ;  many  were  placed  altogether  at  their  ease,  and 
more  were  made  humbly  comfortable.  A  farm  in  America 
is  well  enough  for  the  foundation  of  family  support,  but 
it  rarely  suffices  for  all  the  growing  wants  of  these  days  of 
indulgence,  and  of  a  desire  to  enjoy  so  much  of  that  which 
was  formerly  left  to  the  undisputed  possession  of  the  un- 
questionably rich.  A  farm,  with  a  few  hundreds  per  annum 
derived  from  other  sources,  makes  a  good  base  of  comfort  ; 
and  if  the  hundreds  are  converted  into  thousands,  your 
farmer  or  agriculturist  becomes  a  man  not  only  at  his  ease, 
but  a  proprietor  of  some  importance.  The  farms  on  Oys- 
ter Pond  were  neither  very  extensive,  nor  had  they  owners 
of  large  incomes  to  support  them  ;  on  the  contrary,  most 
of  them  were  made  to  support  their  owners  ;  a  thing  that 
is  possible,  even  in  America,  with  industry,  frugality,  and 
judgment.  In  order,  however,  that  the  names  of  places 
we  may  have  occasion  to  use  shall  be  understood,  it  may 
be  well  to  be  a  little  more  particular  in  our  preliminary 
explanation. 

The  reader  knows  that  we  are  now  writing  of  Suffolk 


THE    SEA    LION'S.  I3 

County,  Long  Island,  New  York.  Pie  also  knows  that  our 
opening  scene  is  to  be  on  the  shorter,  or  most  northern,  of 
the  two  prongs  of  that  fork  which  divides  the  eastern  end 
of  this  island,  giving  it  what  are  properly  two  capes.  The 
smallest  territorial  division  that  is  known  to  the  laws  of 
New  York,  in  rural  districts,  is  the  "  township,"  as  it  is 
called.  These  townships  are  usually  larger  than  the  Eng- 
lish parish,  corresponding-  more  properly  with  the  French 
canton.  They  vary,  however,  greatly  in  size,  some  con- 
taining as  much  as  a  hundred  square  miles,  which  is  the 
largest  size,  while  others  do  not  contain  more  than  a  tenth 
of  that  surface. 

The  township  in  "which  the  northern  prong,  or  point  of 
Long  Island,  lies,  is  named  Southold,  and  includes  not 
only  all  of  the  long,  low,  narrow  land  that  then  went  by 
the  common  names  of  Oyster  Pond,  Sterling,  etc.,  but 
several  islands  also  which  stretch  off  in  the  Sound,  as  well 
as  a  broader  piece  of  territory  near  Riverhead.  Oyster 
Pond,  which  is  the  portion  of  the  township  that  lies  on 
the  "  point,"  is,  or  was — for  we  write  of  a  remote  period  in 
the  galloping  history  of  the  State — only  a  part  of  Southold, 
and  probably  was  not  then  a  name  known  in  the  laws  at  all. 

W^  have  a  wish,  also,  that  this  name  should  be  pro- 
nounced properly.  It  is  not  called  Oyster  Pond,  as  the 
uninitiated  would  be  very  apt  to  get  it,  but  Oyster  Fund, 
the  last  word  having  a  sound  similar  to  that  of  the  cock- 
ney's "  pound  "  in  his  "two  pund  two."  This  discrepancy 
between  the  spelling  and  the  pronunciation  of  proper 
names  is  agreeable  to  vis,  for  it  shows  that  a  people  are 
not  put  in  leading-strings  by  pedagogues,  and  that  they 
make  use  of  their  owrn  in  their  own  way.  We  remember 
how  great  was  our  satisfaction  once,  on  entering  Holmes' 
Hole,  a  well-known  bay  in  this  very  vicinity,  in  our  youth, 
to  hear  a  boatman  call  the  port  "  Hum'ses  Hull."  It  is 
getting  to  be  so  rare  to  meet  with  an  American,  below  the 
higher  classes,  who  will  consent  to  cast  this  species  of  veil 
before  his  schoolday  acquisitions,  that  we  acknowledge  it 
gives  us  pleasure  to  hear  such  good,  homely,  old-fashioned 
English  as  "  Gar'ner's  Island,"  "  Hum'ses  Hull,"  and  "  Oys- 
ter Pund." 

This  plainness  of  speech  was  not  the  only  proof  of  the 
simplicity  of  former  days  that  was  to  be  found  in  Suffolk, 
in  the  first  quarter  of  the  century.  The  eastern  end  of 
Long  Island  lies  so  much  out  of  the  track  of  the  rest  of  the 
world,  that  even  the  new  railroad  cannot  make  much  inv 


I4  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

pression  on  its  inhabitants,  who  get  their  pigs  and  poultry, 
butter  and  eggs,  a  little  earlier  to  market  than  in  the  days 
of  the  stage-wagons,  it  is  true,  but  they  fortunately,  as  yet, 
bring  little  back  except  it  be  the  dross  that  sets  everything 
in  motion,  whether  it  be  by  rail,  or  through  the  sands,  in 
the  former  toilsome  mode. 

The  season,  at  the  precise  moment  when  we  desire  to 
take  the  reader  with  us  to  Oyster  Pond,  was  in  the  delight- 
ful month  of  September,  when  the  earlier  promises  of  the 
year  are  fast  maturing  into  performance.  Although  Suf- 
folk, as  a  whole,  can  scarcely  be  deemed  a  productive 
county,  being  generally  of  a  thin,  light  soil,  and  still  cov- 
ered with  a  growth  of  small  wood,  it  possesses,  neverthe- 
less, spots  of  exceeding  fertility.  A  considerable  portion 
of  the  northern  prong  of  the  fork  has  this  latter  character, 
and  Oyster  Pond  is  a  sort  of  garden  compared  with  much 
of  the  sterility  that  prevails  around  it.  Plain  but  respect- 
able dwellings,  with  numerous  out-buildings,  orchards,  and 
fruit-trees,  fences  carefully  preserved,  a  painstaking  til- 
lage, good  roads,  and  here  and  there  a  "meeting-house," 
gave  the  fork  an  air  of  rural  and  moral  beauty  that,  aided 
by  the  water  by  which  it  was  so  nearly  surrounded,  con- 
tributed greatly  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  so  dead  a^level. 
There  were  heights  in  view,  on  Shelter  Island,  and  bluffs 
toward  Riverhead,  which,  if  they  would  not  attract  much 
attention  in  Switzerland,  were  by  no  means  overlooked  in 
Suffolk.  In  a  word,  both  the  season  and  the  place  were 
charming,  though  most  of  the  flowers  had  already  faded  ; 
and  the  apple,  and  the  pear,  and  the  peach,  were  taking  the 
places  of  the  inviting  cherry.  Fruit  abounded,  notwith- 
standing the  close  vicinity  of  the  district  to  salt  water,  the 
airs  from  the  sea  being  broken,  or  somewhat  tempered,  by 
the  land  that  lay  to  the  southward. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  coasters  that  ply  between  the 
emporium  and  all  the  creeks  and  bays  of  the  Sound,  as 
well  as  of  the  numberless  rivers  that  find  an  outlet  for  their 
waters  between  Sandy  Hook  and  Rockaway.  Wharves  wrere 
constructed,  at  favorable  points,  inside  the  prong,  and  occa- 
sionally a  sloop  was  seen  at  them  loading  its  truck,  or  dis- 
charging its  ashes  or  street  manure  ;  the  latter  being  a 
very  common  return  cargo  for  a  Long  Island  coaster.  At 
one  wharf,  however,  now  lay  a  vessel  of  a  different  mould, 
and  one  which,  though  of  no  great  size,  was  manifestly  in- 
tended to  go  outside.  This  was  a  schooner  that  had  been 
recently  launched,  and  which  had  advanced  no  farther  in 


THE   SEA    LIONS  I$ 

its  first  equipment  than  to  get  in  its  two  principal*  spars, 
the  rigging  of  which  hung  suspended  over  the  mast-heads, 
in  readiness  to  be  "set  up"  for  the  first  time.  The  day 
being  Sunday,  work  was  suspended,  and  this  so  much  the 
more,  because  the  owner  of  the  vessel  was  a  certain  Deacon 
Pratt,  who  dwelt  in  a  house  within  half  a  mile  of  the  wharf, 
and  who  was  also  the  proprietor  of  three  several  parcels 
of  land  in  that  neighborhood,  each  of  which  had  its  own 
buildings  and  conveniences,  and  was  properly  enough  dig- 
nified with  the  name  of  a  farm.  To  be  sure,  neither  of 
these  farms  was  very  large,  their  acres  united  amounting 
to  but  little  more  than  two  hundred  ;  but,  owing  to  their 
condition,  the  native  richness  of  the  soil,  and  the  mode  of 
turning  them  to  account,  they  had  made  Deacon  Pratt  a 
warm  man  for  Suffolk. 

There  are  two  great  species  of  deacons  ;  for  we  suppose 
they  must  all  be  referred  to  the  same  genera.  One  species 
belong  to  the  priesthood,  and  become  priests  and  bishops  ; 
passing  away,  as  priests  and  bishops  are  apt  to  do,  with 
more  or  less  of  the  savor  of  godliness.  The  other  species 
are  purely  laymen,  and  are  sui  generis.  They  are,  ex-officio, 
the  most  pious  men  in  a  neighborhood,  as  they  sometimes 
are,  as  it  would  seem  to  us,  ex-officioy  also  the  most  grasping 
and  mercenary.  As  we  are  not  in  the  secrets  of  the  sects 
to  which  these  lay  deacons  belong,  we  shall  not  presume 
to  pronounce  whether  the  individual  is  elevated  to  the 
deaconate  because  he  is  prosperous,  in  a  worldly  sense,  or 
whether  the  prosperity  is  a  consequence  of  the  deaconate  ; 
but,  that  the  two  usually  go  together  is  quite  certain  ; 
which  being  the  cause,  and  which  the  effect,  we  leave  to 
wiser  heads  to  determine. 

Deacon  Pratt  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  A  tighter- 
fisted  sinner  did  not  exist  in  the  county  than  this  pious 
soul,  who  certainly  not  only  wore,  but  wore  out  the  "form 
of  godliness,"  while  he  was  devoted,  heart  and  hand,  to  the 
daily  increase  of  worldly  gear.  No  one  spoke  disparag- 
ingly of  the  deacon,  notwithstanding.  So  completely  had 
he  got  to  be  interwoven  with  the  church — "meeting,"  we 
ought  to  say— in  that  vicinity,  that  speaking  disparagingly 
of  him  would  have  appeared  like  assailing  Christianity.  It 
is  true,  that  many  an  unfortunate  fellow-citizen  in  Suffolk 
had  been  made  to  feel  how  close  was  the  gripe  of  his  hand, 
when  he  found  himself  in  its  grasp  ;  but  there  is  a  way  of 
practising  the  most  ruthless  extortion,  that  serves  not  only 
to  deceive  the  world,  but  which  would  really  seem  to  mis- 


,6  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

lead  the  extortioner  himself.  Phrases  take  the  place  of 
deeds,  sentiments  those  of  facts,  and  grimaces  those  of 
benevolent  looks,  so  ingeniously  and  so  impudently  that 
the  wronged  often  fancy  that  they  are  the  victims'  of  a 
severe  dispensation  of  Providence,  when  the  truth  would 
have  shown  that  they  were  simply  robbed. 

We  do  not  mean,  however,  that  Deacon  Pratt  was  a  rob- 
ber. He  was  merely  a  hard  man  in  the  management  of 
his  affairs,  never  cheating,  in  a  direct  sense,  but  seldom 
conceding  a  cent  to  generous  impulses,  or  to  the  duties  of 
kind.  He  was  a  widower,  and  childless,  circumstances  that 
rendered  his  love  of  gain  still  less  pardonable  ;  for  many  a 
man  who  is  indifferent  to  money  on  his  own  account,  will 
toil  and  save  to  lay  up  hoards  for  those  who  are  to  come 
after  him.  The  deacon  had  only  a  niece  to  inherit  his  ef- 
fects, unless  he  might  choose  to  step  beyond  that  degree 
of  consanguinity,  and  bestow  a  portion  of  his  means  on 
cousins.  The  church — or,  to  be  more  literal,  the  "  meet- 
ing " — had  an  eye  to  his  resources,  however  ;  and  it  was 
whispered  it  had  actually  succeeded,  by  means  known  to 
itself,  in  squeezing  out  of  his  tight  grasp  no  less  a  sum 
than  one  hundred  dollars,  as  a  donation  to  a  certain  theo- 
logical college.  It  was  conjectured  by  some  persons  that 
this  was  only  the  beginning  of  a  religious  liberality,  and 
that  the  excellent  and  godly-minded  deacon  would  bestow 
most  of  his  property  in  a  similar  way,  when  the  moment 
should  come  that  it  could  be  no  longer  of  any  use  to  him- 
self. This  opinion  was  much  in  favor  with  divers  devout 
females  of  the  deacon's  congregation,  who  had  daughters 
of  their  own,  and  who  seldom  failed  to  conclude  their  ob- 
servations on  this  interesting  subject  with  some  such  re- 
mark as,  "  Well,  in  that  case,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  every- 
thing points  that  way,  Mary  Pratt  will  get  no  more  than 
any  other  poor  man's  daughter." 

Little  did  Mary,  the  only  child  of  Israel  Pratt,  an  elder 
brother  of  the  deacon,  think  of  all  this.  She  had  been  left 
an  orphan  in  her  tenth  year,  both  parents  dying  within  a 
few  months  of  each  other,  and  had  lived  beneath  her 
uncle's  roof  for  nearly  ten  more  years,  until  use,  and  nat- 
ural affection,  and  the  customs  of  the  country,  had  made 
her  feel  absolutely  at  home  there.  A  less  interested,  or 
less  selfish  being  than  Mary  Pratt,  never  existed.  In  this 
respect  she  was  the  very  aptippdes  of  her  uncle,  who  often 
stealthily  rebuked  her  for  her  charges  ancj  acts  of  neigh' 
borly  kindness,  which  he  was  wont  to  term  W^sfe.  But 


SEA    LJON&  17 

Mary  kept  the  even  tenor  of  her  way,  seemingly  not  hear- 
ing such  remarks,  and  doing  her  duty  quietly,  and  in  all 
humility. 

Suffolk  was  settled  originally  by  emigrants  from  New 
England,  and  the  character  of  its  people  is  to  this  hour  of 
modified  New  England  habits  and  notions.  •  Now  one  of 
the  marked  peculiarities  of  Connecticut  is  an  indisposition 
to  part  with  anything  without  a  quid  pro  quo.  Those  little 
services,  offerings  and  conveniences  that  are  elsewhere 
parted  with  without  a  thought  of  remuneration,  go  regu- 
larly upon  the  day-book,  and  often  reappear  on  a  "  settle- 
ment," years  after  they  have  been  forgotten  by  those  who 
received  the  favors.  Even  the  man  who  keeps  a  carriage 
will  let  it  out  for  hire;  and  the  manner  in  which  money  is 
accepted,  and  even  asked  for  by  persons  in  easy  circum- 
stances, and  for  things  that  would  be  gratuitous  in  the 
Middle  States,  often  causes  disappointment,  and  sometimes 
disgust.  In  this  particular  Scottish  and  Swiss  thrift,  both 
notorious,  and  the  latter  particularly  so,  are  nearly  equalled 
by  New  England  thrift  ;  more  especially  in  the  close  esti- 
mate of  the  value  of  services  rendered.  So  marked,  indeed, 
is  this  practice  of  looking  for  requitals,  that  even  the  lan- 
guage is  infected  with  it.  Thus,  should  a  person  pass  a 
few  months  by  invitation  with  a  friend,  his  visit  is  termed 
"boarding;"  it  being  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course  that 
lie  pays  his  way.  It  would  scarcely  be  safe,  indeed,  with- 
out the  precaution  of  ''passing  receipts"  on  quitting,  for 
one  to  stay  any  time  in  a  New  England  dwelling,  unless 
prepared  to  pay  for  his  board.  The  free  and  frank  habits 
that  prevail  among  relatives  and  friends  elsewhere,  are 
nearly  unknown  there,  every  service  having  its  price. 
These  customs  are  exceedingly  repugnant-  to  all  who  have 
been  educated  in  different  notions  ;  yet  they  are  not  with- 
out their  redeeming  qualities,  that  might  be  pointed  out 
to  advantage,  though  our  limits  will  not  permit  us,  at  this 
moment  so  to  do. 

Little  did  Mary  Pratt  suspect  the  truth ;  but  habit,  or 
covetousness,  or  some  vague  expectation  that  the  girl 
might  yet  contract  a  marriage  that  would  enable  him  to 
claim  all  his  advances,  had  induced  the  deacon  never  to 
bestow  a  cent  on  her  education,  or  dress,  or  pleasures  of 
any  sort,  that  the  money  was  riot  regularly  charged  against 
her  in  that  nefarious  work  he  called  his  "day-book."  As 
for  the  self-respect,  and  the  feelings  of  caste,  which  pre- 
vent a  gentleman  from  practising  any  of  these  tradesmen's 


i8  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

tricks,  the  deacon  knew  nothing  of  them.  He  would  have 
set  the  man  down  as  a  fool  who  deferred  to  any  notions  so 
unprofitable.  With  him  not  only  every  man,  but  every 
thing,  "  had  its  price,"  and  usually  it  was  a  good  price  too. 
At  the  very  moment  when  our  tale  opens,  there  stood 
charged  in  his 'book,  against  his  unsuspecting  and  affec- 
tionate niece,  items  in  the  way  of  schooling,  dress,  board, 
and  pocket  money,  that  amounted  to  the  considerable  sum 
of  one  thousand  dollars,  money  fairly  expended.  The 
deacon  was  only  intensely  mean  and  avaricious,  while  he 
was  as  honest  as  the  day.  Not  a  cent  was  overcharged  ; 
and,  to  own  the  truth,  Mary  was  so  great  a  favorite  with 
him  that  most  of  his  charges  against  her  were  rather  of  a 
reasonable  rate  than  otherwise. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"  Marry,  I  saw  your  niece  do  more  favors 
To  the  count's  serving-man,  than  ever  she  bestowed 
Upon  me  ;  I  saw  it  i'  the  orchard  !  " — Twelfth  Night. 

ON  the  Sunday  in  question,  Deacon  Pratt  went  to  meet- 
ing as  usual,  the  building  in  which  divine  service  was  held 
that  day,  standing  less  than  two  miles  from  his  residence  ; 
but,  instead  of  remaining  for  the  afternoon's  preaching,  as 
was  his  wont,  he  got  into  his  one-horse  chaise,  the  vehicle 
then  in  universal  use  among  the  middle  classes,  though  now 
so  seldom  seen,  and  skirred  away  homeward  as  fast  as  an 
active,  well-fed,  and  powerful  switch-tailed  mare  could 
draw  him  ;  the  animal  being  accompanied  in  her  rapid 
progress  by  a  colt  of  some  three  months'  existence.  The 
residence  of  the  deacon  was  unusually  inviting  for  a  man 
of  his  narrow  habits.  It  stood  on  the  edge  of  a  fine  apple- 
orchard,  having  a  door-yard  of  nearly  two  acres  in  its 
front.  This  door-yard,  which  had  been  twice  mown  that 
summer,  was  prettily  embellished  with  flowers,  and  was 
shaded  by  four  rows  of  noble  cherry-trees.  The  house  it- 
self was  of  wood,  as  is  almost  uniformly  the  case  in  Suffolk, 
where  little  stone  is  to  be  found,  and  where  brick  con- 
structions are  apt  to  be  thought  damp  ;  but  it  was  a  respect- 
able edifice,  with  five  windows  in  front,  and  of  two  stories. 
The  siding  was  of  unpainted  cedar-shingles  ;  and,  although 
the  house  had  been  erected  long  previously  to  the  Revo- 
Jution,  the  siding  had  been  renewed  but  once,  about  ten 


THE   SEA   LIONS.  19 

years  before  the  opening  of  our  tale,  and  the  whole  build- 
ing was  in  a  perfect  state  of  repair.  The  thrift  of  the 
deacon  rendered  him  careful,  and  he  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  the  familiar  adage  which  tells  us  that 
l*a  stitch  in  time  saves  nine."  All  around  the  house  and 
farm  was  in  perfect  order,  proving  the  application  of  the 
saying.  As  for  the  view,  it  was  sufficiently  pleasant,  the 
house  having  its  front  toward  the  east,  while  its  end 
windows  looked,  the  one  set  in  the  direction  of  the  Sound, 
and  the  other  in  that  of  the  arm  of  the  sea,  which  belongs 
properly  to  Peconic  Bay,  we  believe.  All  this  water,  some  of 
which  was  visible  over  points  and  among  islands,  together 
with  a  smiling  and  fertile,  though  narrow  stretch  of  fore- 
ground, could  not  fail  of  making  an  agreeable  landscape. 

It  was  little,  however,  that  Deacon  Pratt  thought  of 
views,  or  beauty  of  any  sort,  as  the  mare  reached  the  open 
gate  of  his  own  abode.  Mary  was  standing  in  the  stoop, 
or  porch  of  the  house,  and  appeared  to  be  anxiously 
awaiting  her  uncle's  return.  The  latter  gave  the  reins  to 
a  black,  one  who  was  no  longer  a  slave,  but  who  was  a 
descendant  of  some  of  the  ancient  slaves  of  the  Pratts, 
and  in  that  character  consented  still  to  dawdle  about  the 
place,  working  for  half  price.  On  alighting,  the  uncle 
approached  the  niece  with  somewhat  of  interest  in  his 
manner. 

''Well,  Mary,"  said  the  former,  "how  does  he  get  on 
now  ? " 

"  Oh  !  my  dear  sir,  he  cannot  possibly  live,  I  think,  and 
I  do  most  earnestly  entreat  that  you  will  let  me  send  across 
to  the  Harbor  for  Dr.  Sage." 

By  the  Harbor  was  meant  Sag's,  and  the  physician 
named  was  one  of  merited  celebrity  in  old  Suffolk.  So 
healthy  was  the  country  in  general,  and  so  simple  were  the 
habits  of  the  people,  that  neither  lawyer  nor  physician 
was  to  be  found  in  every  hamlet,  as  is  the  case  to-day. 
Both  were  to  be  had  at  Riverhead,  as  well  as  at  Sag  Har- 
bor ;  but,  if  a  man  called  out  "  Squire,"  or  "Doctor,"  in 
the  highways  of  Suffolk,  sixteen  men  did  not  turn  round 
to  reply,  as  is  said  to  be  the  case  in  other  regions  ;  one 
half  answering  to  the  one  appellation,  and  the  second 
half  to  the  other.  The  deacon  had  two  objections  to 
yielding  to  his  niece's  earnest  request ;  the  expense  being 
one,  though  it  was  not  in  this  instance  the  greatest  ;  there 
was  another  reason  that  he  kept  to  himself,  but  which  will 
appear  as  our  narrative  proceeds. 


2c  THE   SEA    LIO.VS. 

A  few  weeks  previously  to  the  Sunday  in  question,  a 
sea-going  vessel,  inward  bound,  had  brought  up  in  Gar- 
diner's Bay,  which  is  a  usual  anchorage  for  all  sorts  of 
craft.  A  worn-out  and  battered  seaman  had  been  put 
ashore  on  Oyster  Pond,  by  a  boat  from  this  vessel,  which 
sailed  to  the  westward  soon  after,  proceeding  most  proba- 
bly to  New  York.  The  stranger  was  not  only  well  ad- 
vanced in  life,  but  he  wras  obviously  wasting  away  with 
disease. 

The  account  given  of  himself  by  this  seaman  was  suffi- 
ciently explicit.  He  was  born  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  but, 
as  is  customary  with  the  boys  of  that  island,  he  had  left 
home  in  his  twelfth  year,  and  had  now  been  absent  from 
the  place  of  his  birth  a  little  more  than  half  a  century. 
Conscious  of  the  decay  which  beset  him,  and  fully  con- 
vinced that  his  days  were  few  and  numbered,  the  seaman, 
who  called  himself  Tom  Daggett,  had  felt  a  desire  to  close 
his  eyes  in  the  place  where  they  had  first  been  opened  to 
the  light  of  day.  He  had  persuaded  the  commander  of 
the  craft  mentioned  to  bring  him  from  the  West  Indies, 
and  to  put  him  ashore  as  related,  the  Vineyard  being  only 
a  hundred  miles  or  so  to  the  eastward  of  Oyster  Pond 
Point.  He  trusted  to  luck  to  give  him  the  necessary  op- 
portunity of  overcoming  these  last  hundred  miles. 

Daggett  was  poor,  as  he  admitted,  as  well  as  friendless 
and  unknown.  He  had  with  him,  nevertheless,  a  substan- 
tial sea-chest,  one  of  those  that  the  sailors  of  that  day  uni- 
formly used  in  merchant-vessels,  a  man-of-war  compelling 
them  to  carry  their  clothes  in  bags,  for  the  convenience  of 
compact  stowage.  The  chest  of  Daggett,  however,  was  a 
regular  inmate  of  the  forecastle,  and,  from  its  appearance, 
had  made  almost  as  many  voyages  as  its  owner.  The  last, 
indeed,  was  heard  to  say  that  he  had  succeeded  in  saving  it 
from  no  less  than  three  shipwrecks.  It  was  a  reasonable 
heavy  chest,  though  its  contents,  when  opened,  did  not 
seem  to  be  of 'any  very  great  value. 

A  few  hours  after  landing  this  man  had  made  a  bargain 
with  a  middle-aged  widow,  in  very  humble  circumstances, 
and  who  dwelt  quite  near  to  the  residence  of  Deacon 
Pratt,  to  receive  him  as  a  temporary  inmate  ;  or,  until  he 
could  get  a  "chance  across  to  the  Vineyard."  At  first 
Daggett  kept  about,  and  was  much  in  the  open  air.  While 
able  to  walk  he  met  the  deacon,  and  singular — nay,  unac- 
countable as  it  seemed  to  the  niece — the  uncle  soon  rnn- 
tracted  a  species  of  friendship  for,  not  to  bay  intiiv.a?  V 


77/7:    SEA    LIONS.  21 

with,  this  stranger.  In  the  first  place,  the  deacon  was  a 
little  particular  in  not  having  intimates  among  the  neces- 
sitous, and  the  Widow  White  soon  let  it  be  known  that 
her  guest  had  not  even  a  "red  cent."  He  had  chattels, 
however,  that  were  of  some  estimation  among  seamen  ; 
and  Roswell  Gardiner,  or  "Gar'ner,"  as  he  was  called,  the 
young  seaman  par  excellence  of  the  Point,  one  who  had 
been  not  only  a-whaling,  but  who  had  also  been  a-sealing, 
and  who  at  that  moment  was  on  board  the  deacon's 
schooner,  in  the  capacity  of  master,  had  been  applied  to 
for  advice  and  assistance.  By  the  agency  of  Mr.  Gar'ner, 
as  the  young  mate  was  then  termed,  sundry  palms,  sets  of 
sail-needles,  a  fid  or  two,  and  various  other  similar  articles, 
that  obviously  could  no  longer  be  of  any  use  to  Daggett, 
were  sent  across  to  the  "Harbor,"  and  disposed  of  there, 
to  advantage,  among  the  many  seamen  of  the  port.  By 
these  means  the  stranger  was,  for  a  few  weeks,  enabled 
to  pay  his  way,  the  board  he  got  being  both  poor  and 
cheap. 

A  much  better  result  attended  this  intercourse  with  Gar- 
diner than-that  of  raising  the  worn-out  seaman's  immedi- 
ate ways  and  means.  Between*  Mary  Pratt  and  Rosweli 
Gardiner  there  existed  an  intimacy  of  long  standing  for 
their  years,  as  well  as  of  some  peculiar  features,  to  which 
there  will  be  occasion  to  advert  hereafter.  Mary  was  the 
very  soul  of  charity  in  all  its  significations,  and  this  Gar- 
diner knew.  When,  therefore,  Daggett  became  really  ne- 
cessitous, in  the  way  of  comforts  that  even  money  could 
not  command  beneath  the  roof  of  the  Widow  White,  the 
young  man  let  the  fact  be  known  to  the  deacon's  niece, 
who  immediately  provided  sundry  delicacies  that  were  ac- 
ceptable to  the  palate  of  even  disease.  As  for  her  uncle, 
nothing  was  at  first  said  to  him  on  the  subject.  Although 
his  intimacy  with  Daggett  went  on  increasing,  and  they 
were  daily  more  and  more  together  in  long  and  secret  con- 
ference, not  a  suggestion  was  ever  made  by  the  deacon  in 
the  way  of  contributing  to  his  new  friend's  comforts.  To 
own  the  truth,  to  give  was  the  last  idea  that  ever  occurred 
to  this  man's  thoughts. 

Mary  Pratt  was  observant,  and  of  a  mind  so  constituted 
that  its  observations  usually  led  her  to  safe  and  accurate 
deductions.  Great  was  the  surprise  of  all  on  the  Point 
when  it  became  known  that  Deacon  Pratt  had  purchased 
and  put  into  the  water  the  new  sea-going  craft  that  was 
building  on  speculation  at  Southoid.  Not  only  had  he 


22  THE   SEA    LIOXS. 

done  this,  but  he  had  actually  bought  some  half-worn 
copper,  and  had  it  placed  on  the  schooner's  bottom,  as 
high  as  the  bends,  ere  he  had  her  launched.  While  the 
whole  neighbornood  was  u  exercised  "  with  conjectures  on 
the  motive  which  could  induce  the  deacon  to  become  a  ship- 
owner in  his  age,  Mary  did  not  fail  to  impute  it  to  some 
secret  but  powerful  influence  that  the  sick  stranger  had 
obtained  over  him.  He  now  spent  nearly  half  his  time  in 
private  communications  with  Daggett  ;  and,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  when  the  niece  had  taken  some  light  article 
of  food  over  for  the  use  of  the  last,  she  found  him  and  her 
uncle  examining  one  or  two  dirty  and  well-worn  charts  of 
the  ocean.  As  she  entered,  the  conversation  invariably 
was  changed  ;  nor  was  Mrs.  White  ever  permitted  to  be 
present  at  one  of  these  secret  conferences. 

Not  only  was  the  schooner  purchased,  and  coppered, 
and  launched,  and  preparations  made  to  fit  her  for  sea, 
but  "young  Gar'ner"  was  appointed  to  command  her!  As 
respects  Roswell  Gardiner,  or  "  Gar'ner,"  as  it  would  be 
almost  thought  a  breach  of  decorum,  in  Suffolk,  not  to 
call  him,  there  was  no  mystery.  Six-and-twenty  years  be- 
fore the  opening  of  our  legend,  he  had  been  born  on  Oys- 
ter Pond  itself,  and  of  one  of  its  best  families.  Indeed,  he 
was  known  to  be  a  descendant  of  Lyon  Gardiner,  that  en- 
gineer who  had  been  sent  to  the  settlement  of  the  lords 
Saye,  and  Seal,  and  Brook,  since  called  Saybrook,  near 
two  centuries  before,  to  lay  out  a  town  and  a  fort.  This 
Lyon  Gardiner  had  purchased  of  the  Indians  the  island  in 
that  neighborhood  which  still  bears  his  name.  This  estab- 
lishment on  the  island  was  made  in  1639  ;  and  now,  at  an 
interval  of  two  hundred  and  nine  years,  it  is  in  posses- 
sion of  its  ninth  owner,  all  having  been  of  the  name  and 
blood  of  its  original  patentee.  This  is  great  antiquity  for 
America,  which,  while  it  has  produced  many  families  of 
greater  wealth  and  renown,  and  importance,  than  that  of 
the  Gardiners,  has  seldom  produced  any  of  more  perma- 
nent local  respectability.  This  is  a  feature  in  society  that 
we  so  much  love  to  see,  and  which  is  so  much  endangered 
by  the  uncertain  and  migratory  habits  of  the  people,  that 
we  pause  a  moment  to  record  this  instance  of  stability, 
so  pleasing  and  so  commendable,  in  an  age  and  country  of 
changes. 

The  descendants  of  any  family  of  two  centuries'  stand- 
ing will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  numerous.  There  are 
exceptions,  certainly  ;  but  it  is  the  rule.  Thus  is  it  with 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  23 

Lyon  Gardiner  and  his  progeny,  who  are  now  to  be  num- 
bered -in  scores,  including  persons  in  all  classes  of  life, 
though  it  carries  with  it  a  stamp  of  caste  to  be  known  in 
Suffolk  as  having  come  direct  from  the  loins  of  old  Lyon 
Gardiner.  Roswell,  of  that  name,  if  not  of  that  ilk,  the  island 
then  being  the  sole  property  of  David  Johnson  Gardiner, 
the  predecessor  and  brother  of  its  present  proprietor,  was 
allowed  to  have  this  claim,  though  it  would  exceed  our 
genealogical  knowledge  to  point  out  the  precise  line  by 
which  this  descent  was  claimed.  Young  Roswell  was  of 
respectable  blood  on  both  sides,  without  being  very  brill- 
iantly connected  or  rich.  On  the  contrary,  early  left  an 
orphan,  fatherless  and  motherless,  as  was  the  case  with 
Mary  Pratt,  he  had  been  taken  from  a  country  academy 
when  only  fifteen,  and  sent  to  sea,  that  he  might  make 
his  own  way  in  the  world.  Hitherto  his  success  had  not 
been  of  a  very  flattering  character.  He  had  risen,  not- 
withstanding, to  be.  the  chief  mate  of  a  whaler,  and  bore 
an  excellent  reputation  among  the  people  of  Suffolk. 
Had  it  only  been  a  year  or  two  later,  when  speculation 
took  hold  of  the  whaling  business  in  a  large  way,  he  would 
not  have  had  the  least  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  ship.  As 
it  was,  however,  great  was  his  delight  when  Deacon  Pratt 
engaged  him  as  master  of  the  hew  schooner,  wrhich  had 
been  already  named  the  Sea  Lion,  or  Sea  Lyon,  as  Roswell 
sometimes  affected  to  spell  the  word,  in  honor  of  his  old 
progenitor,  the  engineer. 

Mary  Pratt  had  noted  all  these  proceedings,  partly  with 
pain,  partly  with  pleasure,  but  always  with  great  interest. 
It  pained  her  to  find  her  uncle,  in  the  decline  of  life,  en- 
gaging in  a  business  about  -which  he  knew  nothing.  It 
pained  her  still  more  to  see  one  whom  she  loved  from 
habit,  if  not  from  moral  sympathies,  wasting  the  few  hours 
that  remained  for  -preparing  for  the  last  great  change  in 
attempts  to  increase  possessions  that  were  already  much 
more  than  sufficient  for  his*  wants.  This  consideration,  in 
particular,  deeply  grieved  Mary  Pratt  ;  for  she  was  pro- 
foundly pious,  with  a  conscience  that  was  so  sensitive 
as  materially  to  interfere  with  her  happiness,  as  will  pres- 
ently be  shown,  while  her  uncle  was  merely  a  deacon.  It 
is  one  thing  to  be  a  deacon,  and  another  to  be  devoted  to 
the  love  of  God,  and  to  that  love  of  our  species  which  we 
are  told  is  the  consequence  of  a  love  of  the  Deity.  The 
two  are  not  incompatible  ;  neither  are  they  identical.  This 
Mary  had  been  made  to  see,  in  spite  of  all  her  wishes  to 


24  THK    SF.A    L7O.YS. 

be  blind  as  respects  the  particular  subject  from  whom  she 
had  learned  the  unpleasant  lesson.  The  pleasure  felt  by 
our  heroine,  for  such  we  now  announce  Mary  Pratt  to  be, 
was  derived  from  the  preferment  bestowed  on  Roswell 
Gardiner.  She  had  many  a  palpitation  of  the  heart  when 
she  heard  of  his  good  conduct  as  a  seaman,  as  she  always 
did  whenever  she  heard  his  professional  career  alluded  to 
r.t  all.  On  this  point  Roswell  was  without  spot,  as  all 
Suffolk  knew  and  confessed.  On  Oyster  Pond  he  was  re- 
garded-as  a  species  of  sea  lion  himself,  so  numerous  and 
so  exciting  were  the  incidents  that  were  related  of  his 
prowess  ampng  the  whales.  But  there  was  a  dark  cloud 
before  ail  these  glories  in  the  eyes  of  Mary  Pratt,  which 
for  two  years  had  disinclined  her  to  listen  to  the  young 
man's  tale  of  love,  which  had  induced  her  to  decline  ac- 
cepting a  hand  that  had  now  been  offered  to  her,  with  a 
seaman's  ardor,  a  seaman's  frankness,  and  a  seaman's  sin- 
cerity, some  twenty  times  at  least,  and.  which  had  induced 
her  to  struggle  severely  with  her  own  heart,  which  she  had 
long  found  to  be  a  powerful  ally  of  her  suitor.  That 
cloud  came  from  a  species  of  infidelity  that  is  getting  to 
be  so  widely  spread  in  America  as  no  longer  to  work  in 
secret,  but  which  lifts  its  head  boldly  among  us,  claim- 
ing openly  to  belong  to  one  of  the  numerous  sects  of 
the  land.  Mary  had  reason  to  think  that  Roswell  Gar- 
diner denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  while  he  professed  to 
honor  and  defer  to  him  as  a  man  far  elevated  above  all 
other  men,  and  as  one  whose  blood  had  purchased  the  re- 
demption of  his  race  ! 

We  \vill  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  our  legend  is  not 
polemical  in  any  sense,  and  that  we  have  no  intention  to 
enter  into  discussions  or  arguments  connected  with  this 
subject,  beyond  those  which  we  may  conceive  to  be  neces- 
sary to  illustrate  the  picture  which  it  is  our  real  aim  to  draw 
— that  of  a  confiding,  affectionate,  nay,  devoted  woman's 
heart,  in  conflict  with  a  deep  sense  of  religious  duty. 

Still,  Mary  rejoiced  that  Roswell  Gardiner  was  to  com- 
mand the  Sea  Lion.  Whither  this  little  vessel,  a  schooner 
of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  tons  measurement,  was  to 
sail,  she  had  not  the  slightest  notion  ;  but,  go  where  it 
might,  her  thoughts  and  prayers  were  certain  to  accom- 
pany it.  These  are  woman's  means  of  exerting  influence, 
and  who  shall  presume  to  say  that  they  are  without  re- 
sults, and  useless  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  believe  them  to 
be  most  efficacious  ;  and  thrice  happy  is  the  man  who,  as 


THE    SF.A    LIOXS.  25 

he  treads  the  mazes  and  wiles  of  the  worid,  goes  accom- 
panied by  the  petitions  of  such  gentle  and  pure-minded 
beings  at  home  as  seldom  think  of  approaching  the  throne 
of  grace  without  also  thinking  of  him  and  of  his  necessi- 
ties. The  Romanists  say,  and  say  it  rightly  too,  could 
one  only  believe  in  their  efficacy,  that  the  prayers  they 
offer  up  in  behalf  of  departed  friends  are  of  the  most  en- 
dearing nature  ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that 
petitions  for  the  souls  of  the  dead  can  demonstrate  greater 
interest,  or  bind  the  parties  more  closely  together  in  the 
unity  of  love,  than  those  that  are  constantly  offered  up  in 
behalf  of  the  living. 

The  interest  that  Mary  Pratt  felt  in  Roswell's  success 
needs  little  explanation.  In  all  things  he  was  most  agree- 
able to  her,  but  in  the  one  just  mentioned.  Their  ages, 
their  social  positions,  their  habits,  their  orphan  condition, 
even  their  prejudices — and  who  that  dwells  aside  from  the 
world  is  without  them,  when  most  of  those  who  encounter 
its  collisions  still  cherish  them  so  strongly  ? — all  united  to 
render  them  of  interest  to  eacli  other.  Nor  was  Deacon 
Pratt  at  all  opposed  to  the  connection  ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
appeared  rather  to  favor  it. 

The  objections  came  solely  from  Mary,  whose  heart  was 
nearly  ready  to  break  each  time  that  she  was  required  to 
urge  them.  As  for  the  uncle,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  what 
could  induce  him  to  acquiesce  in,  to  favor  indeed,  the  ad- 
dresses to  his  niece  and  nearest  relative,  of  one  .who  was 
known  not  to  possess  five  hundred  dollars  in  the  world.  As 
his  opinions  on  this  subject  were  well  known  to  all  on  Oys- 
ter Pond,  they  had  excited  a  good  deal  of  speculation  ; 
''exercising"  the  whole  neighborhood,  as  was  very  apt  to 
be  the  case  whenever  anything  occurred  in  the  least  out  of 
the  ordinary  track.  The  several  modes  of  reasoning  were 
something  like  these  : 

Some  were  of  opinion  that  the  deacon  forsaw  a  suc- 
cessful career  to,  and  eventful  prosperity  in  the  habits  and 
enterprise  of  the  young  mate,  and  that  he  was  willing  to 
commit  to  his  keeping,  not  only  his  niece,  but  the  three 
farms,  his  "  money  at  use,"  and  certain  shares  he  was  known 
to  own  in  a  whaler,  and.  no  less  than  three  coasters,  as  well 
as  an  interest  in  a -store  at  Southold  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  com- 
mit them  all  to  the  keeping  of  "young  Gar'ncr,"  when  he 
was  himself  dead  ;  for  no  one  believed  he  would  part  with 
more  than  Mary,  in  his  own  lifetime. 

Others  fancied  he  was  desirous  of  getting  the  orphan  off 


26  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

his  hands,  in  the  easiest  possible  way,  that  he  might  make 
a  bequest  of  his  whole  estate  to  the  theological  institution 
that  had  been  coquetting  with  him  now,  for  several  years, 
through  its  recognized  agents,  and  to  which  he  had  already 
made  the  liberal* donation  of  one  hundred  dollars.  It  was 
well  ascertained  that  the  agents  of  that  institution  openly 
talked  of  getting  Deacon  Pratt  to  sit  for  his  portrait,  in 
order  that  it  might  be  suspended  among  those  of  others  of 
its  benefactors. 

A  third  set  reasoned  differently  from  both  the  foregoing. 
The  "  Garners  "  were  a  better  family  than  the  Pratts,  and 
the  deacon  being  so  "well  to  do,"  it  was  believed  by  these 
persons  that  he  was  disposed  to  unite  money  with  name, 
and  thus  give  to  his  family  consideration  from  a  source 
that  was  somewhat  novel  in  its  history.  This  class  of 
reasoners  was  quite  small,  however,  and  mainly  consisted 
of  those  who  had  rarely  been  off  of  Oyster  Pond,  and  who 
passed  their  days  with  "  Gar'ner's  Island  "  directly  before 
their  eyes.  A  few  of  the  gossips  of  this  class  pretended  to 
say  that  their  own  young  sailor  stood  next  in  succession 
after  the  immediate  family  actually  in  possession  should 
run  out,  of  which  there  was  then  some  prospect ;  and  that 
the  deacon,  sly  fellow,  knew  all  about  it !  For  this  sur- 
mise, to  prevent  useless  expectations  in  the  reader,  it  may 
be  well  to  say  at  once,  there  was  no  foundation  whatever, 
Roswell's  connection  with  the  owner  of  the  island  being 
much  too  remote  to  give  him  any  chance  of  succeeding  to 
that  estate,  or  to  anything  else. that  belonged  to  him. 

There  was  a  fourth  and  last  set  among  those  who  specu- 
lated on  the  deacon's  favor  toward  "  young  Gar'ner,"  and 
these  were  they  who  fancied  that  the  old  man  had  opened 
his  heart  toward  the  young  couple,  and  was  disposed  to 
render  a  deserving  youth  and  a  beloved  niece  happy.  This 
was  the  smallest  class  of  all  ;  and,  what  is  a  little  remark- 
able, it  contained  only  the  most  reckless  and  least  virtuous 
of  all  those  who  dwelt  on  Oyster  Pond.  The  parson  of 
the  parish,  or  "the  Pastor  as  he  was  usually  termed,  be- 
longed to  the  second  category,  that  good  man  being  firmly 
impressed  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  Deacon  Pratt's  worldly 
effects  would  eventually  go  to  help  propagate  the  gospel. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  tire  deacon  returned 
from  meeting,  as  related  in  the  opening  chapter.  At  his 
niece's  suggestion  of  sending  to  the  Harbor  for  Dr.  Sage, 
he  had  demurred,  not  only  on  account  of  the  expense,  but 
for  a  still  more  cogent  reason.  To  tell  the  truth,  he  was 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  ^  27 

exceedingly  distrustful  of  any  one's  being  admitted  to  a 
communication  with  Daggett,  who  had  revealed  to  him 
matters  that  he  deemed  to  be  of  great  importance,  but 
who  still  retained  the  key  to  his  most  material  mystery. 
Nevertheless,  decency,  to  say  nothing  of  the  influence  of 
what  folks  "would  say,"  the  Archimedean  lever  of  all 
society  of  puritanical  origin,  exhorted  him  to  consent  to 
his  niece's  proposal. 

"  It  is  such  a  roundabout  road  to  get  to  the  Harbor, 
Mary,"  the  uncle  slowly  objected,  after  a  pause. 

"  Boats  often  go  there,  and  return  in  a  few  hours." 

"  Yes,  yes — boats  j  but  I'm  not  certain  it  is  lawful  to  work 
boats  of  a  Sabbath,  child." 

"  I  believe,  sir,  it  was  deemed  lawful  to  do  good  on  the 
Lord's  day." 

•  "  Yes,  if  a  body  was  certain  it  would  do  any  good.  To 
be  sure,  Sage  is  a  capital  doctor — as  good  as  any  going  in 
these  parts — but,  half  the  time,  money  paid  for  doctor's 
stuff  is  thrown  away." 

"  Still,  I  think  it  our  duty  to  try  to  serve  a  fellow-creature 
that  is  in  distress  ;  and  Daggett,  I  fear,  will  not  go  through 
the  week,  if  indeed  he  go  through  the  night.'"' 

"  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  him  die  ! "  exclaimed  the 
deacon,  looking  really  distressed  at  this  intelligence. 
"  Right  sorry  should  I  be  to  have  him  die — just  yet." 

The  last  two  words  were  uttered  unconsciously,  and  in  a 
way  to  cause  the  niece  to  regret  that  they  had  been  uttered 
at  all.  But  they  had  come,  notwithstanding,  and  the  deacon 
saw  that  he  had  been  too  frank.  The  fault  could  not  now 
be  remedied,  and  he  was  fain  to  allow  his  words  to  produce 
their  own  effect. 

"  Die  he  will,  I  fear,  uncle,"  returned  Mary,  after  a  short 
pause  ;  "  and  sorry  should  I  be  to  have  it  so  without  our 
feeling  the  consolation  of  knowing  we  had  done  all  in  our 
power  to  save  him,  or  to  serve  him." 

"  It  is  so  far  to  the  Harbor,  that  no  good  might  come  of 
a  messenger  ;  and  the  money  paid  him  would  be  thrown 
away,  too." 

"I  dare  say  Roswell  Gar'ner  would  be  glad  to  go  to  help 
a  fellow-creature  who  is  suffering.  He  would  not  think  of 
demanding  any  pay." 

<:  Yes,  that  is  true.  I  will  say  this  for  Gar'ner,  that  he 
is  as  reasonable  a  young  man,  when  lie  does  an  odd  job,  as 
any  one  I  know.  I  like  to  employ  him." 

Mary  understood  this  very  well.     It  amounted  to  neither 


23  THE   SEA    L10XS. 

more  nor  less  than  the  deacon's  perfect  consciousness  that 
the  youth  had,  again  and  again,  given  him  his  time  and  his 
services  gratuitously  ;  and  that,  too,  more  than  once,  under 
circumstances  when  it  would  have  been  quite  proper  that 
he  should  look  for  a  remuneration.  A  slight  color  stole 
over  the  face  of  the  niece  as  memory,  recalled  to  her  mind 
these  different  occasions.  Was  that  sensitive  blush  owing 
to  her  perceiving  the  besetting  weakness  of  one  who  stood 
in  the  light  of  a  parent  to  her,  and  toward  whom  she  en- 
deavored to  feel  the  affection  of  a  child  ?  We  shall  not 
gainsay  this,  so  far  as  a  portion  of  the  feeling  which 
produced  that  blush  was  concerned  ;  but,  certain  it  is,  that 
the  thought  that  Roswell  had  exerted  himself  to  oblige 
her  uncle,  obtruded  itself  somewhat  vividly  among  her 
other  recollections. 

"  Well,  sir,"  the  niece  resumed,  after  another  briei 
pause,  "we  can  send  for  Roswell,  if  you  think  it  best,  and 
ask  him  to' do  the  poor  man  this  act  of  kindness." 

"Your  messengers  after  doctors  are  always  in  such  a 
hurry  !  I  dare  say  Gar'ner  would  think  it  necessary  to  hire 
a  horse  to  cross  Shelter  Island,  and  then  perhaps  a  boat  to 
get  across  to  the  Harbor.  If  no  boat  was  to  be  found,  it 
might  be  another  horse  to  gallop  away  round  the  head  of 
the  Bay.  Why,  five  dollars  would  scarce  meet  the  cost  of 
such  a  race  !  " 

"  If  five  dollars  were  needed,  Roswell  would  pay  them 
out  of  his  own  pocket,  rather  than  ask  another  to  assist 
him  in  doing  an  act  of  charity.  But,  no  horse  will  be 
necessary  ;  the  whale-boat  is  at  the  wharf,  and  is  ready  for 
use  at  any  moment." 

"True,  I  had  forgotten  the  whale-boat.  If  that  is  home 
the  doctor  might  be  brought  across  at  a  reasonable  rate  ; 
especially  if  Gar'ner  will  volunteer.  I  dare  say  Daggett's 
effects  will  pay  the  bill  for  attendance,  since  they  have  an- 
swered, as  yet,  to  meet  the  Widow  White's  charges.  As  I* 
live,  here  comes  Gar'ner  at  this  moment,  and  just  as  we 
want  him." 

"I  knew  of  no  other  to  ask  to  cross  the  bays,  sir,  and 
sent  lor  Roswell  before  you  returned.  Had  you  not  got 
back  as  you  did,  I  should  have  taken  on  myself  the  duty 
of  sending  for  the  doctor." 

"  In  which  case,  girl,  you  would  have  made  yourself  lia- 
ble. I  have  too  many  demands  on  my  means  to  be  scat- 
tering dollars  broadcast.  But,  here  is  Gar'ner,  and  I  dare 
say  all  will  be  made  right." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  29 

Gardiner  now  joined  the  uncle  and  niece,  who  had  held 
this  conversation  in  the  porch,  having  hastened  up  from 
the  schooner  the  instant  he  received  Mary's  summons. 
He  was  rewarded  by  a  kind  look  and  a  friendly  shake  of 
the  hand,  each  of  which  was  slightly  more  cordial  than 
those  that  prudent  and  thoughtful  young  woman*  was  ac- 
customed to  bestow  on  him.  He  saw  that  Mary  was  a  little 
earnest  in  her  manner,  and  looked  curious,  as  well  as  in- 
terested, to  learn  why  he  had  been  summoned  at  all.  Sun- 
day was  kept  so  rigidly  at  the  deacon's  that  the  young  man 
did  not  dare  visit  the  house  until  after  the  sun  had  set;  the 
New  England  practice  of  commencing  the  Sabbath  of  a 
Saturday  evening,  and  bringing  it  to  a  close  at  the  suc- 
ceeding sunset,  prevailing  among  most  of  the  people  of 
Suffolk,  the  Episcopalians  forming  nearly  all  the  excep- 
tions to  the  usage.  Sunday  evening,  consequently,  was 
in  great  request  for  visits,  it  being  the  favorite  time  for 
vhe  young  people  to  meet,  as  they  were  not  only  certain 
to  be  unemployed,  but  to  be  in  their  best.  Roswell  Gardi- 
ner was  in  the  practice  of  visiting  Mary  Pratt  on  Sun- 
lay  evenings  ;  but  he  would  almost  as  soon  think  of  dese- 
crating a  church,  as  think  of  entering  the  deacon's  abode, 
on  the  Sabbath,  until  after  sunset,  or  "  sundown"  to 
use  the  familiar  Americanism  that  is  commonly  applied 
to  this  hour  of  the  day.  Here  he  was  now,  however, 
•wondering,  and  anxious  to  learn  why  he  had  been  sent  for. 

"  Roswell,"  said  Mary  earnestly,  slightly  coloring  again 
as  she  spoke,  "we  have  a  great  favor  to  ask.  You  know 
the  poor  old  sailor  who  has  been  staying  at  the  Widow 
White's  this  month  or  more — he  is  now  very  low ;  so  low,  we 
think  he  ought  to  have  better  advice  than  can  be  found  on 
Oyster  Pond,  and  we  wish  to  get  Dr.  Sage  over  from  the 
Harbor.  How  to  do  it  has  been  the  question,  when  I 
thought  of  you.  If  you  could  take  the  whale-boat  and  go 
across,  the  poor  man  might  have  the  benefit  of  the  doc- 
tor's advice  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours." 

'•  Ves,"  put  in  the  uncle,  "and  I  shall  charge  nothing 
(or  the  use  of  the  boat  ;  so  that,  if  you  volunteer,  Gar'ner, 
it  will  leave  so  much  toward  settling  up  the  man's  ac- 
counts,'when  settling-day  comes." 

Roswell  Gardiner  understood  both  uncle  and  niece 
perfectly.  The  intense  selfishness  of  the  first  was  no 
more  a  secret  to  him  than  was  the  entire  disinterestedness 
of  the  last.  He  gazed  a  moment,  in  fervent  admiration, 
at  Mary;  then  he  turned  to  the  deacon,  and  professed  his 


3o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

readiness  to  "volunteer."  Knowing  the  man  so  well,  he 
took  care  distinctly  to  express  the  word,  so  as  to  put  the 
rnind  of  this  votary  of  Mammon  at  ease. 

"  Gar'ner  will  volunteer,  then,"  rejoined  the  uncle,  "  and 
I  shall  charge  nothing  for  the  use  of  the  boat.  This  is 
'doing  as  we  would  be  done  by,'  and  is  all  right,  consider- 
ing that  Daggett  is  sick  and  among  strangers.  The  wind 
is  fair,  or  nearly  fair,  to  go  and  to  come  back,  and  you'll 
make  a  short  trip  of  it.  Yes,  it  will  cost  nothing,  and  may 
do  the  poor  man  good." 

"Now  go  at  once,  Roswell,"  said  Mary,  in  an  entreating 
manner;  "  and  show  the  same  skill  in  managing  the  boat 
that  you  did  the  day  you  won  the  race  against  the  Harbor 
oarsmen." 

"  I  will  do  all  that  a  man  can,  to  oblige  you,  Mary,  as 
well. as  to  serve  the  sick.  If  Dr.  Sage  should  not  be-  at 
home,  am  I  to  look  for  another  physician,  Mr.  Pratt  ?" 

"  Sage  must  be  at  home — we  can  employ  no  other.  Your 
old,  long-established  physicians  understand  how  to  con- 
sider practice,  and  don't  make  mistakes — by  the  way,  Gar'- 
ner, you  needn't  mention  my  name  in  the  business  at  all. 
Just  say  that  a  sick  man,  at  the  Widow  White's,  needs  hi- 
services,  and  that  you  had  volunteered  to  take  him  across. 
That  will  bring  him — I  know  the  man." 

Again  Gardiner  understood  what  the  deacon  meant.  He 
was  just  as  desirous  of  not  paying  the  physician  as  of  not 
paying  the  messenger.  Mary  understood  him,  too,  and, 
with  a  face  more  sad  than  anxiety  had  previously  made  it, 
she  walked  into  the  house,  leaving  her  uncle  and  lover  in 
the  porch.  After  a  few  more  injunctions  from  the  former, 
in  the  way  of  prudent  precaution,  the  latter  departed,  hur- 
rying down  to  the  water-side  in  order  to  take  the  boat. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  All  that  glisters  is  not  gold, 
Often  have  you  heard  that  told  ; 
Many  a  man  his  life  hath  sold, 
But  my  outside  to  behold." 

<?f  lrenice. 


No  sooner  was  Deacon  Pratt  left  alone,  than  he  hastened 
to  the  humble  dwelling  of  the  Widow  White.  The  disease 
of  Daggett  was  a  general  decay,  that  was  not  attended 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  x  31 

with  much  suffering.  He  was  now  seated  in  a  homely 
armchair,  and  was  able  to  converse.  He  was  not  aware, 
indeed,  of  the  real  danger  of  his  case,  and  still  had  hopes 
of  surviving  many  years.  The  deacon  came  in  at  the  door, 
just  as  the  widow  had  passed  through  it,  on  her  way  to 
visit  another  crone,  who  lived  hard  by,  and  with  whom  she 
was  in  the  constant  habit  of  consulting.  She  had  seen  the 
deacon  in  the  distance,  and  took  that  occasion  to  run  across 
the  road,  having  a  sort  of  instinctive  notion  that  her  pres- 
ence was  not  required  when  the  two  men  conferred  to- 
gether. What  was  the  subject  of  their  frequent  private 
communications,  the  Widow  White  did  not  exactly  know  ; 
but  what  she  imagined,  will  in  part  appear  in  her  discourse 
with  her  neighbor,  the  Widow  Stone. 

"Here's  the  deacon,  ag'in  !"  cried  the  Widow  White,  as 
she  bolted  hurriedly  into  her  friend's  presence.  "This 
makes  the  third  time  he  has  been  at  my  house  since  yester- 
day morning.  What  can  he  mean  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  dare  say,  Betsy,  he  means  no  more  than  to  visit 
the  sick,  as  he  pretends  is  the-  reason  of  his  many  visits." 

"  You  forget  it  is  Sabba'  day  ! "  added  the  Widow  White, 
with  emphasis. 

"The  better  day,  the  better  deed,  Betsy." 

"  I  know  that ;  but  it's  dreadful  often  for  a  man  to  visit 
the  sick — three  times  in  twenty-four  hours  !  " 

"  Yes  ;  'twould  have  been  more  nat'ral  for  a  woman,  a 
body  must  own,"  returned  the  Widow  Stone,  a  little  dryly. 
"  Had  the  deacon  been  a  woman,  I  dare  say,  Betsy,  you 
would  not  have  thought  so  much  of  his  visits." 

"I  should  think  nothing  of  them  at  all,"  rejoined  the 
sister  widow,  innocently  enough.  "  But  it  is  dreadful  odd 
in  a  man  to  be  visiting  about  among  the  sick  so  much — and 
he  a  deacon  of  the  meeting ! " 

"  Yes,  it  is  not  as  common  as  it  might  be,  particularly 
among  deacons.  But,  come  in,  Betsy,  and  I  will  show  you 
the  text  from  which  the  minister  preached  this  morning. 
It's  well  worth  attending  to,  for  it  touches  on  our  forlorn 
state."  Hereupon,  the  two  relicts  entered  an  inner  room, 
where- we  shall  leave  them  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  ser- 
mon, interrupted  by  many  protestations  on  the  part  of  the 
Widow  White,  concerning  the  "dreadful"  character  of 
Deacon  Pratt's  many  visits  to  her  cottage,  "  Sabba'  days" 
as  well  as  week  days. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  interview  between  the  deacon 
himself,  and  the  sick  mariner,  had  its  course.  After  tne 


32 


THE    SEA    UO.VS. 


first  salutations,  and  the  usual  inquiries,  the  visitor,  with 
some  parade  of  manner,  alluded  to  the  fact  that  he  had 
sent  for  a  physician  -for  the  other's  benefit 

"  I  did  it  of  my  own  head,"  added  the  deacon  ;  "  or,  I 
might  better  say,  of  my  own  heart.  It  was  unpleasant  to 
me  to  witness  your  sufferings,  without  doing  something  to 
alleviate  them.  To  alleviate  sorrow,  and  pain,  and  the  throes 
of  conscience,  is  one  of  the  most  pleasant  of  all  the  Chris 
tian  offices.  Yes,  I  have  sent  young  Gar'ner  across  the 
bays,  to  the  Harbor  ;  and  three  or  four  hours  hence  we 
may  look  for  him  back,  with  Dr.  Sage  in  his  boat." 

"  I  only  hope  I  shall  have  the  means  to  pay  for  all  this 
experfse  and  trouble,  deacon,"  returned  Daggett,  in  a  sort 
of  doubting  way,  that,  for  a  moment,  rendered  his  friend 
exceedingly  uncomfortable.  "  Go,  I  know  I  must,  sooner 
or  later  ;  but  could  I  only  live  to  get  to  the  Vineyard,  it 
would  be  found  that  my  share  of  the  old  homestead  would 
make  up  for  all  my  wants.  I  may  live  to  see  the  end  of 
the  other  business." 

Among  the  other  tales  of  Daggett,  was  one  \vhich  said 
that  he  had  never  yet  received  his  share  of  his  father's  prop 
erty  ;  an  account  that  was  true  enough,  though  the  truth 
might  have  shown  that  the  old  man  had  left  nothing  worth 
dividing.  He  had  been  a  common  mariner,  like  the  son, 
and  had  left  behind  him  a  common  mariner's  estate.  The 
deacon  mused  a  moment,  and  then  he  took  an  occasion  to 
advert  to  the  subject  that  had  now  been  uppermost  in  his 
thoughts  ever  since  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  holding 
secret  conferences  with  the  sick  man.  What  that  subject 
was,  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  that 
ensued. 

"  Have  you  thought  of  the  chart,  Daggett,"  asked  the 
deacon,  "and  given  an. eye  to  that  journal  ?" 

"  Both,  sir.  Your  kindness  to  me  has  been  so  great, 
that  I  am  not  a  man  apt  to  forget  it." 

"  I  wisli  you  would  show  me,  yourself,  the  precise  place 
on  the  chart,  where  them  islands  are  to  be  found.  There 
is  nothing  like  seeing  a  thing  with  one's  o\vn  eyes." 

"  You  forget  my  oath,  Deacon  Pratt.  Every  man  on  us 
took  his  bible  oath  not  to  point  out  the  position  of  the 
islands,  until  a'ter  the  year  1820.  Then,  each  and  all  on 
us  is  at  liberty  to  do  as  he  pleases.  But,  the  chart  is  in 
my  chest,  and  not  only  the  islands,  but  the  key,  is  .so 
plainly  laid  down,  that  any  mariner  could  find 'em.  With 
that  chest,  however,  I  cannot  part,  so  long  as  I  live.  Get 


7'777s    SEA   LIONS.  33 

me  well,  and  I  will  sail  in  the  Sea  Lion,  and  tell  your 
captain  Gar'ner  all  he  will  have  occasion  to  know.  The 
man's  fortune  will  be  made  who  first  gets  to  either  of  them 
places." 

"  Yes,  I  can  imagine  that,  easy  enough,  from  your  ac- 
counts, Daggett — but,  how  am  I  to  be  certain  that  some 
other  vessel  will  not  get  the  start  of  me  ?" 

"  Because  the  secret  is  now  my  own.  There  was  but 
seven  on  us,  in  that  brig,  all  told.  Of  them  seven,  four 
died  at  the  islands  of  the  fever,  homeward  bound  ;  and  of 
the  other  three,  the  captain  was  drowned  in  the  squall  I 
told  you  of,  when  he  was  washed  overboard.  That  left 
only  Jack  Thompson  and  me  ;  and  Jack,  I  think,  must  be 
the  very  man  whose  death  I  see'd,  six  months  since,  as 
being  killed  by  a  whale  on  the  False  Banks." 

"  Jack  Thompson  is  so  common  a  name,  a  body  never 
knows.  Besides,  if  he  was  killed  by  that  whale,  he  may 
have  told  the  secret  to  a  dozen  before  the  accident." 

"There's  his  oath  ag'in  it.  Jack  was  sworn,  as  well  as 
all  on  us,  and.  he  was  a  man  likely  to  stand  by  what  he 
swore  to.  This  was  none  o*f  your  custom-house  oaths,  of 
which  a  chap  might  take  a  dozen  of  a  morning,  and  all 
should  be  false  ;  but  it  was  an  oath  that  put  a  seaman  on 
his  honor,  since  it  was  a  good-fellowship  affair,  all  round." 

Deacon  Pratt  did  not  tell  Daggett  that  Thompson  might 
have  as  good  reasons  for  disregarding  the  oath  as  he  had 
himself  ;  but  he  thought  it.  These  are  things  that  no  wise 
man  utters  on  such  occasions  ;  and  this  opinion  touching 
the  equality  of  the  obligation  of  that  oath  was  one  of 
them. 

"There  is  another  hold  upon  Jack,"  continued  Daggett, 
after  reflecting  a  moment.  "  He  never  could  make  any 
fist  of  latitude  and  longitude  at  all,  and  he  kept  no  journal. 
Now,  should  he  get  it  wrong,  he  and  his  friends  might 
hunt  a  year  without  finding  either  of  the  places." 

"You  think  there  was  no  mistake  in  the  pirate's  account 
of  that  key,  and  of  the  buried  treasure  ?  "  asked  the  deacon, 
anxiously. 

"  I  would  swear  to  the  truth  of  what  he  said,  as  freely  as 
if  I  had  seen  the  box  myself.  They  was  necessitated,  as 
you  may  suppose,  or  they  never  would  have  left  so  much 
gold,  in  sich  an  uninhabited  place  ;  but  leave  it  they  did, 
on  the  word  of  a  dying  man." 

"Dying?— You  mean  the  pirate,  I  suppose?" 

11  To  be  sure  I  do.     We  was  shut  up  in  the  same  prison. 


34  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

and  we  talked  the  matter  over  at  least  twenty  times,  before 
he  was  swung  off.  When  they  were  satisfied  I  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  pirates,  I  was  cleared  ;  and  I  was  on  my  way 
to  the  Vineyard,  to  get  some  craft  or  other,  to  go  a'tcr 
these  two  treasures  (for  one  is  just  as  much  a  treasure  as 
t'other)  when  I  was  put  ashore  here.  It's  much  the  same 
to  me,  whether  the  craft  sails  from  Oyster  Pond  or  from 
the  Vineyard." 

"  Of  course.  Well,  as  much  to  oblige  you,  and  to  put 
your  mind  at  rest,  as  anything  else,  I've  bought  this  Sea 
Lion,  and  engaged  young  Roswell  Gar'ner  to  go  out  in 
her,  as  her  master.  She'll  be  ready  to  sail  in  a  fortnight, 
and,  if  things  turn  out  as  you  say,  a  good  voyage  will  she 
make.  All  interested  in  her  will  have  reason  to  rejoice.  I 
see  but  one  tiling  needful  just  now,  and  that  is,  that  you 
should  give  me  the  chart  at  once,  in  order  that  I  may  study 
it  well,  before  the  schooner  sails." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  make  the  v'y'ge  yourself,  deacon  ? " 
asked  Daggett,  in  some  surprise. 

"  Not  in  person,  certainly,"  was  the  answer.  "  I'm  get- 
ting somewhat  too  old  to  leave  home  for  so  long  a  time  ; 
and,  though  born  and  brought  up  in  sight  of  salt-water, 
I've  never  tried  it  beyond  a  trip  to  York,  or  one  to  Boston. 
Still,  I  shall  have  my  property  in  the  adventure,  and  it's 
nat'ral  to  keep  an  eye  on  that.  NOWT,  the  chart  well  studied 
beforehand  would  be  much  more  useful,  it  seems  to  me, 
than  it  can  possibly  be  if  taken  up  at  a  late  hour." 

"  There  will  be  time  enough  for  Captain  Gar'ner  to 
overhaul  his  chart  well,  afore  he  reaches  either  of  his 
ports,"  returned  the  mariner,  evasively.  "  If  I  sail  with 
him,  as  I  suppose  I  must,  nothing  will  be  easier  than  for 
me  to  give  all  the  courses  and  distances." 

Tins  reply  produced  a  long  and  brooding  silence.  By 
this  time  the  reader  will  have  got  a  clew7  to  the  nature  of 
the  secret  that  was  discussed  so  much  and  so  often  between 
these  two  men.  Daggett,  finding  himself  sick,  poor,  and 
friendless,  among  strangers,  had  early  cast  about  him  for 
the  means  of  obtaining  an  interest  with  those  who  might 
serve  him.  He  had  soon  got  an  insight  into  the  character 
of  Deacon  Pratt,  from  the  passing  remarks  of  the  Widow 
White,  who  was  induced  to  allude  to  the  uncle  in  conse- 
quence of  the  charitable  visits  of  the  niece.  One  day,  when 
matters  appeared  to  be  at  a  very  low  ebb  with  him,  and 
shortly  after  he  had  been  put  ashore,  the  sick  mariner  re- 
quested  an  interview  with  the  deacon  himself.  The  request 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


35 


had  been  reluctantly  granted  ;  but,  during  the  visit,  Dag- 
gett  had  managed  so  well  to  whet  his  visitor's  appetite  for 
gain,  that  henceforth  there  was  no  trouble  in  procuring 
the  deacon's  company.  Little  by  little  had  Daggett  let  out 
his  facts,  always  keeping  enough  in  reserve  to  render  him- 
self necessary,  until  he  had  goUiis  new  acquaintance  in  the 
highest  state  of  feverish  excitement.  The  schooner  was 
purchased,  and  all  the  arrangements  necessary  to  her  out- 
fit were  pressed  forward  as  fast  as  prudence  would  at  all 
allow.  The  chart,  and  the  latitude  and  longitude,  were 
the  circumstances  over  which  Daggett  retained  the  control. 
These  he  kept  to  himself,  though  he  averred  that  he  had 
laid  down  on  the  charts  that  were  in  his  chest  the  two  im- 
portant points  which  had  been  the  subjects  of  his  com- 
municationSc 

Although  this  man  had  been  wily  in  making  his  revela- 
tions, and  had  chosen  his  confidant  with  caution  and 
sagacity,  most  of  that  which  he  related  was  true.  He  had 
belonged  to  a  sealer  that  had  been  in  a  very  high  southern 
latitude,  where  it  had  made  some  very  important  discov- 
eries touching  the  animals  that  formed  the  objects  of  its 
search.  It  was  possible  to  fill  a  vessel  in  those  islands  in  a 
few  weeks  ;  and  the  master  of  the  sealer,  Daggett  having 
been  his  mate,  had  made  all  his  people  swear  on  their 
"  bible  oaths  "  not  to  reveal  the  facts,  except  under  pre- 
scribed circumstances.  His  own  vessel  was  full  when  he 
made  the  discoveries,  but  misfortune  befell  her  on  her 
homeward-bound  passage,  until  she  was  herself  totally  lost 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  that  in  a  part  of  the  ocean  where 
he  had  no  business  to  be. 

In  consequence  of  these  several  calamities,  Daggett  and 
one  more  man  were  the  sole  living  depositories  of  the  im- 
portant information.  These  men  separated,  and,  as  stated, 
Daggett  had  reason  to  think  that  his  former  shipmate  had 
been  recently  killed  by  a  whale.  The  life  and  movements  of 
a  sailor  are  usually  as'eccentric  as  the  career  of  a  comet. 
After  the  loss  of  the  sealing-vessel,  Daggett  remained  in  the 
West  Indies  and  on  the  Spanish  Main  for  some  time,  until, 
falling  into  evil  company,  he  was  imprisoned  on  a  charge  of 
piracy,  in  company  with  one  who  better  deserved  the  im- 
putation. While  in  the  same  cell  the  pirate  had  made  a  rela- 
tion of  all  the  incidents  of  a  very  eventful  life.  Among  other 
things  revealed  was  the  fact  that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  he 
and  two  others  had  deposited  a  very  considerable  amount 
of  treasure  on  a  key  that  he  described  very  minutely,  and 


36  THE   SEA    L7OXS. 

which  he  now  bestowed  on  Daggett  as  some  compensation 
for  his  present  unmerited  sufferings,  his  companions  having 
both  been  drowned  by  the  upsetting  of  their  boat  on  the 
return  from  the  key  in  question.  Subsequently,  this  pirate 
had  been  executed,  and  Daggett  liberated.  He  was  not  able 
to  get  to  the  key  without  making  friends  and  confidants 
on  whom  he  could  rely,  and  he  was  actually  making  the 
best  of  his  way  to  Martha's  Vineyard  with  that  intent,  when 
put  ashore  on  Oyster  Pond.  In  most  of  that  which  this 
man  had  related  to  the  deacon,  therefore,  he  had  told  the 
truth,  though  it  was  the  truth  embellished,  as  is  so  apt  to 
be  the  case  with  -men  of  vulgar  minds.  He  might  have 
been  misled  by  the  narrative  of  the  pirate,  but  it,  was  his 
own  opinion  that  he  had  not  been.  The  man  was  a  Scot, 
prudent,  wary,  and  sagacious  ;  and  in  the  revelations  he 
made  he  appeared  to  be  governed  by  a  conviction  that  his 
own  course  was  run,  and  that  it  was  best  that  his  secret 
should  not  die  with  him.  Daggett  had  rendered  him  cer- 
tain services,  too,  and  gratitude  might  have  had  some  in- 
fluence. 

"  My  mind  has  been  much  exercised  with  this  matter  of 
the  hidden  gold,"  resumed  the  deacon,  after  the  long  pause 
already  mentioned.  "  You  will  remember  that  there  may 
be  lawful  owners  of  that  money,  should  Gar'ner  even  suc- 
ceed in  finding  it." 

"  'Twould  be  hard  for  'em  to  prove  their  claims,  sir,  if 
what  McGosh  told  me  was  true.  Accordin'  to  his  account, 
the  gold  came  from  all  sides — starboard  and  larboard,  as  a 
body  might  say — and  it  was  jumbled  together,  and  so 
mixed,  that  a  young  girl  could  not  pick  out  her  lover's 
keepsake  from  among  the  other  pieces.  'Twas  the  'arnin's 
of  three  years'  cruisin',  as  I  understood  him  to  say  ;  and 
much  of  the  stuff  had  been  exchanged  in  port,  especially 
to  get  the  custom-house  officers  and  king's  officers  out  of 
its  wake.  There's  king's  officers  among  them  bloody 
Spaniards,  Deacon  Pratt,  all  the  same  as  among  the  Eng- 
lish." 

"  Be  temperate  in  your  language,  friend  ;  a  rough  speech 
is  unseemly,  particularly  on  the  Lord's  day." 

Daggett  rolled  the  tobacco  over  his  tongue,  and  his  eyes 
twinkled  with  a  sort  of  leer,  which  indicated  that  the  fellow 
was  not  without  some  humor.  He  submitted  patiently  to 
the  rebuke,  however,  making  no  remonstrance  against  its 
reception. 

"  No,  no,"  he  added  presently,  "  a  starn  chase,  they  say, 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


37 


is  a  long  chase  ;  and  the  owners  of  them  doubloons,  if 
owners  they  can  now  be  called,  must  be  out  of  sight 
long  before  this.  Accordin'  to  McGosh,  some  of  the  gold 
r'aally  captured  had  passed  back  through  the  hands  of 
them  that  sent  it  to  sea,  and  they  did  not  know  their  own 
children  !  " 

"  It  is  certainly  hard  to  identify  coin,  and  it  would  be  a 
bold  man  who  should  stand  up  in  open  court,  and  make 
oath  to  its  being  the  same  he  had  once  held.  I  have  heard 
of  the  same  gold's  having  answered  the  purposes  of  twenty 
banks,  one  piece  being  so  like  another." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,  gold  is  gold  ;  and  any  of  it  is  good  enough 
for  me,  though  doubloons  is  my  favor/to.  When  a  fellow 
has  got  half-a-dozen  doubloons  alongside  of  his  ribs  he 
can  look  the  landlord  full  in  the  eye  ;  and  no  one  thinks 
of  saying  to  sich  as  he,  '  It's  time  to  think  of  shipping 
ag'in.'  " 

From  the  nature  of  this  discourse,  it  will  not  be  easy  for 
the  reader  to  imagine  the  real  condition  of  Daggett.  At 
the  very  moment  he  was  thus  conversing  of  money,  and 
incidentally  manifesting  his  expectations  of  accompanying 
Roswell  Gardiner  in  the  expedition  that  was  about  to  sail, 
the  man  had  not  actually  four-and-twenty  hours  of  life  in 
him.  Mary  Pratt  had  foreseen  his  true  state,  accustomed 
as  she  was  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  dying ;  but  no 
one  else  appeared  to  be  aware  of  it,  not  even  the  deacon. 
It  was  true  that  the  fellow  spoke,  as  it  might  be,  from  his 
throat  only,  and  that  his  voice  was  hollow,  and  sometimes 
reduced  to  a  whisper ;  but  he  ascribed  this,  himself,  to  the 
circumstance  that  he  had  taken  a  cold.  Whether  the  dea- 
con believed  this  account  or  not,  it  might  be  difficult  to 
say;  but  he  appeared  to  give  it  full  credit.  Perhaps  his 
mind  was  so  much  occupied  with  the  subject  of  his  dis- 
cussion with  Daggett  that  it  did  not  sufficiently  advert  to 
the  real  condition  of  the  man. 

Twice  that  afternoon  did  Deacon  Pratt  go  between  the 
cottage  of  the  Widow  White  and  his  own  dwelling.  As 
often. did  the  relict  fly  across  the  way  to  express  her  won- 
der to  the  Widow  Stone  at  the  frequency  of  the  rich  man's 
visits.  The  second  time  that  he  came  was  when  he  saw  the 
whale-boat  rounding  the  end  of  Shelter  Island,  and  he  per- 
ceived, by  means  of  his  glass,  that  Dr.  Sage  was  in  it.  At 
this  sight  the  deacon  hurried  oif  to  the  cottage  again,  hav- 
ing something  to  say  to  Daggett  that  could  no  longer  be 
delayed. 


38  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

11  The  whale-boat  will  soon  be  in,"  he  observed,  as  soon 
as  he  had  taken  his  seat,  "  and  we  shall  shortly  have  the 
doctor  here.  That  young  Gar'ner  does  what  he  has  to  do, 
always,  with  a  jerk  !  There  was  no  such  haste,  but  he 
seems  to  be  ever  in  a  hurry  !  " 

*'  Do  what  is  to  be  done  at  once,  and  then  lie  by,  is  the 
sailor's  rule,  deacon,"  rejoined  the  mariner.  "Squalls,  and 
gusts,  and  reefin',  and  brailin'  up,  and  haulin'  down,  won't 
wait  for  the  seaman's  leisure.  His  work  must  be  done  at 
once,  or  it  will  not  be  done  at  all.  I'm  not  afeard  of  the 
doctor  ;  so  let  him  come  as  soors  as  he  pleases.  Medicine 
can't  hurt  a  body,  if  he  don't  take  it." 

"  There's  one  thing  I  wish  to  say  to  you,  Daggett,  be- 
fore Dr.  Sage  comes  in.  Talking  too  much  may  excite 
you,  especially  talking  of  matters  that  are  of  interest ;  and 
you  may  give  him  a  false  impression  of  your  state  should 
you  get  the  pulse  up  and  the  cheek  flushed  by  over-talk- 
ing." 

"I  understand  you,  deacon.  My  secret  is  my  secret, 
and  no  doctor  shall  get  it  out  of  me  as  long  as  I  know 
what  I  say.  I'm  not  so  friendly  with  them  as  to  seelrcoun- 
sel  among  doctors." 

"  Then  it's  the  Lord's  day,"  added  the  Pharisee,  "  and  it 
is  not  seemly  to  dwell  too  much  on  worldly  interests  on 
the  Sabbath." 

A  novice  might  have  been  surprised,  after  what  had 
passed,  at  the  exceeding  coolness  with  which  the  deacon 
uttered  this  sentiment.  Daggett  was  not  so  in  the  least, 
however ;  for  he  had  taken  the  measure  of  his  new  confi- 
dant's conscience,  and  had  lived  long  enough  to  know  how 
marked  was  the  difference  between  professions  and  prac- 
tice. Nothing,  indeed,  is  more  common  than  to  meet  with 
those  who  denounce  that  in  others  which  is  of  constant 
occurrence  with  themselves ;  and  who  rail  at  vices  that  are 
so  interwoven  with  their  own  moral  being  as  to  compose 
integral  portions  of  their  existence.  As  for  the  deacon, 
he  really  thought  it  would  be  unseemly,  and  of  evil  exam- 
ple, for  Daggett  to  converse  with  Dr.  Sage  touching  these 
doubloons  on  the  Lord's  day  ;  while  he  had  felt  no  scruples 
himself,  a  short  hour  before,  to  make  them  the  theme  of  a 
long  and  interesting  discussion  in  his  own  person.  It 
might  not  repay  us  for  the  trouble  to  look  for  the  salve 
that  the  worthy  man  applied  to  his  own  conscience  by  way 
of  reconciling  the  apparent  contradiction  ;  though  it  prob- 
ably was  connected  with  some  fancied  and  especial  duty  on 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  3g 

his  part  of  taking  care  of  the  sick  man's  secrets.  Sick- 
ness,  it  is  well  known,  forms  the  apology  for  many  an  error, 
both  of  omission  and  commission. 

Dr.  Sage  now  arrived  ;  a  shrewd,  observant,  intelligent 
man,  who  had  formerly  represented  the  district  in  which 
he  lived  in  Congress.  He  was  skilful  in  his  profession, 
and  soon  made  up  his  mind  concerning  the  state  of  his 
patient.  As  the  deacon  never  left  him  for  a  moment,  to 
him  he  first  communicated  his  opinion,  after  the  visit,  as 
the  two  walked  back  toward  the  well-known  dwelling  of 
the  Pratts. 

"This  poor  man  is  in  the  last  stages  of  a  decline,"  said 
the  physician,  coolly,  "and  medicine  can  do  him  no  good. 
He  may  live  a  month  ;  though  it  would  not  surprise  me  to 
hear  of  his  death  in  an  hour." 

"  Do  you  think  his  time  so  short !  "  exclaimed  the  dea- 
con ;  "  I  was  in  hopes  he  might  last  until  the  Sea  Lion  goes 
out,  and  that  a  voyage  might  help  to  set  him  up." 

"Nothing  will  ever  set  him  up  again,  deacon,  you  may 
depend  on  that.  No  sea- voyage  will  do  him  any  good  ; 
and  it  is  better  that  he  should  remain  on  shore,  on  account 
of  the  greater  comforts  he  will  get.  Does  he  belong  on 
Oyster  Pond  ?  " 

"  He  comes  from  somewhere  east,"  answered  the  deacon, 
careful  not  to  let  the  doctor  know  the  place  whence  the 
stranger  had  come,  though  to  little  purpose,  as  will  pres- 
ently be  seen.  "  He  has  neither  friend  nor  acquaintance 
here  ;  though  I  should  think  his  effects  sufficient  to  meet  all 
charges." 

"Should  they  not  be,  he  is  welcome  to  my  visit,"  an- 
swered the  doctor,  promptly ;  for  he  well  understood  the 
deacon's  motive  in  making  the  remark.  '"  I  have  enjoyed 
a  pleasant  sail  across  the  bays  with  young  Gar'ner,  who 
has  promised  to  take  me  back  again.  I  like  boating,  and 
am  always  better  for  one  of  these  sailing  excursions. 
Could  I  carry  my  patients  along,  half  of  them  would  be 
benefited  by  the  pure  air  and  the  exercise." 

"  It's  a  grateful  thing  to  meet  with  one  of  your  temper- 
ament, doctor  ;  but  Daggett— 

"Is  this  man  named  "Daggett  ?"  interrupted  the  physi- 
cian. 

"I  believe  that  is  what  he  calls  himself,  though  a  body 
never  is  certain  of  what  such  people  say." 

"That's  tru'e,  deacon  ;  your  rambling,  houseless  sailor  is 
commonly  a  great  liar — at  least,  so  have  I  always  found 


40  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

him.  Most  of  their  log-books  will  not  do  to  read  ;  or,  for 
that  matter,  to  be  written  out,  in  full.  But  if  this  man's 
name  is  really  Daggett,  he  must  come  from  the  Vineyard. 
There  are  Daggetts  there  in  scores  ;  yes,  he  must  be  a 
Vineyard  man." 

"  There  are  Daggetts  in  Connecticut,  as  I  know,  of  a  cer- 
tainty— 

"  We  all  know  that,  for  it  is  a  name  of  weight  there  ;  but 
the  Vineyard  is  the  cradle  of  the  breed.  The  man  has  a 
Vineyard  look  about  him,  too.  I  dare  say,  now,  he  has 
not  been  home  for  many  a  day." 

The  deacon  was  in  an  agony.  He  was  menaced  with  the 
very  thing  he  was  in  the  hope  of  staving  off,  or  a  discussion 
on  the  subject  of  the  sick  man's  previous  life.  The  doctor 
was  so  mercurial  and  quick  of  apprehension,  that,  once 
fairly  on  the  scent,  he  was  nearly  certain  he  would  extract 
everything  from  the  patient.  This  was  the  principal  rea- 
son why  the  deacon  did  not  wish  to  send  for  him  ;  the  ex- 
pense, though  a  serious  objection  to  one  so  niggardly,  be- 
ing of  secondary  consideration  when  so  many  doubloons 
were  at  stake.  It  was  necessary,  however,  to  talk  on 
boldly,  as  any  appearance  of  hesitation  might  excite  the 
doctor's  distrust.  The  answers,  therefore,  came  instanta- 
neously. 

"  It  may  be  as  you  say,  doctor,"  returned  the  deacon  ;  "  for 
them  Vineyard  folks  (Anglice  folk)  are  great  wanderers." 

"  That  are  they.  I  had  occasion  to  pass  a  day  there,  a 
few  years  since,  on  my  way  to  Boston,  and  I  found  five 
women  on  the  island  to  one  man.  It  must  be  a  particularly 
conscientious  person  who  could  pass  a  week  there,  and  es- 
cape committing  the  crime  of  bigamy.  As  for  your  bach- 
elors, I  have  heard  that  a  poor  wretch  of  that  description, 
who  unluckily  iound  himself  cast  ashore  there,  was  married 
three  times  the  same  morning." 

As  the  doctor  was  a  little  of  a  wag,  Deacon  Pratt  did  not 
deem  it  necessary  religiously  to  believe  all  that  now  escaped 
him  ;  but  he  was  glad  to  keep  him  in  this  vein,  in  order  to 
prevent  his  getting  again  on  the  track  of  Daggett's  early 
life.  The  device  succeeded,  Martha's  Vineyard  being  a 
standing  joke  for  all  in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  on  the 
subject  of  the  ladies. 

Mary  was  in  the  porch  to  receive  her  uncle  and  the  phy- 
sician. It  was  unnecessary  for  her  to  ask  any  questions, 
for  her  speaking  countenance  said  all  that  was  required, 
in  order  to  obtain  an  answer. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  41 

';  He's  in  a  bad  way,  certainly,  young  lady,"  observed 
the  doctor,  taking  a  seat  on  one  of  the  benches,  "  and  I 
can  give  no  hope.  How  long  he  may  live  is  another  mat- 
ter. If  he  has  friends  whom  he  wishes  to  see,  or  if  he  has 
any  affairs  to  settle,  the  truth  should  be  told  him  at  once, 
and  no  time  lost." 

"  He  knows  nothing  of  his  friends,"  interrupted  the 
deacon,  quite  thrown  off  his  guard  by  his  own  eagerness, 
and  unconscious,  at  the  moment,  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  was  committing  himself  on  the  subject  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  sick  man's  birth-place,  "  not  having  been  on  the 
Vineyard,  or  heard  from  there,  since  he  first  left  home, 
quite  fifty  years  since." 

The  doctor  saw  the  contradiction,  and  it  set  him  think- 
ing, and  conjecturing,  but  he  was  too  discreet  to  betray 
himself.  An  explanation  there  probably  was,  and  he 
trusted  to  time  to  ascertain  it. 

"  What  has  become  of  Captain  Gar'ner  ? "  he  asked, 
looking  curiously  around,  as  if  he  expected  to  find  him 
tied  to  the  niece's  apron-string. 

Mary  blushed,  but  she  was  too  innocent  to  betray  any 
real  confusion. 

"  He  has  gone  back  to  the  schooner,  in  order  to  have 
the  boat  ready  for  your  return." 

"  And  that  return  must  take  place,  young  lady,  as  soon 
as  I  have  drunk  two  cups  of  your  tea.  I  have  patients  at 
the  Harbor  who  must  yet  be  visited  this  evening,  and  the 
wind  goes  down  with  the  sun.  Let  the  poor  man  take  the 
draughts  I  have  left  for  him — they  will  soothe  him,  and 
help  his  breathing — more  than  this  my  skill  can  do  noth- 
ing for  him.  Deacon,  you  need  say  nothing  of  this  visit 
— I  am  sufficiently  repaid  by  the  air,  the  sail,  and  Miss 
Mary's  welcome.  I  perceive  that  she  is  glad  to  see  me, 
and  that  is  something,  between  so  young  a  woman  and  so 
old  a  man.  And  now  for  the  two  cups  of  tea." 

The  tea  was  drunk,  and  the  doctor  took  his  leave,  shak- 
ing* his  head  as  he  repeated  to  the  niece,  that  the  medical 
science  could  do  nothing  for  the  sick  man. 

"  Let  his  friends  know  his  situation  at  once,  deacon,"  he 
said,  as  they  walked  toward  the  wharf  where  the  whale- 
boat  was  all  ready  for  a  start.  "  There  is  not  an  hour  to 
lose.  Now  I  think  of  it,  the  Flash,  Captain  Smith,  is  to 
take  a  cargo  of  oil  to  Boston,  and  sails  to-morrow.  I  can 
write  a  line  by  her,  as  it  is  ten  to  one  she  will  go  into  the 
Hole.  All  our  craft  get  into  that  Hole,  or  into  Tarpaulin 


42  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Cove,  before  they  venture  across  the  Shoals  ;  and  a  letter 
addressed  to  any  person  of  the  name  of  Daggett  might  find 
the  right  man.  I'll  write  it  this  very  evening." 

The  announcement  of  this  intention  threw  the  deacon 
into  a  cold-sweat,  but  he  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  say 
aught  against  it.  He  had  bought  the  Sea  Lion,  engaged 
Roswell  Gardiner,  and  otherwise  expended  a  large  sum  of 
money,  in  the  expectation  of  handling  those  doubloons, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  furs  ;  and  here  was  a  chance  of  all 
his  calculations  being  defeated  by  the  interference  of  im- 
pertinent and  greedy  relatives  !  There  was  no  remedy 
but  patience,  and  this  the  deacon  endeavored  to  exercise. 

Deacon  Pratt  did  not  accompany  the  doctor  beyond  the 
limits  of  his  own  orchard.  It  was  not  deemed  seemly  for 
a  member  of  the  meeting  to  be  seen  walking  out  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  this  was  remembered  in  season  to  prevent 
neighborly  comments.  It  is  true  the  doctor  might  furnish 
an  apology  ;  but  your  strictly  religious  people,  when  they 
undertake  the  care  of  other  people's  consciences,  do  not 
often  descend  to  these  particulars. 

No  sooner  had  Gardiner  and  the  physician  re-embarked, 
than  the  deacon  returned  to  the  cottage  of  the  Widow 
White.  Here  he  had  another  long  and  searching  discourse 
with  the  sick  mariner.  Poor  Daggett  was  wearied  with 
the  subject ;  but  Dr.  Sage's  predictions  of  an  early  termi- 
nation of  the  case,  and  the  possibility  that  kinsmen  might 
cross  over  from  the  "Vineyard,"  in  order  to  learn  what  the 
long-absent  man  had  in  his  possession,  acted  on  him  as 
keen  incentives.  By  learning  the  most  material  facts  now, 
the  Sea  Lion  might  get  so  far  ahead  of  all  competitors  as 
to  secure  the  prizes,  even  should  Daggett  let  others  into 
the  secret,  and  start  another  vessel  on  the  same  expedition. 
His  own  schooner  was  nearly  ready  for  sea,  whereas  time 
would  be  needed  in  order  to  make  an  entire  outfit. 

But  Daggett  did  not  appear  to  be  disposed  to  be  more 
communicative  than  heretofore.  He  went  over  the  narra- 
tive of  the  discovery  of  the  sealing-island,  and  gave  a 
graphic  account  of  the  number  and  tame  condition  of  the 
animals  who  frequented  it.  A  man  might  walk  in  their 
midst  without  giving  the  smallest  alarm.  In  a  word,  all 
that  a  gang  of  good  hands  would  have  to  do  would  be  to 
kill  and  skin,  and  secure  the  oil.  It  would  be  like  picking 
up  dollars  on  a  sea-beach.  Sadly  !  sadly  !  indeed,  was  the 
deacon's  cupidity  excited  by  this  account ;  a  vivid  picture 
of  whales  or  seals  having  some  such  effect  on  the  imagi* 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  47 

nation  of  a  true  Suffolk  County  man,  or  more  properly  on 
that  of  an  East-ender,  as  those  who  live  beyond  Riverhead 
are  termed,  as  a  glowing  account  of  a  prairie  covered  with 
wheat  has  on  that  of  a  Wolverine  or  a  Buckeye  ;  or  an 
enumeration  of  cent,  per  cent,  has  on  the  feelings  of  a 
Wall-street  broker.  Never  before  had  Deacon  Pratt  been 
so  much  "exercised"  with  a  love  of  Mammon.  The 
pirate's  tale,  which  was  also  recapitulated  with  much 
gusto,  scarce  excited  him  as  much  as  Daggett's  glowing 
account  of  the  number,  condition,  and  size  of  the  seals. 

Nothing  was  withheld  but  the  latitudes  and  longitudes. 
No  art  of  the  deacon's,  and  he  practised  many,  could  ex- 
tort from  the  mariner  these  most  material  facts,  without 
which  all  the  rest  were  useless  ;  and  the  old  man  worked 
himself  into  a  fever  almost  as  high  as  that  which  soon  came 
over  Daggett  in  the  effort  to  come  at  these  facts — but  all 
in  vain. 

At  that  hour  the  pulse  of  the  sick  man  usually  quick- 
ened ;  but  on  this  occasion  it  fairly  thumped.  He  had 
excited  himself  as  well  as  his  listener  ;  and  the  inconsid- 
erate manner  in  which  both  had  yielded  up  their  energies 
to  these  enticing  images  of  wealth  contributed  largely  to 
increase  the  evil.  At  length  exhaustion  came  to  put  an 
end  to  the  scene,  which  was  getting  to  be  dramatic  as  well 
as  revolting. 

So  conscious  was  the  deacon  on  returning  home  that 
evening,  that  his  mind  was  not  in  such  a  condition  as  it 
behooved  him  to  keep  it  on  the  Lord's  day,  that  he  was 
afraid  to  encounter  the  placid  eye  of  his  devout  and  single- 
minded  niece.  Instead  of  joining  her  and  uniting  in  the 
services  that  were  customary  at  that  hour,  he  walked  in 
the  adjoining  orchard  until  near  nine  o'clock.  Mammon 
was  uppermost  in  the  place  of  the  Deity,  and  habit  offered 
too  strong  a  barrier  to  permit  him  to  bring,  as  it  were,  the 
false  god  openly  into  the  presence  of  the  true. 


44  THE   SEA    LIONS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  Oh  !  mourn  not  for  them,  their  grief  is  o'er, 
Oh  !  weep  not  for  them,  they  weep  no  more  ; 
For  deep  is  their  sleep,  though  cold  and  hard 
Their  pillow  may  be  in  the  old  kirk-yard." — BAYLY. 

EARLY  on  the  succeeding  morning  the  whole  household 
of  Deacon  Pratt,  himself  included,  were  up  and  doing.  It 
was  as  the  sun  came  up  out  of  the  waters  that  Mary  and 
her  uncle  met  in  the  porch,  as  if  to  greet  each  other. 

"  Yonder  comes  the  Widow  White,  and  seemingly  in  a 
great  hurry,"  said  the  niece,  anxiously.  "  I  am  afraid  her 
patient  is  worse  !  " 

"  He  seemed  better  when  I  left  him  last  evening,  though 
a  little  tired  with  talking,"  returned  the  uncle.  "  The 
man  would  talk,  do  all  I  could  to  stop  him.  I  wanted 
to  get  but  two  or  three  words  from  him,  and  he  used  a 
thousand,  without  once  using  the  few  I  wished  most  to 
hear.  A  talking  man  is  that  Daggett,  I  can  tell  you, 
Mary !  " 

"  He'll  never  talk  ag'in,  deacon  !  "  exclaimed  the  Widow 
White,  who  had  got  so  near  as  to  hear  the  concluding 
words  of  the  last  speaker — "  He'll  never  say  good  or  evil 


more 


The  deacon  was  so  confounded  as  to  be  speechless.  As 
for  Mary,  she  expressed  her  deep  regrets  that  the  sum- 
mons should  have  been  so  sudden,  and  that  die  previous 
preparation  was  so  small ;  matters  that  gave  her  far  more 
concern  than  any  other  consideration.  They  were .  not 
long  left  to  conjectures,  the  voluble  widow  soon  supplying 
all  the  facts  that  had  occurred.  It  appeared  that  Daggett 
died  in  the  night,  the  widow  having  found  him  stiff  and 
cold  on  visiting  his  bedside  a  few  minutes  before.  That 
this  somewhat  unexpected  event,  as  to  the  time  at  least, 
was  hastened  by  the  excitement  of  the  conversation  men- 
tioned, there  can  be  little  doubt,  though  no  comment  was 
made  on  the  circumstance.  The  immediate  cause  of  death 
was  suffocation  from  the  effects  of  suppuration,  as  so  often 
occurs  in  rapid  consumption* 

It  would  be  representing  Deacon  Pratt  as  a  worse  man 
than  he  actually  was,  to  say  that  this  sudden  death  had  no 
effect  on  his  feelings.  For  a  short  time  it  brought  him 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


45 


back  to  a  sense  of  his  own  age,  and  condition,  and  pros- 
pects. For  half  an  hour  these  considerations  troubled 
him,  but  the  power  of  Mammon  gradually  resumed  its 
sway,  and  the  unpleasant  images  slowly  disappeared  in 
others  that  he  found  more  agreeable.  Then  he  began 
seriously  to  bethink  him  of  what  the  circumstances' re-- 
quired to  be  done. 

As  there  was  nothing  unusual  in  the  death  of  Daggett, 
the  investigations  of  the  coroner  were  not  required.  It 
was  clearly  a  natural,  though  a  sudden  death.  It  remained, 
therefore,  only  to  give  directions  about  the  funeral,  and 
to  have  an  eye  to  the  safe-keeping  of  the  effects  of  the 
deceased.  The  deacon  assumed  the  duty  of  taking  charge 
of  everything.  The  chest  of  Daggett  was  removed  to  his 
house  for  safe-keeping,  the  key  having  been  taken  from 
the  pocket  of  his  vest,  and  the  necessary  orders  were  given 
for  the  final  disposition  of  the  body. 

The  deacon  had  another  serious,  and  even  painful  half 
hour,  when  he  first  looked  upon  the  corpse.  There  it  lay, 
a  senseless  shell,  deserted  by  its  immortal  tenant,  and 
totally  unconscious  of  that  subject  which  had  so  lately 
and  so  intensely  interested  them  both.  It  appeared  as  if 
the  ghastly  countenance  expressed  its  sense  of  the  utter 
worthlessness  of  all  earthly  schemes  of  wealth  and  happi- 
ness. Eternity  seemed  stamped  upon  the  pinched  and 
sunken  features  ;  not  eternity  in  the  sense  of  imperishable 
matter,  but  in  the  sense  of  the  fate  of  man.  Had  all  the 
gold  of  the  Indies  laid  within  his  reach,  the  arm  of  Daggett 
was  now  powerless  to  touch  it.  His  eye  could  no  longer 
gloat  upon  treasure,  nor  any  part  of  his  corporeal  system 
profit  by  its  possession.  A  more  striking  commentary  on 
the  vanity  of  human  wishes  could  not,  just  then,  have 
been  offered  to  the  consideration  of  the  deacon.  His 
moral  being  was  very  strangely  constituted.  From  early 
childhood  he  had  bee'n  accustomed  to  the  cant  of  religion  ; 
and,  in  many  instances,  impressions  had  been  made  on 
him  that  produced  effects  that  it  was  easy  to  confound 
with  the  fruits  that  real  piety  brings  forth.  This  is  a  re- 
sult that  we  often  find  in  a  state  of  society  in  which  ap- 
pearances are  made  to  take  the  place  of  reality.  What  is 
more,  it  is  a  result  that  we  may  look  for  equally  among 
the  formalists  of  established  sects,  and  among  the  descend- 
ants of  those  who  once  deserted  the  homes  of  their  fathers 
in  order  to  escape  from  the  impiecy  of  so  meretricious  an 
abuse  of  the  substance  of  godliness.  In  the  case  of  the 


4<5  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

latter,  appearances  occupy  the  mind  more  than  that  love 
of  God  which  is  the  one  great  test  of  human  conversion 
from  sin  to  an  improving  state  of  that  holiness,  without 
which  we  are  told  no  man  shall  see  his  Creator  ;  without 
which,  indeed,  no  man  could  endure  to  look  upon  that 
dread  Being  face  to  face. 

The  deacon  had  all  the  forms  of  godliness  in  puritanical 
perfection.  He  had  never  taken  the  "  name  of  his  God  in 
vain,"  throughout  the  course  of  a  long  life  ;  but  he  had 
abstained  from  this  revolting  and  gratuitous  sin,  more  be- 
cause it  was  a  part  of  the  teachings  of  his  youth  so  to  do, 
and  because  the  neighbors  would  have  been  shocked  at  its 
commission,  than  because  he  felt  the  deep  reverence  for 
his  Maker,  which  it  became  the  insignificant  being  that 
was  the  work  of  his  hand  to  entertain  ;  and  which  would, 
of  itself,  most  effectually  have  prevented  any  wanton  use 
of  his  holy  name,  let  the  neighbors  feel  or  think  as  they 
might  on  the  subject.  In  this  way  Deacon  Pratt  might  be 
said  to  have  respected  most  of  the  commands  of  the  deca- 
logue ;  not,  however,  because  the  spirit  of  God  impelled 
him,  through  love,  to  reverence  and  obey,  but  because  he 
had  been  brought  up  in  a  part  of  the  country  where  it  was 
considered  seemly  and  right  to  be  moral,  to  the  senses,  at 
least,  if  not  to  the  all-seeing  eye  above.  It  was  in  this  way 
that  the  deacon  had  arrived  at  his  preferment  in  the  meet- 
ing. He  had  all  the  usual  sectarian  terms  at  the  end  of  his 
tongue  ;  never  uttered  a  careless  expression  ;  was  regular 
at  meeting  ;  apparently  performed  all  the  duties  that  his 
church  required  of  its  professors,  in  the  way  of  mere  relig- 
ious observances  ;  yet  was  he  as  far  from  being  in  that 
state  which  St.  Paul  has  described  succinctly  as  " for  me 
to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain,"  as  if  he  had  been  a 
pagan.  It  was  not  the  love  of  God  that  was  active  in  his 
soul,  but  the  love  of  self  ;  and  he  happened  to  exhibit  his 
passion  under  these  restrained  and  deceptive  forms,  simply 
because  he  had  been  born  and  educated  in  a  state  of  society 
where  they  composed  an  integral  part  of  existence.  Cov- 
etousness  was  the  deacon's  besetting  sin  ;  and,  as  it  is  a 
vice  that  may  be  pretty  well  concealed,  with  a  little  atten- 
tion to  appearances,  it  was  the  less  likely  to  expose  him  to 
comments  than  almost  any  other  sin.  It  is  true,  that  the 
neighborhood  sometimes  fancied  him  "  close,"  or,  as  they 
expressed  it,  "cluss,"  and  .men  got  to  look  sharply  to  their 
own  interests  in  their  dealings  with  him  ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
there  was  perhaps  more  reason  to  apprehend,  in  such  a 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


47 


community,  that  the  example  of  so  good  a  man  should  be 
accepted  as  authority,  than  that  his  acts  should  impeach 
•liis  character,  or  endanger  his  standing. 

Very  different  were  the  situation,  feelings,  and  motives 
of  the  niece.  She  devoutly  loved  God,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, all  of  those  whom  he  had  created  and  placed 
around  her.  Her  meek  and  gentle  spirit  led  her  to  wor- 
ship in  sincerity  and  truth  ;  and  all  that  she  thought,  said, 
and  did,  was  under  the  correction  of  the  principles  such 
motives  could  best  produce.  Her  woman's  love  for  Ros- 
well  Gardiner  alone  troubled  her  otherwise  happy  and 
peaceful  existence.  That,  indeed,  had  caused  her  more 
than  once  to  falter  in  her  way ;  but  she  struggled  with  the 
weakness,  and  had  strong  hopes  of  being  able  to  overcome 
it.  To  accept  of  any  other  man  as  a  husband  was,  in  her 
eyes,  impossible  ;  with  the  feelings  she  was  fully  conscious 
of  entertaining  toward  him,  it  would  have  been  both  in- 
delicate and  unjust  ;  but  to  accept  /«';//,  while  he  regarded 
the  Redeemer  as  only  man,  however  pure  and  exalted,  she 
felt  would  be  putting  herself  willingly,  or  wilfully,  into  the 
hands  of  the  great  enemy  of  her  salvation.  Often  and 
often  had  she  prayed  for  her  lover,  even  more  devoutly, 
and  with  hotter  tears,  than  she  had  ever  prayed  for  her- 
self ;  but,  so  far  as  she  could  discover,  without  any  visible 
fruits.  His  opinions  remained  unchanged,  and  his  frank 
nature  forbade  him  from  concealing  their  state  from  Mary. 
In  this  way,  then,  was  unhappiness  stealing  on  the  early 
and  innocent  hours  of  one  who  might,  otherwise,  have 
been  so  contented  and  blessed.  It  formed  a  somewhat  pe- 
culiar feature  in  her  case,  that  her  uncle  favored  the  views 
of  her  suitor.  This  rendered  the  trials  of  the  niece  so 
much  the  more  severe,  as  she  had  no  other  judgment  to 
sustain  her  than  her  own,  fortified  as  that  was,  however, 
by  the  consciousness  of  right,  and  the  support  of  that  great 
Power  which  never  deserts  the  faithful. 

Such  was  the  state  of  feeling  among  some  or  the  princi- 
pal actors  of  our  tale,  when  the  sudden  death  of  Daggett 
occurred.  The  body  was  not  removed  from  the  house  of 
the  Widow  White,  but  the  next  morning  it  was  conveyed  to 
the  " grave-yard " — "  church-yard"  would  have  sounded 
too  episcopal — and  interred  in  a  corner  that  was  bestowed 
on  the  unhonored  and  unknown.  It  was  then,  only,  that 
the  deacon  believed  he  was  the  sole  depository  of  the  im- 
portant secrets.  He  had  the  charts  in  his  possession,  and 
no  more  revelations  could  pass  the  lips  of  Daggett.  Should 


/fS  7V//?    SEA    LIONS. 

the  friends  of  the  deceased  sailor  hear  of  his  death,  and 
come  to  look  after  his  effects,  there  was  very  little  prob- 
ability of  their  finding  anything  among  them  to  furnish  vi 
clew  to  either  the  new  sealing-ground,  or  to  the  buried 
treasure  of  the  pirate.  In  order  to  be  secured,  he  even 
went  a  little  beyond  his  usual  precautions,  actually  dis- 
charging all  indebtedness  of  the  deceased  to  the  Widow 
White  out  of  his  own  pocket,  by  giving  to  her  the  sum  of 
ten  dollars.  This  was  handsome  compensation  in  her  eyes 
as  well  as  in  his,  and  he  quieted  the  suspicions  so  great 
and  unusual  an  act  of  liberality  would  be  apt  to  awaken, 
by  saying,  "he  would  look  to  the  friends,  or  if  they  failed 
him,  to  the  effects,  for  his  returns  ;  for  it  was  better  he 
should  lose  by  the  stranger,  than  a  lone  widow."  He  also 
paid  for  the  coffin,  the  digging  of  the  grave,  and  the  other 
light  expenses  of  the  interment.  In  a  word,  the  deacon 
endeavored  to  hush  all  impertinent  inquiries  by  applying 
the  salve  of  silver,  wherever  it  was  needed. 

The  chest  had  been  removed  to  a  large,  light  closet,  that 
communicated  with  the  deacon's  own  room.  When  all  his 
accounts  were  settled,  thither  he  repaired,  armed  with  the 
key  that  was  to  expose  so  much  treasure  to  his  longing 
eyes.  Some  slight  qualms  arose,  after  he  had  locked  him- 
self in  the  room,  touching  the  propriety  of  his  opening  the 
chest.  It  was  not  his,  certainly  ;  but  he  put  such  a  con- 
struction on  the  nature  of  the  revelations  of  Daggett,  as  he 
thought  would  fully  justify  him  in  proceeding.  He  had 
purchased  the  schooner  expressly  to  go  in  quest  of  the 
seals  and  the  treasure.  This  he  had  done  with  Daggett's 
knowledge  and  acquiescence  ;  nor  did  he  conceive  that  his 
own  rights  were  lessened  by  the  mariner's  decease.  As  for 
himself,  the  deacon  had  never  believed  that  the  Martha's 
Vineyard  man  could  accompany  the  expedition,  so  that  his 
presence  or  absence  could  have  no  influence  on  his  own 
rights.  It  is  true,  the  deacon  possessed  no  direct  legal 
transfer  of  the  charts  ;  but  he  inferred  that  all  the  previous 
circumstances  gave  him  sufficient  claims  to  justify  him  in, 
at  least,  looking  into  their  contents. 

It  was  a  solemn,  as  well  as  an  anxious  moment  to  the 
deacon,  when  he  first  raised  the  lid  of  the  chest.  Solemn, 
because  it  was  not  possible  to  forget  the  recent  decease  of 
its  late  owner,  and  anxious,  inasmuch  as  he  had  no  cer- 
tainty that  he  should  find,  even  on  the  charts,  the  places  of 
which  he  sought  the  latitudes  and  longitudes.  Certainly, 
nothing  like  treasure  presented  itself  to  his  eyes,  when  all 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  49 

tnat  Daggett  had  left  behind  him  lay  exposed  to  view.  The 
chest  of  a  common  sailor  is  usually  but  ill-furnished,  un- 
less it  may  be  just  after  his  return  from  a  long  and  well- 
paid  voyage,  and  before  he  has  had  time  to  fall  back  on  his 
purchases  of  clc^hes,  as  a  fund  to  supply  his  cravings  for 
personal  gratification.  This  of  Daggett's  formed  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule.  The  few  clothes  it  contained  were  of  the 
lightest  sort,  having  been  procured  in  warm  climates,  and 
were  well  worn,  in  addition.  The  palms,  needles,  and 
shells,  and  carving  in  whalebone,  had  all  been  sold  to  meet 
their  owner's  wants,  and  nothing  of  that  sort  remained. 
There  were  two  old,  dirty,  and  ragged  charts,  and  on  these 
the  deacon  laid  his  hands,  much  as  the  hawk,  in  its  swoop, 
descends  on  his  prey.  As  it  did,  however,  a  tremor  came 
over  him,  that  actually  compelled  him  to  throw  himself 
into  a  chair,  and  to  rest  for  a  moment. 

The  first  of  the  charts  opened,  the  deacon  saw,  at  a 
glance,  was  that  of  the  antarctic  circle.  There,  sure  enough, 
was  laid  down  in  ink,  three  or  four  specks  for  islands,  with 
lat. — °, — ",  and  long. — °, — ",  written  out,  at  its  side.  We 
are  under  obligations  not  to  give  the  figures  that  stand  on 
the  chart,  for  the  discovery  is  deemed  to  be  important,  by 
those  who  possess  the  secret,  even  to  the  present  hour. 
We  are  at  liberty  to  tell  the  whole  story,  with  this  one  ex- 
ception ;  and  we  shall  proceed  to  do  so,  with  a  proper  re- 
gard to  the  pledges  made  in  the  premises. 

The  deacon  scarcely  breathed,  as  he  assured  himself  of 
the  important  fact  just  mentioned,  and  his  hands  trembled 
to  such  a  degree  as  to  fairly  cause  the  paper  of  the  chart 
to  rattle.  Then  he  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  that  was 
strictly  characteristic  of  the  man.  He  wrote  the  latitude 
and  longitude  in  a  memorandum-book  that  he  carried  on 
his  person  ;  after  which  he  again  sat  down,  and  with  great 
care  erased  the  islands  and  the  writing  from  the  chart,  with 
the  point  of  a  penknife.  This  done,  his  mind  felt  in- 
finitely relieved.  Nor  was  this  all.  Charts  purchased  for 
the  schooner  were  lying  on  a  table  in  his  own  room,  and 
he  projected  on  one  of  them,  as  well  as  his  skill  would  al- 
lo\v,  the  sealing-islands  he  had  just  removed  from  the 
chart  left  by  Daggett.  There  he  also  wrote,  in  pencil,  the 
important  figures  that  we  are  commanded  not  to  reveal. 

The  second  chart  was  then  opened.  It  was  of  the  West 
Indies,  and  particularly  of  certain  keys.  One  of  these 
last  was  pointed  out  in  a  way  to  leave  no  doubt  that  it  was 
meant  for  the  key  indicated  by  the  pirate  The  same  pro- 


So  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

hibition  existing  as  to  this  key  that  exists  in  respect  to  the 
sealing-island,  we  cannot  be  more  explicit.  The  writing 
near  tiiis  key  being,  in  pencil,  it  was  effectually  removed  by 
means  of  india-rubber.  When  this  was  done,  the  deacon 
used  the  precaution  to  rub  some  material  on  the  clean 
place  made  by  his  knife,on  the  other  chart,  when  he  believed 
no  eye  could  detect  what  had  just  been  done.  Having 
marked  the  proper  key  on  his  own  chart  of  the  West 
Indies,  he  replaced  the  charts  of  Daggett  in  the  chest,  and 
locked  all  up  again.  The  verbal  accounts  of  the  sick 
mariner  he  had  already  transferred  to  paper,  and  he  now 
believed  himself  secure  of  all  the  information  that  was 
necessary  to  render  him  the  richest  man  in  Suffolk  ! 

When  they  next  met,  Mary  was  surprised  at  the  gayety 
of  her  uncle,  and  that  so  soon  after  a  funeral.  He  had  a 
lightened  heart,  however;  for,  after  leading  him  on,  step 
by  step,  until  he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  purchase  and  fit  out 
the  schooner,  Daggett  had  pertinaciously  refused  to  enter 
into  those  minute  particulars  which  it  is  even  now  forbid- 
den us  to  state,  and  a  want  of  which  would  have  rendered 
his  previous  expenditures  useless.  Death,  however,  had 
lifted  the  veil,  and  the  deacon  now  believed  himself  secure 
in  this  knowledge. 

An  hour  or  two  later,  Deacon  Pratt  and  his  niece  were 
seated,  in  company  with  two  others,  at  the  dinner-table. 
The  fare  was  simple,  but  good.  Fish  enters  largely  into 
the  domestic  consumption  of  all  those  who  dwell  near  the 
water,  in  that  part  of  country ;.  and,  on  that  particular  oc- 
casion, the  uncle  had,  in  the  lightness  of  his  heart,  in- 
dulged in  what,  for  him,  was  a  piece  of  extravagance.  In 
all  such  regions  there  are  broken-down,  elderly  men,  who 
live  by  taking  fish.  Liquor  has  usually  been  their  great 
enemy,  and  all  have  the  same  generic  character  of  laziness, 
shiftless  and  ill-regulated  exertions,  followed  by  much 
idleness,  and  fits  of  intemperance,  that  in  the  end  com- 
monly cause  their  death.  Such  a  man  fished  between 
Oyster  Pond  and  Shelter  Island,  being  known  to  all  who 
dwelt  within  his  beat,  by  the  familiar  appellation  of  Bait- 
ing Joe. 

Shortly  after  the  discovery  of  the  latitudes  and  longi- 
tudes on  the  charts,  the  deacon  had  gone  to  the  wharf,  in 
his  impatience  to  see  how  Roswell  Gardiner  got  on  with 
the  Sea  Lion.  The  young  man,  with  his  gang  of  hands, 
was  hard  at  work,  and  a  very  material  difference  was  to  be 
observed  in  the  state  of  the  schooner,  from  that  in  which 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  51 

she  was  described  in  our  opening  chapter.  Her  rigging 
had  all  been  set  up,  every  spar  was  in  its  place,  and  alto- 
gether she  had  a  look  of  preparation  and  completeness. 
Her  water  was  taking  in,  and  from  time  to  time  a  country 
xvagon,  or  an  ox-cart,  delivered  alongside  articles  belong- 
ing to  her  stores.  Of  cargo,  proper,  there  was  none,  or 
next  to  none  ;  a  sealer  carrying  little  besides  salt,  and  her 
stores.  In  a  word,  the  work  was  rapidly  advancing,  and 
"Captain  Gar'ner"  told  his  impatient  owner  that  the 
craft  would  be  ready  to  put  to  sea  in  all  that  week. 

"  I  have  succeeded  in  engaging  the  first  officer  I  wanted," 
added  the  young  man,  "and  he  is  now  busy  in  looking  up 
and  shipping  hands,  at  Stonington.  We  must  get  half  a 
dozen  reliable  men  on  'the  main,  and  then  we  can  take 
some  of  our  neighbors  here  as  beginners,  just  to  please 
them." 

"Yes,  ship  a  goodly  number  of  green  hands,"  said  the 
deacon,  zealously.  "They  work  at  cheap  'lays,'  and 
leave  the  owners  the  greater  profits.  Well,  well,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  things  seem  to  be  doing  well  in  your  hands,  and 
I  will  leave  you.  About  two  hours  after  dinner  I  shall 
want  to  have  a  word  with  you  in  private,  and  will  thank 
you  just  to  step  across  to  the  house,  where  you  will  be  cer- 
tain to  find  me.  Baiting  Joe  seems  to  have  hooked  some- 
thing there,  in  'arnest." 

"That  has  he  !  I'll  answer  for  it  that  he  has  a  sheeps- 
head  at  the  end  of  his  line  that  will  weigh  eight  or  ten 
pounds." 

The  words  of  Gardiner  proved  true,  for  Joe  actually 
pulled  in  a  fish  of  the  description  and  weight  he  had  just 
mentioned.  It  was  this  sight  that,  in  the  lightness  of  his 
heart,  tempted  the  deacon  to  a  little  extravagance.  Joe 
was  called  ashore,  and  after  a  good  deal  of  chaffering,  the 
deacon  bought  the  prize  for  half  a  dollar.  As  Mary  was 
celebrated  for  her  skill  in  preparing  this  particular  fish, 
the  deacon,  before  he  left  the  wharf  with  the  sheepshead 
hanging  from  one  hand,  fairly  invited  "  Captain  Gar'ner  " 
so  to  time  his  visit  to  the  house,  as  to  be  present  at  the 
feast. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Before  the  deacon  had  settled  with 
Joe,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  came  on  the  wharf,  confess- 
edly in  quest  of  something  to  eat.  The  regular  occu* 
pations  of  this  divine  were  writing  sermons,  preaching, 
holding  conferences,  marrying,  christening,  and  burying, 
and  hunting  up  "something  to  eat."  About  half  of  his 


52  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

precious  time  was  consumed  in  the  last  of  these  pur, 
suits.  We  do  not  wish  to  represent  this  clergyman  as 
having  an  undue  gastronomic  propensity  ;  but,  as  having  a 
due  one,  and  a  salary  that  was  so  badly  paid,  as  quite  to 
disable  him  from  furnishing  his  larder,  or  cellar,  with  any- 
thing worth  mentioning,  in  advance.  Now,  he  was  short 
of  flour  ;  then,  the  potatoes  were  out ;  next,  the  pork  was 
consumed  ;  and  always  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of  gro- 
ceries, and  other  necessaries  of  that  nature.  This  neglect 
on  the  part  of  the  parishioners,  coupled  with  a  certain  im- 
providence on  that  of  the  pastor,  left  the  clergyman's  fami- 
ly completely  in  that  state  which  is  usually  described  as 
being  in  the  "  from  hand  to  mouth  "  condition,  and  which 
consequently  occupied  so  large  *a  portion  of  the  good 
man's  time  in  "providing." 

Deacon  Pratt  felt  a  little  conscious  and  awkward,  at  en- 
countering the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle.  It  was  not  the  fish  that 
caused  the  first  any  concern.  Fifty  times  had  he  met  and 
gone  by  his  pastor,  running  about  with  a  perplexed  and 
hungry  look,  when  his  own  hands,  or  chaise,  or  wagon,  as 
the  case  might  be,  contained  enough  to  render  the  divine's 
family  happy  and  contented  for  a  week.  No  compunc- 
tions of  that  sort  ever  troubled  the  deacon's  breast.  But  he 
had  missed  the  afternoon's  meeting  in  the  last  Sabbath,  a 
delinquency  for  which  he  felt  an  awkwardness  in  account- 
ing, while  he  saw  its  necessity.  The  salutations  passed  as 
usual,  the  one  party  thinking  intently  on  the  absence  from 
service,  and  the  other  of  the  sheepshead.  Now,  it  happily 
occurred  to  the  deacon  to  invite  his  pastor  also  to  partake 
of  the  fish.  There  was  enough  for  all  ;  and,  though  no 
one  on  Oyster  Pond  was  much  in  the  habit  of  entertain' 
ing  at  dinner,  it  was  by  no  means  unusual  for  the  parish- 
ioners to  have  their  pastor  for  a  guest.  This  lucky  invita- 
tion so  occupied  the  parties  that  nothing  was  said  about 
an  occurrence  so  very  unusual  as  the  deacon's  absence 
from  "  meeting"  the  "  last  Sabba'  day  afternoon." 

By  these  simple  means  the  party  at  table  consisted  of  the 
deacon  himself,  Mary,  Roswell  Gardiner,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Whittle.  The  fish  was  excellent,  being  so  fresh  and  so 
skilfully  prepared;  and  Mary  was  highly  complimented  by 
all  who  ate  of  it  for  her  share  in  the  entertainment.  But 
Mary  Pratt  seemed  sad.  She  had  not  yet  recovered  from 
the  melancholy  feelings  awakened  by  the  recent  death 
and  funeral ;  and  then  her  thoughts  recurred,  with  few 
interruptions,  to  the  long  voyasre  of  Roswell,  and  w^** 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  SJ 

especially  to  the  unhappy  state  of  religious  belief  in  which 
he  would  undertake  so  hazardous  an  expedition.  Several 
times  had  she  hinted  to  the  clergyman  her  desire  that  he 
would  "talk  to  Roswell  ;"  but  the  good  man,  though  well 
enough  inclined,  had  really  so  much  to  do  in  "  providing," 
that  it  was  not  a  very  easy  matter  for  him  to  go  beyond 
the  beaten  track,  in  order  to  probe  the  consciences  of  par 
ticular  individuals.  He  promised  fairly,  but  always  forgot 
to  perform  ;  and  in  this  he  imitated  closely  the  example  set 
him  by  his  parishioners  in  reference  to  his  own  salary. 

Roswell  Ga'rdiner,  therefore,  remained  in  his  unbelief; 
•or,  what  was  tantamount  to  it,  under  the  influence  of  a  set 
of  opinions  that  conflicted  with  all  that  the  Church  had 
taught  since  the  time  of  the  apostles — at  least  so  thought 
Mary,  and  so  think  we. 

On  the  contrary,  the  pastor  and  the  deacon  were  par- 
ticularly gay  for  men  of  their  habitual  sobriety.  Although 
those  were  not  the  days  of  temperance,  par  excellence, 
neither  of  the  guests  was  what  might  be  termed  even 
a  moderate  drinker.  For  a  novelty  in  a  sailor,  Roswell 
Gardiner  seldom  touched  anything  but  water,  while  the 
other  two  took  their  rum  and  water  ;  but  it  was  in  moder- 
ation, as  all  the  gifts  of  God  should  be  used.  As  for  the 
intemperate  cry  which  makes  it  a  sin  to  partake  of  any 
liquor,  however  prudently,  it  was  then  never  heard  in  the 
land.  On  the  whole,  the  clergy  of  all  denominations  might 
be  set  down  as  bra*ndy-and-water  men,  a  few  occasionally 
carrying  out  their  principle  to  exaggeration.  But  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  was  a  sober  man,  and,  though  he  saw  no 
great  harm  in  enlivening  his  heart  and  cheering  his  spirits 
with  brandy  taken  in  small  quantities,  he  was  never  known 
to  be  any  the  worse  for  his  libations.  It  was  the  same  with 
the  deacon,  though  he  drank  rum  and  water  of  choice  ; 
and  no  other  beverage,  Mary's  currant-wine  and  cider  ex- 
cepted,  was  ever  seen  on  his  table. 

One  thing  may  be  said  of  liquor,  whether  it  be  in  its 
favor  or  not :  it  usually  brings  out  all  there  is  of  the  face- 
tious in  a  man,  rendering  him  conversable  and  pleasant; 
for  the  time  being  at  least.  This  was  apt  to  be  peculiarly 
the  case  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  and  his  deacons.  In 
their  ordinary  intercourse  with  their  fellow-creatures  these 
good  people  had  taken  up  the  idea  that,  in  order  to  be 
religious,  their  countenances  must  be  sombre,  and  that 
care  and  anxiety  should  be  stamped  on  their  faces,  just  as 
if  they  had  no  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  the  redemption. 


54 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


Few,  indeed,  are  they  who  vindicate  their  professions  by 
living  at  peace  with  God  and  man  !  At  Oyster  Pond  it 
was  much  the  fashion  to  imagine  that  the  more  a  person 
became  impressed  with  the  truths  of  /its,  and  particularly 
with  those  of  her,  lost  condition,  the  more  it  became  the 
party  to  be  cynical,  and  to  pry  into,  and  comment,  on  the 
backslidings  of  the  entire  community.  This  weakness, 
however,  was  characteristic  of  neither  the  pastor  nor  the 
deacon,  each  of  whom  regarded  his  professions  too  much 
in  the  light  of  a  regular  "  business  transaction,"  to  descend 
into  these  little  abuses.  As  for  Mary,  good  creature,  her 
humility  was  so  profound  as  to  cause  her  to  believe  herself 
among  the  weakest  and  least  favored  of  all  who  belonged 
to  meeting. 

"  I  was  sorry  that  my  late  journey  into  Connecticut  pre- 
vented my  seeing  the  poor  man  who  was  so  suddenly  taken 
away  from  the  house  of  Widow  White,"  observed  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Whittle,  some  little  time  after  he  had  made  his  origi- 
nal attack  on  the  sheepshead.  "They  tell  me  it  was  a  hope- 
less case  from  the  first  ? " 

"So  Dr.  Sage  considered  it,"  answered  the  deacon. 
"  Captain  Gar'ner  volunteered  to  go  across  for  the  doctor 
in  my  boat," — with  a  heavy  emphasis  on  the  possessive  pro- 
noun— "and  we  had  him  to  look  at  the  patient.  But,  if 
the  salt-water  be  good  for  consumptive  people,  as  some 
pretend,  I  think  there  is  generally  little  hope  for  seamen 
whose  lungs  once  give  way." 

"The  poor  man  was  a  mariner,  was  he  ?  I  did  not  know 
his  calling,  but  had  rather  got  the  impression  that  he  was 
a  husbandman.  Did  he  belong  to  Oyster  Pond  ?  " 

"  No ;  we  have  none  of  the  name  of  Daggett  here,  which 
is  a  tribe  on  the  Vineyard.  Most  of  the  Daggetts  are  sea- 
faring folks  (folk,  Anglic  J),  and  this  man  was  one  of  that 
class,  I  believe;  though  I  know  nothing  of  him,  or  his  pur- 
suits, except  by  a  word,  here  and  there,  dropped  in  dis- 
course." 

The  deacon  thought  himself  safe  in  venturing  this  little 
departure  from  the  literal  truth,  inasmuch  as  no  one  had 
been  present,  or  he  thought  no  one  had  ever  been  present 
at  his  many  secret  conferences  with  the  deceased  mariner. 
Little,  however,  did  he  understand  the  character  of  the 
Widow  White,  if  he  flattered  himself  with  holding  any  dis- 
course under  her  roof  in  which  she  was  not  to  participate 
in  its  subject.  So  far  from  this  having  been  the  case,  the 
good  woman  had  contrived  to  obtain,  not  only  a  listening- 


THE   SEA    LION'S. 


55 


place,  but  a  peeping-hole,  where  she  both  heard  and  saw 
most  of  that  which  passed  between  her  guest  and  the  deacon. 
Had  her  powers  of  comprehension  been  equal  to  her  will, 
or  had  not  her  mind  been  prepossessed  with  the  notion  that 
the  deacon  must  be  after  herself,  old  Suffolk  would  have 
rung  with  the  marvels  that  were  thus  revealed.  Not  only 
would  an  unknown  sealing-island  have  been  laid  before  the 
East-enders,  but  twenty  such  islands,  and  keys  without 
number,  each  of  which  contained  more  hidden  treasure 
than  "Gar'ner's  Island,"  Oyster  Pond,  the  Plumb  and 
Fisher's,  and  all  the  coasts  of  the  Sound  put  together  ;  en- 
riched as  each  and  all  of  these  places  were  thought  to  be,  by 
hidden  deposits  of  Kidd. 

Nothing  but  an  accident  had  prevented  these  rumors 
from  being  circulated.  It  happened  that  on  only  one  occa- 
sion Daggett  was  explicit  and  connected  in  his  narrative. 
At  all  other  times  his  discourse  was  broken,  consisting 
more  in  allusions  to  what  had  been  previously  said  than 
in  direct  and  clear  revelations.  The  widow,  most  unfort- 
unately for  her  means  of  information,  was  with  "  neighbor 
Stone  "  when  the  connected  narrative  was  given,  and  all 
that  she  knew  was  disjointed,  obscure,  and  a  little  contra- 
dictory. Still,  it  was  sufficient  to  set  her  thinking  intense- 
ly, and  sufficient  to  produce  a  material  influence  on  the 
future  fortunes  of  the  Sea  Lion,  as  will  appear  in  the 
sequel. 

"  It  is  always  a  misfortune  for  a  human  being  to  take  his 
departure  away  from  home  and  friends,"  observed  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Whittle.  "  Here  was  an  immortal  soul  left  to  take  its 
last  great  flight,  unsupported,  I  dare  say,  except  by  the 
prayers  of  a  few  pious  neighbors.  I  regret  having  been 
absent  during  the  time  he  was  here.  Getting  home  of  a 
Friday  only,  I  was  compelled  to  devote  Saturday  to  prep- 
arations for  the  Sabbath ;  and  Sabbath-night,  as  I  under- 
stand it,  he  departed." 

"We  are  all  in  the  hands  of  Divine  Providence,"  said 
the  deacon,  with  a  sober  mien,  "  and  it  is  our  duty  to  sub- 
mit. To  my  thinking,  Oyster  Pond  catches  more  than 
its  share  of  the  poor  and  needy,  who  are  landed  from 
vessels  passing  east  and  west,  and  add  considerably  to  our 
burdens." 

This  was  said  of  a  spot  as  much  favored  by  Divine 
Providence,  in  the  way  of  abundance,  as  any  other  in 
highly-favored  America.  Some  eight  or  ten  such  events 
as  the  landing  of  a  stranger  had  occurred  within  the  last 


5 6  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

half  century,  and  this  was  the  only  instance  in  which 
either  of  them  had  cost  the  deacon  a  cent.  But,  so  little 
was  he  accustomed,  and  so  little  was  he  disposed  to  give, 
that  even  a  threatened  danger  of  that  sort  amounted,  in 
his  eyes,  nearly  to  a  loss. 

"  Well,"  exclaimed  the  literal  Roswell  Gardiner,  "  I 
think,  deacon,  that  we  have  no  great  reason  to  complain. 
Southold,  Shelter  Island,  and  all  the  islands  about  here,  for 
that  matter,  are  pretty  well  off  as  to  poor,  and  it  is  little 
enough  that  we  have  to  pay  for  their  support." 

"  That's  the  idea  of  a  young  man  who  never  sees  the 
tax-gatherers,"  returned  the  deacon.  "However,  there  are 
islands,  Captain  Gar'ner,  that  are  better  off  still,  and  I  hope 
you  will  live  to  find  them." 

"  Is  our  young  friend  to  sail  in  the  Sea  Lion  in  quest  of 
any  such  ?  "  inquired  the  pastor,  a  little  curiously. 

The  deacon  now  repented  him  of  the  allusion.  But  his 
heart  had  warmed  with  the  subject,  and  the  rum-and-water 
had  unlocked  some  of  its  wards.  So  timid  and  nervous  had 
he  become,  however,  that  the  slightest  indication  of  any- 
thing like  a  suspicion  that  his  secrets  were  known,  threw 
him  into  a  sweat. 

"  Not  at  all — not  at  all — the  captain  goes  on  well-known 
and  beaten  ground — Sam,  what  is  wanting,  now  ?" 

"  Here  is  Baiting  Joe  corned  up  from  the  wharf,  wanting 
to  see  master,"  returned  a  gray-headed  negro,  who  had 
formerly  been  a  slave,  and  who  now  lived  about  the  place, 
giving  his  services  for  his  support. 

"  Baiting  Joe  !  He  is  not  after  his  sheepshead,  I  hope. 
If  he  is,  he  is  somewhat  late  in  the  day." 

"  Ay,  ay,"  put  in  the  young  sailor,  laughing.  "  Tell  him, 
Sam,  that  no  small  ,part  of  it  is  bound  to  the  southward, 
meaning  to  cross  the  line  in  my  company,  and  that  right 
soon." 

"  I  paid  Joe  his  half-dollar,  certainly — you  saw  me  pay 
him,  Captain  Gar'ner." 

"I  don't  think  it's  any  sich  thing,  master.  There  is  a 
stranger  with  Joe,  that  he  has  ferried  across  from  Shelter 
Island,  and  he's  corned  up  from  the  wharf  too.  Yes — that's 
it,  master." 

A  stranger  !  Who  could  it  be  ?  A  command  was  given 
to  admit  him,  and  no  sooner  did  Mary  get  a  sight  of  his 
person,  than  she  quietly  arose  to  procure  a  plate,  in  order 
that  he,  too,  might  have  his  -share  of  the  fish. 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


CHAPTER    V. 

"  Stranger !  I  fled  the  home  of  grief, 

At  Connoeht  Moran's  tomb  to  fall ; 
I  found  the  helmet  of  my  chief, 

His  bow  still  hanging  on  our  wall." — CAMPBELL. 

"AMPHIBIOUS  !  "  exclaimed  Roswell  Gardiner,  in  an  aside 
to  Mary,  as  the  stranger  entered  the  room,  following  Bait- 
ing Joe's  lead.  The  last  only  came  for  his  glass  of  rum- 
and-water,  served  with  which,  by  the  aid  of  the  negro,  he 
passed  the  back  of  his  hand  across  his  mouth,  napkin- 
fashion,  nodded  his  "good-day,"  and  withdrew.  As  for  the 
stranger,  Roswell  Gardiner's  term  being  particularly  sig- 
nificant, it  may  be  well  to  make  a  brief  explanation. 

The  word  "amphibious"  is,  or  rather  was,  well  applied 
to  many  of  the  seamen,  whalers,  and  sealers,  who  dwelt  on 
the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island,  or  the  Vineyard,  around 
Stonington,  and  perhaps  we  might  add,  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  Bedford.  The  Nantucket  men  had  not  base  enough, 
in  the  way  of  terra  firma,  to  come  properly  within  the  cat- 
egory. The  class  to  which  the  remark  strictly  applied 
were  sailors  without  being  seamen,  in  the  severe  significa- 
tion of  the  term.  While  they  could  do  all  that  was  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  take  care  of  their  vessels,  were  sur- 
passed by  no  other  mariners  in  enterprise  and  daring,  and 
hardihood,  they  knew  little  about  "crowning  cables," 
"  carrick-bends,"  and  all  the  mysteries  of  "knotting," 
"grafting,"  and  "  splicing."  A  regular  Delaware  Bay  sea- 
man would  have  turned  up  his  nose  in  contempt  at  many 
of  their  ways,  and  at  much  of  their  real  ignorance  ;  but, 
when  it  came  to  the  drag,  or  to  the  oar,  or  to  holding  out 
in  bad  weather,  or  to  any  of  the  more  manly  qualities  of 
the  business,  he  would  be  certain  to  yield  his  respect  to 
those  at  whom  it  had  originally  been  his  disposition  to 
laugh.  It  might  best  describe  these  men  to  say  that  they 
bore  some  such  relation  to  the  thoroughbred  tar,  as  the 
volunteer  bears  to  the  regular  soldier. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  stranger  was  invited  to  take 
his  seat  at  the  table.  This  he  did  without  using  many 
phrases  ;  and  Mary  had  reason  to  believe,  by  his  appetite, 
that  he  thought  well  of  her  culinary  skill  There  was  very 
little  of  the  sheepshead  left  when  this,  its  last  assailant, 


5S  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

shoved  his  plate  back,  the  signal  that  he  could  do  no  more. 
He  then  finished  a  glass  of  rum-and- water,  and  seemed  to 
be  in  a  good  condition  to  transact  the  business  that  had 
brought  him  there.  Until  this  moment,  he  had  made  no 
allusion  to  the  motive  of  his  visit,  leaving  the  deacon  full 
of  conjectures. 

"  The  fish  of  Peconic  and  Gar'ner's  is  as  good  as  any  I 
know,"  coolly  observed  this  worthy,  after  certainly  having 
established -some  claim  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  subject. 
"  We  think  ourselves  pretty  well  off,  in  this  respect,  on  the 
Vineyard — 

"On  the  Vineyard!"  interrupted  the  deacon,  without 
waiting  to  hear  what  was  to  follow. 

"  Yes,  sir,  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  for  that's  the  place  I 
come  from.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  introduced  myself 
a  little  more  particularly.  I  come  from  Martha's  Vine- 
yard, and  my  name  is  Daggett." 

The  deacon  fairly  permitted  the  knife,  with  which  he 
was  spreading  some  butter,  to  fall  upon  his  plate.  "  Dag- 
gett" and  the  "Vineyard"  sounded  ominously.  Could  it 
be  that  Dr.  Sage  had  managed  to  get  a  message  so  far,  in 
so  short  a  time  ;  and  had  this  amphibious  inhabitant  of  the 
neighboring  island  come  already  to  rob  him  of  his  treasure  ? 
The  perceptions  of  the  deacon,  at  first,  were  far  from  clear  ; 
and  he  even  imagined  that  all  he  had  expended  on  the  Sea 
Lion  was  thrown  away,  and  that  he  might  be  even  called 
on  to  give  some  sort  of  an  account,  in  a  court  of  chancery, 
of  the  information  obtained  from  the  deceased.  A  little 
reflection,  however,  sufficed  to  get  the  better  of  this  weak- 
ness, and  he  made  a  civil  inclination  of  his  head,  as  much 
as  to  tell  the  stranger,  notwithstanding  his  name  and  place 
of  residence,  that  he  was  welcome.  Of  course,  no  one  but 
the  deacon  himself  knew  of  the  thoughts  that  troubled 
him,  and  after  a  verybrief  delay,  the  guest  proceeded  with 
his  explanations  of  the  object  of  his  visit. 

"  The  Daggetts  are  pretty  numerous  on  the  Vineyard/' 
continued  the  stranger,  "  and  when  you  name  one  of  them, 
it  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  just  what  family  he  belongs  to. 
One  of  our  coasters  came  into  the  Hull  (Holmes'  Hole  was 
meant)  a  few  weeks  since,  and  reported  that  she  spoke  an 
inward-bound  brig,  off  New  Haven,  from  which  she  heard 
that  the  people  of  that  craft  had  put  ashore,  at  Oyster  Pond, 
a  seafaring  man  who  belonged  to  the  Vineyard,  and  who 
was  bound  home  arter  an  absence  of  fifty  years,  and  whose 
name  was  Thomas  Daggett.  The  word  passed  through  the 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  59 

island,  and  a  great  stir  it  made  among  all  us  Daggetts. 
There's  plenty  of  our  Vineyard  people  wandering" about 
the  'arth,  and  sometimes  one  drops  in  upon  the  island,  just 
to  die.  As  most  of  them  that  come  back  bring  something 
with  them,  it's  gen'rally  thought  a  good  sign  to  hear  of 
their  arrival.  After  casting  about,  and  talking  with  all  the 
old  folks,  it  has  been  concluded  that  this  Thomas  Daggett 
must  be  a  brother  of  my  father's,  who  went  to  sea  about 
fifty  years  since,  and  has  never  been  seen  or  heard  of  since. 
He's  the  only  person  of  the  name  for  whom  we  can't  ac- 
count, and  the  family  have  got  me  to  come  across  to  look 
him  up." 

"  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Daggett,  that  you  are  so  late,"  an- 
swered the  deacon,  slowly,  as  if  unwilling  to  give  pain. 
"  Had  you  come  last  week,  you  might  have  seen  and  con- 
versed with  your  relation  ;  or  had  you  come  early  this 
morning,  only,  you  might  have  attended  his  funeral.  He 
came  among  us  a  stranger,  and  we  endeavored  to  imitate 
the  conduct  of  the  good  Samaritan.  I  believe  he  had  all 
the  comforts  that  Oyster  Pond  can  give ;  and,  certainly,  he 
had  the  best  advice.  Dr.  Sage,  of  Sag  Harbor,  attended 
him  in  his  last  illness — Dr.  Sage,  of  the  Harbor  ;  doubtless 
you  have  heard  him  mentioned  ? " 

"  I  know  him  by  reputation,  and  make  no  doubt  all  was 
done  that  could  be  done.  As  the  sloop  I  named  lay  by  the 
brig  some  time,  in  a  calm,  the  two  captains  had  a  long  talk 
together  ;  and  ours  had  prepared  us  to  hear  of  our  kins- 
man's speedy  dissolution.  He  was  in  a  decline  when  he 
landed,  and  we  suppose  that  no  human  skill  could  have 
saved  him.  As  he  had  so  skilful  a  physician,  and  one 
who  came  so  far,  I  suppose  my  uncle  must  have  left  prop- 
erty ?" 

This  was  a  home  thrust ;  but,  fortunately  for  the  deacon, 
he  had  already  prepared  himself  with  an  answer. 

"  Seafaring  men,  that  are  landed  on  points  and  capes 
from  inward-bound  vessels,  are  not  very  apt  to  be  over- 
loaded with  worldly  goods,"  he  said,  smiling.  "When  a 
man  prospers  in  that  calling,  he  usually  comes  ashore  at  a 
wharf,  in  some  large  place,  and  gets  into  his  coach  to  ride 
up  to  some  grand  tavern  !  I  have  remarked,  pastor,  that 
seafaring  men  love  comforts  and  free-living,  unaccount- 
ably, when  they  can  fairly  get  a  chance  at  'em." 

"  That  is  natural,  deacon— quite  natural  ;  and  what  is 
natural,  is  very  likely  to  happen.  The  natural  man  loves 
all  sorts  of  indulgences,  and  these  among  others." 


60  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

As  there  was  no  gainsaying  this  commonplace  commen- 
tary on  the  species,  it  was  permitted  to  pass  unanswered. 

"I  hope  my  kinsman  has  not  been  a  burden  to  any  on 
Oyster  Pond?"  said  the  nephew,  inquiringly. 

"  I  cannot  say  that  he  has,"  returned  the  deacon.  "  He 
was  at  little  cost  at  first,  and  got  along  by  selling  a  few  odd 
things  that  he  owned.  As  Providence  had  placed  him  in 
the  dwelling  of  a  poor  widow,  1  thought  it  might  be  pleas- 
ing to  the  friends — and  every  man  has  some  friends,  I  sup- 
pose— to  settle  with  her.  This  I  did,  this  very  morning, 
taking  her  receipt  in  full,  as  you  can  see,  "  passing  the 
paper  to  the  stranger.  "  As  a  sort  of  security  for  my  ad- 
vances, I  had  the  chest  of  the  deceased  removed  to  this 
house  ;  and  it  is  now  upstairs,  ready  to  be  examined.  It 
feels  light,  and  I  do  not  think  much  silver  or  gold  will  be 
found  in  it." 

To  own  the  truth,  the  Vineyard  seaman  looked  a  little 
disappointed.  It  was  so  natural  that  a  man  who  has  been 
absent  fifty  years  should  bring  back  the  fruits  of  his  labor, 
that  he  had  expected  some  slight  reward  for  the  trouble  he 
was  now  taking,  to  be  bestowed  in  this  particular  form. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  specific  object  of  his  visit,  as 
will  appear  as  we  proceed.  Keeping  in  view  his  real  mo- 
tive, the  nephew  continued  his  inquiries,  always  putting 
his  questions  a  little  indirectly,  and  receiving  answers  that 
were  as  evasive  and  cautious  as  his  own  interrogatories. 
All  this  was  characteristic  of  the  wary  people  from  which 
both  had  sprung,  who  seldom  speak,  in  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness, without  bearing  in  mind  all  the  possible  constructions 
of  what  they  are  saying.  After  a  discourse  of  some  fifteen 
minutes,  in  which  the  history  of  the  chest,  in  its  outlines, 
was  fully  given,  and  during  which  the  stranger  produced 
written  evidence  of  his  right  to  interfere,  it  was  determined 
to  make  an  inventory,  on  the  spot,  of  the  property  left  by 
Daggett,  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  might  have  any  interest 
in  it.  Accordingly,  the  whole  party,  including  Mary,  was 
soon  assembled  in  the  deacon's  own  room,  with  the  sea 
chest  placed  invitingly  in  the  centre.  All  eyes  were  fastened 
on  the  lid,  in  curious  anticipations  of  the  contents  ;  for,  the 
deacon  excepted,  all  supposed  that  those  contents  were  a 
profound  secret.  The  widow  White  could  have  told  them 
better,  she  having  rummaged  that  chest  a  dozen  times,  at 
least,  though  without  abstracting  even  a  pin.  Curiosity  had 
been  her  ruling  motive,  far  more  than  cupidity.  It  is  true, 
the  good  woman  had  a  prudent  regard  to  her  own  interests, 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  61 

?,nd  felt  some  anxiety  to  learn  the  prospects  of  her  receiv- 
ing the  stipulated  price  for  board — only  $1.50  per  week — 
but  the  sales  of  the  needles,  and  palms,  and  carved  whale- 
bone, having  kept  her  accounts  reasonably  square,  solici- 
tude on  this  particular  interest  was  not  at  its  height.  No; 
curiosity,  pure  female  curiosity,  a  little  quickened  by  the 
passion  which  is  engendered  among  the  vulgar  by  the  pos- 
session of  a  slight  degree  of  instruction,  was  really  at  the 
bottom  of  her  researches.  Not  only  had  she  handled  every 
article  in  the  chest,  but  she  had  read,  and  re-read,  ev- 
ery paper  it  contained,  half  a  dozen  letters  included,  and 
made  her  own  surmises  on  their  nature.  Still,  the  good 
woman  was  very  little  the  wiser  for  her  inquiries.  Of  the 
great  secret  she  knew  absolutely  nothing,  unless  the  broken 
hints  collected  in  her  many  listenings,  could  be  so  con- 
sidered. But  here  her  ignorance  ceased.  Every  hole  in  a 
shirt,  every  patch  in  a  pair  of  trowsers,  and  every  darn  in 
a  stocking,  had  been  examined,  and  its  probable  effect  on 
the  value  of  the  garment  duly  estimated.  The  only  thing 
that  had  escaped  her  scrutiny  was  a  small  till  that  was 
locked.  Into  that  she  could  not  look,  and  there  \vere  mo- 
ments when  she  would  have  parted  with  a  finger  in  order 
to  overhaul  it. 

"This  jacket  might  sell  for  a  dollar,"  had  the  widow 
White  calculated,  "  but  for  the  hole  in  the  elbow  ;  and  that 
well  patched,  would  bring  seventy-five  cents.  Them  trow- 
sers must  have  cost  two  dollars,  but  they  aren't  worth  half- 
price  now.  That  pea-jacket  is  the  best  article  in  the  chest, 
and,  sent  across  to  the  Harbor,  about  the  time  the  ships 
are  going  out,  it  would  bring  enough  to  maintain  Daggett 
a  month  ! " 

Such  had  been  the  character  of  the  widow's  visitations  to 
the  chest,  though  no  one  knew  anything  of  her  discoveries, 
not  even  her  sister-relict,  neighbor  Stone. 

"  Here  is  the  key,"  said  the  deacon,  producing  that  in- 
strument from  the  drawer  of  a  table,  as  if  he  had  laid  it 
carefully  aside  for  some  such  moment.  "  1  dare  say  it  will 
be  found  to  fit,  for  I  remember  to  have  seen  Daggett  use 
it  once  or  twice  myself." 

Roswell  Gardiner,  as  the  youngest  man,  and  the  one  on 
whom  the  laboring  oar  ought  to  fall,  now  took  the  key,  ap- 
plied it  to  the  lock,  turned  it  without  difficulty,  and  then 
lifted  the  lid.  Disappointment  appeared  on  every  face  but 
that  of  the  deacon,  at  the  meagre  prospect  before  the  com- 
pany. Not  only  was  the  chest  more  than  half  empty,  but 


62  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

the  articles  it  did  contain  were  of  the  coarsest  materials ; 
well-worn  sea  clothes  that  had  seen  their  best  days,  and 
which  had  never  been  more  than  the  coarse,  common  attire 
of  a  foremast  hand. 

"There  is  little  here  to  pay  a  man  for  crossing  from  the 
Vineyard,"  observed  Roswell  Gardiner,  a  little  dryly  ;  for 
he  did  not  half  like  the  appearance  of  cupidity  that  shone 
through  the  nephew's  tardy  concern  for  the  fate  of  the 
uncle.  "The  last  voyage  has  not  been  prosperous,  I  fear, 
or  the  owners  failed  before  the  vessel  got  in  !  What  is  to 
be  done  with  all  this  dunnage,  deacon  ? " 

"  It  would  be  best  to  take  out  the  contents,  article  by 
article,"  answered  the  other,  "and  examine  each  and  all. 
Now  that  we  have  made  a  beginning  with  the  inventory, 
il  is  best  to  go  through  with  it." 

The  young  man  obeyed,  calling  out  the  name  of  each 
article  of  dress,  as  he  raised  it  from  its  receptacle,  and 
passing  it  over  to  him  who  stood  there  in  the  character  of 
a  sort  of  heir-at-law.  The  last  gave  each  garment  a  sharp 
look,  and  prudently  put  his  hand  into  every  pocket,  in  or- 
der to  make  sure  that  it  was  empty,  before  he  laid  the  ar- 
ticle on  the  floor. :  Nothing  was  discovered  for  some  time, 
until  a  small  key  was  found  in  the  fob  of  a  pair  of  old 
"go-ashore"  pantaloons.  'As  there  was  the  till  to  the 
chest  already  mentioned,  and  a  lock  on  that  till,  the  heir- 
at-law  kept  the  key,  saying  nothing  touching  its  existence. 

"The  deceased  does  not  appear  to  have  been  much  af- 
flicted with  this  world's  wealth,"  said  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle, 
whose  expectations,  to  own  the  truth,  had  been  a  little 
disappointed.  "This  may  have  been  all  the  better  for 
him,  when  the  moment  of  departure  drew  near." 

"I  dare  say  he  would  have  borne  the  burden  cheerfully," 
put  in  Roswell  Gardiner,  "  to  have  been  a  little  more  com- 
fortable. I  never  knew  a  person,  seaman  or  landsman, 
who  was  ever  the  worse  for  having  things  snug  about  him, 
and  for  holding  on  to  the  better  end  of  his  cheer,  as  long 
as  he  could." 

"  Your  notion  of  what  is  best  for  man  as  he  draws  near 
to  his  end,  Captain  Gar'ner,  is  not  likely  to  be  of  the  most 
approved  nature.  The  sea  does  not  produce  many  very 
orthodox  divines." 

The  young  sailor  colored,  bit  his  lip,  cast  a  glance  at 
Mary,  and  began  a  nearly  inaudible  whistle.  In  a  moment 
he  forgot  the  rebuke  he  had  received,  and  laughingly  went 
on  with  the  inventory. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  »  63 

"  Well,"  he  cried,  "  this  is  rather  a  poorer  outfit  than 
Jack  is  apt  to  carry  !  //zfit,  I  suppose  it  should  "be  called, 
as  the  poor  fellow  who  owned  it  was  inward  bound,  when 
he  brought  up  on  Oyster  Pond.  You'll  hardly  think  it 
worth  while,  Captain  Daggett,  to  take  this  dunnage  across 
to  the  Vineyard? " 

"  It  is  scarce  worth  the  trouble,  though  friends  and  rela- 
tions may  set  a  value  on  it  that  strangers  do  not.  I  see  a 
couple  of  charts  there — will  you  hand  them  this  way,  if 
you  please  ?  They  may  have  a  value  with  a  seafaring 
man,  as  old  mariners  sometimes  make  notes  that  are  worth 
as  much  as  the  charts  themselves." 

This  was  said  very  naturally  and  simply  ;  but  it  gave  the 
deacon  a  good  deal  of  concern.  Nor  was  this  feeling  at 
all  lessened  by  the  earnest,  not  to  say  eager,  manner  in 
which  Daggett,  as  we  shall  now  call  this  member  of  the 
family,  spread  the  chart  on  the  bed,  and  began  to  pry  into 
its  records.  The  particular  chart  first  opened  in  this  way, 
was  the  one  including  the  antarctic  circle,  and,  of  course, 
was  that  from  which  the  deacon  had  been  at  so  much  pains 
to  erase  the  sealing  islands  that  the  deceased  mariner  had 
laid  down  with  so  great  precision  and  care.  It  was  evident 
that  the  Martha's  Vineyard  man. was  looking  for  something 
that  he  could  not  find,  and  that  he  felt  disappointment. 
Instead  of  looking  at  the  chart,  indeed,  he  may  be  said  to 
have  been  peering  at  it,  in  all  its  holes  and  crannies,  of 
which  there  were  not  a  few,  in  consequence  of  the  torn 
condition  of  the  paper.  Several  minutes  elapsed  ere  the 
investigation  terminated,  the  stranger  seeming,  all  that 
time,  to  feel  no  interest  in  the  remainder  of  his  relation's 
wardrobe. 

"This  is  an  old  chart,  and  of  the  date  of  1802,"  observed 
Daggett,  raising  himself  erect,  as  a  man  who  has  long  been 
bent  takes  the  creaks  out  of  his  back.  "  So  old  a  chart  as 
to  be  of  little  use  nowaday.  Our  sealers  have  gone  over 
so  much  of  the  ground  to  the  southward  of  the  two  capes, 
as  to  be  able  to  do  much  better  than  this  now." 

"  Your  uncle  had  the  appearance  of  an  old-fashioned 
sailor,"  coldly  observed  the  deacon  ;  "and  it  may  be  that, 
he  most  liked  old-fashioned  charts." 

"  If  such  was  the  case  he  must  have  pretty  well  forgotten 
his  Vineyard  schooling.  There  is  not  a  woman  there  who 
doesn't  know  that  the  latest  chart  is  commonly  the  best.  I 
own  I'm  disapp'inted  somewhat  ;  for  the  master  of  the 
sloop  gave  me  to  understand  he  had  heard  from  the  master 


64  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

of  the  brig  that  some  valuable  information  was  to  be  found 
on  the  old  gentleman's  charts." 

The  deacon  started,  as  here  was  an  indication  that  the 
deceased  had  talked  of  his  knowledge  to  others,  as  well  as 
to  himself  !  It  was  so  natural  for  a  man  like  Daggctt  to 
boast  of  what  his  charts  were  worth,  that  he  saw  the  ex- 
treme probability  that  a  difficulty  might  arise  from  this 
source.  It  was  his  cue,  however,  to  remain  silent,  and  let 
the  truth  develop  itself  in  due  course.  His  attention  was 
not  likely  to  be  drawn  aside  by  the  shirts  and  old  clothes, 
for  the  stranger  began  a  second  time  to  examine  the  chart, 
and  what  was  more,  in  the  high  latitudes  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  the  very  spot  where  the  sealing  islands  had  been 
placed,  and  from  which  they  had  been  so  carefully  erased. 

"  It  is  unaccountable  that  a  man  should  wear  out  a  chart 
like  this,  and  leave  so  few  notes  on  it!"  said  the  Vineyard 
man,  much  as  one  complains  of  a  delinquency.  "  Here  is 
white  water  noted  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  where  I  dare 
say  no  other  white  water  was  seen  but  that  which  is  made 
by  a  fish,  and  nothing  is  said  of  any  islands.  What  do  you 
think  of  this,  Captain  Gar'ner  ? "  laying  his  finger  on  the 
precise  spot  where  the  deacon  had  been  at  work  so  long 
that  very  morning  erasing  the  islands.  "This  looks  well- 
fingered,  if  nothing  else,  eh  *" 

"  It's  a  shoal  laid  down  in  dirt,"  answered  Roswell  Gar- 
diner, laughing.  "Let's  see  ;  that's  about  lat.  — °  — " ,  and 
long.  — -° — ".  There  can  be  no  known  land  thereaway,  as 
even  Captain  Cook  did  not  succeed  in  getting  as  far  south. 
That's  been  a  favorite  spot  with  the  skipper  for  taking 
hold  of  his  chart.  I've  known  one  of  those  old-fashioned 
chaps  put  his  hand  on  a  chart,  in  that  way,  and  never  miss 
his  holding-ground  for  three  years  on  a  stretch.  Mighty 
go-by-rule  people  are  some  of  our  whaling-masters,  in  par- 
ticular, who  think  they  know  the  countenances  of  some  of 
the  elderly  fish,  who  are  too  cunning  to  let  a  harpoon  get 
fast  to  'em." 

"You've  been  often  in  them  seas,  I  some  think,  Captain 
Gar'ner?"  said  the  other,  inquiringly. 

"  I  wras  brought  up  in  the  business,  and  have  a  hanker- 
ing for  it  yet,"  returned  the  young  man,  frankly.  "  Nor  do 
I  care  so  much  for  charts.  They  are  well  enough  when  a 
vessel  is  on  her  road  ;  but,  as  for  whales  or  seals,  the  man 
who  wishes  to  find  either,  in  these  times,  has  to  look  for 
them,  as  I  tell  my  owner.  According  to  reports,  the  time 
has  been  when  a  craft  had  only  to  get  an  offing  to  fall  in 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  .  65 

with' something  that  was  worth  putting  a  harpoon  into; 
but  those  days  are  gone,  Captain  Daggett  ;  and  whales  are 
to  be  looked  after,  out  at  sea,  much  as  money  is  to  be 
looked  for  ashore  here." 

"  Is  the  craft  I  saw  at  the  wharf  fitting  out  for  a  whaler 
then?" 

"  She  is  going  after  luck,  and  will  accept  of  it,  in  what- 
ever form  it  may  turn  up." 

"  She  is  rather  small  for  the  whaling  business,  though 
vessels  of  that  size  have  done  well,  by  keeping  close  in  upon 
our  own  coast." 

"  We  shall  know  better  what  she  will  do  after  she  has 
been  tried,''  returned  Gardiner,  evasively.  "What  do  you 
think  of  her  for  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  ?  " 

The  Martha's  Vineyard  man  gave  his  brother-tar  a  quick, 
impatient  glance,  which  pretty  plainly  said,  "tell  that  to 
the  marines,"  when  he  opened  the  second  chart,  which  as 
yet  had  been  neglected. 

"  Sure  enough,"  he  muttered,  in  a  low  tone,  though  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  by  the  keenly  attentive  deacon  ;  "here 
it  is — a  chart  of  the  West  Indies,  and  of  all  the  keys  !  " 

By  this  casual,  spontaneous  outbreaking,  as  it  might  be, 
the  deacon  got  another  clew  to  the  strangers  knowledge, 
that  gave  him  increased  uneasiness.  He  was  now  con- 
vinced that,  by  means  of  the  masters  of  the  brig  and  the 
sloop,  such  information  had  been  sent  to  the  relatives  of 
Daggett  as  had  prepared  them  to  expect  the  very  revela- 
tions on  which  he  hoped  to  establish  his  own  fortunes. 
To  what  extent  these  revelations  h-ad  been  made,  of  course 
he  could  only  conjecture  ;  but  there  must  have  been  a 
good  deal  of  particularity  to  induce  the  individual  who 
had  come  over  to  Oyster  Pond  to  look  into  the  two  charts 
so  closely.  Under  the  circumstances,  therefore,  he  felici- 
tated hitfiself  on  the  precaution  he  had  so  early  taken  to 
erase  the  important  notations  from  the  paper. 

"Captain  Gar'ner,  your  eyes  are  younger  than  mine," 
said  the  Vineyard  man,  holding  the  chart  up  to  the  light — 
'*  will  you  be  good  enough  to  look  here  ? — does  it  not  seem 
as  if  that  key  had  been  noted,  and  the  words  rubbed  off 
the  chart  ? " 

This  caused  the  deacon  to  peer  over  Roswell  Gardiner's 
shoulder,  and  glad  enough  was  he  to  ascertain  that  the 
stranger  had  placed  his  finger  on  a  key  that  must  lie  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  from  that  which  was  supposed  to  hold 
the  buried  treasure  of  the  pirates.  Something  like  an 


66  THK    SKA    J.7O.VS. 

erasure  did  appear  at  the  indicated  point  ;  but  the  chart 
was  so  old  and  dirty,  that  little  satisfaction  could  be  had 
by  examining  it.  Should  the  inquirer  settle  down  on  the 
key  he  evidently  had  in  his  eye,  all  would  be  well,  since  it 
was  far  enough  from  the  spot  really  noted. 

"  It  is  strange  that  so  old  a  seafaring  man  should  wear 
out  a  chart,  and  make  no  observations  on  it !"  repeated  the 
stranger,  who  was  both  vexed  and  at  a  loss  what  to  con« 
jecture.  "All  my  charts  are  written  over  and  marked  off, 
just  as  if  I  meant  to  get  out  an  edition  for  myself." 

"  Men  differ  in  their  tastes  and  habits,"  answered  Ros- 
well  Gardiner  carelessly.  "  Some  navigators  are  forever 
finding  rocks,  and  white  water,  and  scribbling  on  their 
charts,  or  in  the  newspapers,  when  they  get  back  ;  but  I 
never  knew  any  good  come  of  it.  The  men  who  make  the 
charts  are  most  to  be  trusted.  For  my  part,  I  would  not 
give  a  sixpence  for  a  note  made  by  a  man  who  passes  a 
shoal  or  a  rock,  in  a  squall  or  a  gale." 

"  What  would  you  say  to  the  note  of  a  sealer  who  should 
lay  down  an  island  where  the  seals  lie  about  on  the  beach 
like  pigs  in  a  pen,  sunning  themselves  ?  Would  you  not 
call  a  chart  so  noted,  a  treasure  ? " 

"That  would  alter  the  case,  sure  enough,"  returned 
Gardiner,  laughing ;  "  though  I  should  not  think  of  look- 
ing into  this  chest  for  any  such  riches.  Most  of  our  mas- 
ters navigate  too  much  at  random  to  make  their  charts  of 
any  great  value.  They  can  find  the  places  they  look  for 
themselves,  but  don't  seem  to  know  how  to  tell  other  peo- 
ple the  road.  I  have  known  my  old  man  lay  down  a  shoal 
that  he  fancied  he  saw,  quite  a  degree  out  of  the  way, 
Now  such  a  note  as  that  would  do  m0re  harm  than  good. 
It  might  make  a  foul  wind  of  a  fair  one,  and  cause  a  fel- 
low to  go  about,  or  wear  ship,  when  there  was  not  the 
least  occasion  in  the  world  for  doing  anything  of  the 
sort." 

u  Ay,  ay  ;  this  will  do  for  nervous  men,  who  are  always 
thinking  they  see  danger  ahead  ;  but  it  is  different  with 
islands  that  a  craft  has  actually  visited.  I  do  not  see  much 
use,  Deacon  Pratt,  in  your  giving  yourself  any  further 
trouble.  My  uncle  was  not  a  very  rich  man,  I  perceive, 
and  1  must  go  to  work  and  make  my  own  fortune  if  I  wish 
more  than  I've  got  already.  If  there  is  any  demand  against 
the  deceased,  I  am  ready  to  discharge  it." 

This  was  coming  so  much  to  the  point  that  the  deacon 
hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  it.  He  recollected  his  own 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  ;  67 

ten  dollars,  and  the  covetousness  of  his  disposition  so  far 
got  the  better  of  his  prudence  as  to  induce  him  to  mention 
the  circumstance. 

"Dr.  Sage  may  have  a  charge— no  doubt  has  one,  that 
ought  to  be  settled,  but  your  uncle  mainly  paid  his  way  as 
he  went  on.  I  thought  the  widow  who  took  care  of  him 
was  entitled  to  something  extra,  and  I  handed  her  ten  dol- 
lars this  morning,  which  you  may  repay  to  me  or  not,  just 
as  you  please." 

Captain  Daggett  drew  forth  his  wallet  and  discharged 
the  obligation  on  the  spot.  He  then  replaced  the  charts, 
and,  without  opening  the  till  of  the  chest,  he  shut  down  the 
lid,  locked  it,  and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  saying  that 
he  would  cause  the  whole  to  be  removed,  much  as  if  he 
felt  anxious  to  relieve  the  deacon  of  an  encumbrance. 
This  done,  he  asked  a  .direction  to  the  dwelling  of  the 
Widow  White,  with  whom  he  wished  to  converse  ere  he 
left  the  Point. 

"  I  shall  have  the  questions  of  so  many  cousins  to  answer 
when  I  get  home,"  he  said,  smiling,  "  that  it  will  never  do 
for  me  to  go  back  without  taking  all  the  talk  I  can  get 
with  me.  If  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  show  me  the  way, 
Captain  Gar'ner,  I  will  promise  to  do  as  much  for  you 
when  you  come  to  hunt  up  the  leavings  of  some  old  relation 
on  the  Vineyard." 

Roswell  Gardiner  very  cheerfully  complied,  not  observ- 
ing the  look  of  dissatisfaction  with  which  his  owner  listened 
to  the  request.  Awray  the  two  went,  then,  and  were  soon 
at  the  widow's  door.  Here  the  young  man  left  his  com- 
panion, having  duty  to  attend  to  on  board  the  Sea  Lion. 
The  Widow  White  received  her  guest  with  lively  interest, 
it  forming  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  her  existence  to 
be  imparting  and  receiving  intelligence. 

"  I  dare  say  you  found  my  uncle  a  companionable  man," 
observed  the  captain,  as  so'on  as  amicable  relations  were 
established  between  the  parties,  by  means  of  a  few  flatter- 
ing remarks  on  one  side  and  on  the  other.  "  The  Vine- 
yard folks  are  generally  quite  conversable." 

"That  he  was,  Captain  Daggett;  and  when  the  deacon 
had  not  been  over  to  perplex  him,  and  wake  up  the  worldly 
spirit  in  him,  he  was  as  well  inclined  to  preparation  as  any 
sick  person  I  ever  waited  on.  To  be  sure  it  was  different 
arter  the  deacon  had  paid  him  one  of  his  visits." 

"  Was  Deacon  Pratt  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  read  and 
pray  with  the  sick  ?" 


68  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  He  pray  !  I  don't  believe  he  as  much  as  went  through 
a  single  sentence  of  a  prayer  in  all  his  visits.  Their  whul] 
talk  was  about  islands  and  seals  when  they  was  by  them* 
selves." 

"  Indeed  ! "  exclaimed  the  nephew,  manifesting  a  new 
interest  in  the  discourse.  "  And  what  could  they  find  to 
say  on  such  subjects  ?  Islands  and  seals  were  a  strange 
topic  for  a  dying  man  ? " 

"  I  know  it,"  answered  the  widow,  sharply.  "  I  know'd 
it  at  the  time  ;  but  what  could  a  lone  woman  do  to  set  'em 
right ;  and  he  a  deacon  of  the  meetin'  the  whull  time  ?  If 
they  would  talk  of  worldly  things  at  such  times,  it  wasn't 
for  one  like  me  to  put  'em  right." 

"  Then  this  discourse  was  held  openly  in  your  presence 
— before  your  face,  as  it  might  be,  ma'am  ? " 

"  I  can't  say  that  it  was  just  that  ;  nor  was  it  altogether 
when  my  back  was  turned.  They  talked,  and  I  overheard 
what  was  said,  as  will  happen  when  a  body  is  about,  you 
know." 

The  stranger  did  not  press  the  point,  having  been  brought 
up  in  what  might  almost  be  termed  a  land  of  listeners. 
An  island  that  is  cut  off  from  much  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  earth,  and  from  which  two-thirds  of  the 
males  must  be  periodically  absent,  would  be  very  likely  to 
reach  perfection  in  the  art  of  gossiping,  which  includes 
that  of  the  listener. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  "one  picks  up  a  good  deal,  he 
doesn't  know  how.  So  they  talked  of  islands  and  seals  ?" 

Thus  questioned,  the  widow  cheerfully  opened'  her  stores 
of  knowledge.  As  she  proceeded  in  her  account  of  the 
secret  conferences  between  Deacon  Pratt  and  her  late  in- 
mate her  zeal  became  quickened,  and  she  omitted  nothing 
that  she  had  ever  heard,  besides  including  a  great  deal  that 
she  had  not  heard.  But  her  companion  was  accustomed 
to  such  narratives,  and  knew  reasonably  well  how  to  make 
allowances.  He  listened  with  a  determination  not  to  be- 
lieve more  than  half  of  what  she  said,  and  by  dint  of  long 
experience,  he  succeeded  in  separating  the  credible  por- 
tions of  the  woman's  almost  breathless  accounts,  from 
those  that  ought  to  have  been  regarded  as  incredible,  with 
a  surprising  degree  of  success.  The  greatest  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  comprehending  the  Widow  White's  report, 
arose  from  the  fact  that  she  had  altogether  missed  the 
preliminary  and  most  explicit  conference.  This  left  so 
much  to  be  understood  and  inferred,  that,  in  her  own 


THE   SEA    L10.VS.  69 

efforts  to  supply  the  deficiencies,  she  made  a  great  deal  of 
confusion  in  the  statements.  Captain  Daggett  was  fully 
assured  that  the  deacon  knew  of  the  existence  of  the  seal- 
ing-island,  at  least ;  though  he  was  in  doubt  whether  the 
rumor  that  had  been  brought  to  him,  touching  the  buried 
treasure,  had  also  been  imparted  to  this  person.  The  pur- 
chase and  equipment  of  the  Sea  Lion,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  widow's  account,  were  enough  of  themselves  to 
convince  one  of  his  experience  and  foresight,  that  an  ex- 
pedition after  seal  was  then  fitting  out  on  the  information 
derived  from  his  deceased  relative.  Of  this  much  he  had 
no  doubt ;  but  he  was  not  able  to  assure  himself  quite  so 
satisfactorily,  that  the  key  was  to  be  looked  at  by  the  way. 

The  interview  between  Captain  Daggett  and  the  Widow 
White  lasted  more  than  an  hour.  In  that  time  the  former 
had  gleaned  all  the  information  the  latter  could  give,  and 
they  parted  on  the  best  terms  in  the  world.  It  is  true  that 
the  captain  gave  the  widow  nothing — he  had  acquitted  his 
conscience  on  this  score,  by  repaying  the  deacon  the 
money  the  last  had  .advanced — but  he  listened  in  the  most 
exemplary  manner  to  all  she  had  to  say  ;  and,  with  a  cer- 
tain class  of  vehement  talkers,  the  most  favored  being  in 
the  world  is  your  good  listener.  Interest  had  given  the 
stranger  an  air  of  great  attention,  and  the  delighted  woman 
had  poured  out  her  torrent  of  words  in  a  way  that  grati- 
fied, in  the  highest  degree,  her  intense  desire  to  be  im- 
parting information.  When  they  separated,  it  was  with  an 
understanding  that  letters,  on  the  same  interesting  subject, 
should  pass  between  them. 

That  afternoon,  Captain  Daggett  found  means  to  remove 
the  chest  of  his  late  kinsman,  across  the  bays,  to  Sag 
Harbor,  whither  he  proceeded  himself  by  the  same  con- 
veyance. There,  he  passed  an  hour  or  two  in  making 
inquiries  touching  the  state  of  equipment,  and  the  proba- 
ble time  of  the  departure  of  the  Sea  Lion.  The  fitting 
out  of  this  schooner  was  the  cause  of  a  good  deal  of  dis- 
course in  all  that  region,  and  the  Martha's  Vineyard  man 
heard  numberless  conjectures,  but  very  little  accurate  in- 
formation., On  the  whole,  however,  he  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  Sea  Lion  would  sail  within  the  next 
ten  days  ;  that  her  voyage  was  to  be  distant ;  that  her  ab- 
sence was  expected  to  exceed  a  twelvemonth  ;  and  that  it 
was  thought  she  had  some  other  scheme  in  view  in  addition 
to  that  of  sealing.  That  night,  this  hardy  mariner — half 
agriculturist  as  he  was — got  into  his  whale-boat,  and  sailed 


7o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

for  the  Vineyard  all  alone,  taking  the  chest  with  him. 
This  was  nothing,  however  ;  for  quite  often  before  had  he 
been  off  at  sea,  in  his  boat  alone,  looking  out  for  inward- 
bound  vessels  to  pilot. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

" Launch  thy  bark,  mariner! 

Christian,  God  speed  thee  ! 
Let  loose  the  rudder-bands, 

Good  angels  lead  thee  ! 
Set  thy  sails  warily, 

Tempests  will  come  ; 
Steer  thy  course  steadily, 

Christian,  steer  home  !  "—MRS.  SOUTHEY. 

THE  visit  of  Captain  Daggett,  taken  in  connection  with 
all  that  he  had  said  and  done,  while  on  Oyster  Pond,  and 
at  Sag  Harbor,  had  the  effect  greatly  to  hasten  the  equip- 
ments of  the  Sea  Lion.  Deacon  Pratt  knew  the  characters 
of  the  seamen  of  the  island  too  well,  to  trifle  in  a  matter  of 
so  much  moment.  How  much  the  Vineyard  folks  had 
been  told,  in  reference  to  his  great  secrets,  he  did  not 
know  ;  but  he  felt  assured  that  they  knew  enough,  and 
had  learned  enough  in  this  visit  to  quicken  all  their  de- 
sires for  riches,  and  to  set  them  in  motion  toward  the 
antarctic  circle.  With  such  a  people,  distance  and  difficul- 
ties are  of  no  account ;  a  man  who  has  been  cradling  oats 
to-day,  in  his  own  retired  fields,  where  one  would  think 
ambition  and  the  love  of  change  could  never  penetrate; 
being  ready  to  quit  home  at  twenty-four  hours'  notice, 
assuming  the  marlin-spike  as  he  lays  aside  the  fork,  and 
setting  forth  for  the  uttermost  confines  of  the  earth,  with 
as  little  hesitation  as  another  might  quit  his  home  for  an 
ordinary  journey  of  a  week.  Such,  did  the  deacon  well 
know,  was  the  character  of  those  with -whom  he  had  now 
to  deal,  and  he  foresaw  the  necessity  of  the  utmost  caution, 
perseverance,  diligence,  and  activity. 

Philip  Hazard,  the  mate  mentioned  by  Roswell  Gardi- 
ner, was  enjoined  to  lose  no  time  ;  and  the  men  engaged 
for  the  voyage  soon  began  to  cross  the  Sound,  and  to 
make  their  appearance  on  board  the  schooner.  As  for  the 
craft  herself,  she  had  all  that  was  necessary  for  her  wants 
below  hatches  ;  and  the  deacon  began  to  manifest  some 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  71 

impatience  for  the  appearance  of  two  or  three  men  of 
particular  excellence,  of  whom  Phil  Hazard  was  in  quest, 
and  whom  Captain  Gardiner  had  made  it  a  point  should 
be  obtained.  Little  did  the  worthy  owner  suspect  that 
the  Vineyard  people  were  tampering  with  these  very 
hands,  and  keeping  them  from  coming  to  terms,  in  order 
that  they  might  fit  out  a  second  Sea  Lion,  which  they  had 
now  been  preparing  for  near  a  month  ;  having  purchased 
her  at  New  Bedford,  with  a  view  to  profit  by  the  imper- 
fect information  that  had  reached  them,  through  the  mas- 
ters of  the  brig  and  sloop.  The  identity  in  the  name  was 
accidental,  or,  it  might  be  better  to  say,  had  been  naturally 
enough  suggested  by  the  common  nature  of  the  enterprise ; 
but,  once  existing,  it  had  been  the  means  of  suggesting  to 
the  Vineyard  company  a  scheme  of  confounding  the  ves- 
sels, out  of  which  they  hoped  to  reap  some  benefit,  but 
which  it  would  be  premature  now  fully  to  state. 

After  a  delay  of  several  days,  Hazard  sent  across  from 
Stonington  a  man  by  the  name  of  Watson,  who  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  first-class  sealer.  This  accession 
was  highly  prized  ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  his  mates,  both 
of  whom  were  out  looking  for  hands,  Roswell  Gardiner, 
to  whom  command  was  still  novel,  consulted  freely  with 
this  experienced  and  skilful  mariner.  It  was  fortunate  for 
the  schemes  of  the  deacon  that  he  had  left  his  young  master 
still  in  the  dark,  as  respected  his  two  great  secrets.  Gar- 
diner understood  that  the  schooner  was  to  go  after  seals, 
sea-lions,  sea-elephants,  and  all  animals  of  the  genus 
phoca  ;  but  he  had  been  told  nothing  concerning  the  reve- 
lations of  Daggett,  or  of  the  real  motives  that  had  induced 
him  to  go  so  far  out  of  his  usual  course,  in  the  pursuit  of 
gain.  We  say  it  was  fortunate  that  the  deacon  had  been 
so  wary  ;  for  Watson  had  no  intention  whatever  to  sail 
out  of  Oyster  Pond,  having  been  actually  engaged  as  the 
second  officer  of  the  rival  Sea  Lion,  which  had  been  pur- 
chased at  New  Bedford,  and  was  then  in  active  state  of 
forwardness  in  its  equipments,  with  a  view  to  compete 
with  the  craft  that  was  still  lying  so  quietly  and  uncon- 
sciously alongside  of  Deacon  Pratt's  wharf.  In  a  word, 
Watson  was  a  spy,  sent  across  by  the  Vineyard-men,  to 
ascertain  all  he  could  of  the  intentions  of  the  schooner's 
owner,  to  worm  himself  into  Gardiner's  confidence,  and  to 
report,  from  time  to  time,  the  state  of  things  generally,  in 
order  that  the  East-enders  might  not  get  the  start  of  his 
real  employers.  It  is  a  common  boast  of  Americans  that 


72  THE   SEA    LIONS, 

there  are  no  spies  in  their  country.  This  may  be  true  in 
the  every-day  signification  of  the  term,  though  it  is  very 
untrue  in  all  others.  This  is  probably  the  most  spying 
country  in  Christendom,  if  the  looking  into  other  people's 
concerns  be  meant.  Extensive  and  recognized  systems  of 
espionage  exist  among  merchants  ;  and  nearly  every  man 
connected  with  the  press  has  enlisted  himself  as  a  sort  of  spy 
in  the  interests  of  politics — many,  in  those  of  other  con- 
cerns, also.  The  reader,  therefore,  is  not  to  run  away 
with  impressions  formed  under  general  assertions  that  will 
scarce  bear  investigation,  and  deny  the  truth  of  pictures 
that  are  drawn  with  daguerreotype  fidelity,  because  they 
do  not  happen  to  reflect  the  cant  of  the  day.  The  man 
Watson,  who  had  partially  engaged  to  go  out  in  the  Sea 
Lion,  Captain  Roswell  Gardiner,  was  not  only  a  spy,  but 
a  spy  sent  covertly  into  an  enemy's  camp,  with  the  mean- 
est motives,  and  with  intentions  as  hostile  as  the  nature  of 
the  circumstances  would  permit. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  on  Oyster  Pond  for  quite  a 
week  after  the  nephew  had  been  to  look  after  the  effects  of 
the  deceased  uncle.  The  schooner  was  now  quite  ready  for 
sea,  and  her  master  began  to  talk  of  hauling  off  from  the 
wharf.  It  is  true,  there  was  no  very  apparent  reason  why 
this  step,  preliminary  to  sailing,  should  be  taken  in  that 
port,  where  there  were  so  few  opportunities  for  her  people 
to  run  into  excesses  ;  but  it  sounded  ship-shape,  and  Cap-' 
tain  Gardiner  had  been  heard  to  express  an  intention  to 
that  effect.  The  men  arrived  but  slowly  from  the  main, 
and  something  like  impatience  was  manifested  by  the 
young  commander,  who  had  long  before  got  all  his  green 
hands,  or  youths  from  the  neighborhood,  on  board,  and  was* 
gradually  breaking  them  into  the  ways  of  a  vessel.  Indeed, 
the  best  reason  he  could  give  to  himself  for  "  hauling  off," 
was  the  practice  it  might  give  to  these  lads  with  the  oars. 

"  I  don't  know  what  Hazard  and  Green  are  about,"  called 
out  Roswell  Gardiner  to  his  owner,  the  first  being  on  the 
quarter-deck  of  the  Sea  Lion,  and  the  last  on  the  wharf, 
while  Watson  was  busy  in  the  main-rigging  ;  "  they've 
been  long  enough  on  the  main  to  ship  a  dozen  crews  for  a 
craft  of  this  size,  and  we  are  still  short  two  hands,  even  if 
this  man  sign  the  papers,  which  he  has  not  yet  done.  By 
the  way,  Watson,  it's  time  we  saw  your  handwriting." 

"  I'm  a  poor  scholar,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  returned  the 
cunning  mariner,  "  and  it  takes  time  for  me  to  make  out 
even  so  small  a  matter  as  my  name." 


THE    SEA    LIOA'S.  7^ 

"  Ay,  ay  ;  you  are  a  prudent  fellow,  and  I  like  you  all 
the  better  for  it.  But  you  have  had  leisure,  and  a'plenty 
of  it  too,  to  make  up  your  mind.  You  must  know  the 
schooner  from  her  keel  up  by  this  time,  and  ought  to  be 
able  to  say  now  that  you  are  willing  to  take  luck's  chances 
in  her." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir;  that's  all  true  enough,  so  far  as  the  craft 
is  concerned.  If  this  was  a  West  India  v'y'ge,  I  wouldn't 
stand  a  minute  about  signing  the  articles  ;  nor  should  I 
make  much  question  if  the  craft  was  large  enough  for  a 
common  whalin'  v'y'ge  ;  but  sealin  is  a  different  business, 
and  one  onprofitable  hand  may  make  many  an  onprofitable 
lay." 

"  All  this  is  true  enough  ;  but  we  do  not  intend  to  take 
any  unprofitable  hands,  or  to  have  any  unropfitable  lays. 
You  know  me " 

"Oh!  if  all  was  \\keyou,  Captain  Gar'ner,  I  wouldn't 
stand  even  to  wipe  the  pen.  Your  repitation  was  made  in 
the  southward,  and  no  man  can  dispute  your  skill." 

"  Well,  both  mates  are  old  hands  at  the  business,  and  we 
intend  that  all  the  'ables '  shall  be  as  good  men  as  you  are 
yourself." 

"  It  needs  good  men,  sir,  to  be  operatin'  among  some  of 
them  sea-elephants !  Sea-dogs  ;  for  sea-dogs  is  my  sayin'. 
They  tell  of  seals  getting  scurce  ;  but  I  say,  it's  all  in 
knowin' the  business. —  'There's  young  Captain  Gar'ner,' 
says  I,  *  that's  fittin'  out  a  schooner  for  some  onknown 
part  of  the  world,'  says  I,  'maybe  for  the  South  Pole,  for- 
ti-know,  or  for  some  sich  out-of-the-way  hole  ;  now  he'll 
come  back/?///,  or  I'm  no  judge  o'  the  business,'  says  I." 

"Well,  if  this  is  your  way  of  thinking,  you  have  only  to 
clap  your  name  to  the  articles,  and  take  your  lay." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir  ;  when  I've  seed  my  shipmates.  There  isn't 
the  business  under  the  sun  that  so  much  needs  that  every 
man  should  be  true,  as  the  sea-elephant  trade.  Smaller 
animals  may  be  got  along  with,  with  a  narvous  crew,  per- 
haps ;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  raal  old  bulls,  or  bull- 
dogs, as  a  body  might  better  call  'em,  give  me  stout  hearts, 
as  well  as  stout  hands." 

"  Well,  now,  to  my  notion,  Watson,  it  is  less  dangerous 
to  take  a  sea-elephant  than  to  fasten  to  a  regular  old  bull- 
whale,  that  maybe  .has  had  half  a  dozen  irons  in  him  al- 
ready." 

"  Yes,  sir,  that's  sometimes  skeary  work,  too  ;  though  I 
don't  think  so  much  of  a  whale  as  I  do  of  a  sea-elephant, 


74  THE  SEA    LIONS. 

or  of  a  sea-lion.  '  Let  me  know  my  shipmates,'  say  I,  '  on 
a  sealin'  expedition.'  " 

"  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  the  deacon,  who  necessarily 
overheard  this  discourse,  "  you  ought  to  know  at  once 
whether  this  man  is  to  go  in  the  schooner  or  not.  The 
mates  believe  he  is,  and  may  come  across  from  the  main 
without  a  hand  to  take  his  place,  should  he  leave  us.  The 
thing  should  be  settled  at  once." 

"  I'm  willing  to  come  to  tarms  this  minute,"  returned 
Watson,  as  boldly  as  if  he  were  perfectly  sincere  ;  "  only 
let  me  understand  what  I  undertake.  If  I  know'd  to  what 
islands  the  schooner  was  bound,  it  might  make  a  difference 
in  my  judgment." 

This  was  a  well-devised  question  of  the  spy's,  though  it 
failed  of  its  effect,  in  consequence  of  the  deacon's  great 
caution  in  not  having  yet  told  his  secret,  even  to  the  mas- 
ter of  his  craft.  Had  Gardiner  known  exactly  where  he 
was  about  to  go,  the  desire  to  secure  a  hand  as  valuable  as 
Watson  might  have  drawn  from  him  some  imprudent  reve- 
lation ;  but  knowing  nothing  himself,  he  was  obliged  to 
make  the  best  answer  he  could. 

"  Going,"  he  said  ;  "  why,  we  are  going  after  seals,  to  be 
sure  ;  and  shall  look  for  them  where  they  are  most  to  be 
found.  As  experienced  a  hand  as  yourself  ought  to  know 
where  that  is." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  the  fellow,  laughing — "it's  just 
neither  here  nor  there — that's  all." 

"  Captain  Gar'ner,"  interrupted  the  deacon,  solemnly, 
"  this  is  trifling,  and  we  must  come  to  terms  with  this 
man,  or  write  to  Mr.  Hazard  to  engage  another  in  his 
place.  ,  Come  ashore,  sir  ;  I  have  business  with  you  up  at 
the  house." 

The  serious  man'ner  in  which  this  was  uttered  took  both 
the  captain  and  the  man  a  little  by  surprise.  As  for  the 
first,  he  went  below  to  conceal  his  good-looking  throat 
beneath  a  black  handkerchief,  before  he  followed  the  dea- 
con where  it  was  most  probable  he  should  meet  with  Mary. 
Whil§  he  was  thus  occupied,  Watson  came  down  out  of 
the  main-rigging  and  descended  into  the  forecastle.  As 
the  young  captain  was  walking  fast  toward  the  dwelling 
of  Deacon  Pratt,  Watson  came  on  deck  again,  and  hailed 
Baiting  Joe,  who  was  fishing  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
wharf.  In  a  few  minutes  Watson  was  in  Joe's  boat,  bag 
and  all — he  had  not  brought  a  chest  on  board — and  was 
under  way  for  the  Harbor.  From  the  Harbor  he  sailed 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  ,  75 

the  same,  evening,  in  a  whale-boat  that  was  kept  in  readi- 
ness for  him,  carrying  the  news  over  to  Holmes's  Hole 
that  the  Sea  Lion,  of  Oyster  Pond,  would  certainly  be 
ready  to  go  out  as  early  as  the  succeeding  week.  Al- 
though Watson  thus  seemingly  deserted  his  post,  it  was 
with  a  perfect  understanding  with  his  real  employers.  He 
had  need  of  a  few  days  to  make  his  own  preparations  be- 
fore he  left  the  4ist  degree  of  north  latitude  to  go  as  fai 
south  as  a  vessel  could  proceed.  He  did  not,  however, 
leave  his  post  entirely  vacant.  One  of  Deacon  Pratt's 
neighbors  had  undertaken,  for  a  consideration,  to  let  the 
progress  of  events  be  known,  and  tidings  were  sent  by 
every  opportunity,  reporting  the  movements  of  the 
schooner,  and  the  prospects  of  her  getting  to  sea.  These 
last  were  not  quite  as  flattering  as  Roswell  Gardiner  had 
hoped  and  believed,  the  agents  of  the  Vineyard  company 
having  succeeded  in  getting  away  two  of  Hazard's  best 
men  ;  and  as  reliable  sealers  were  not  to  be  picked  up  as 
easily  as  pebbles  on  a  beach,  the  delay  caused  by  this  new 
stroke  of  management  might  even  be  serious.  All  this 
time  the  Sea  Lion,  of  Holmes's  Hole,  was  getting  ahead 
with  untiring  industry,  and  there  was  every  prospect  of 
her  being  ready  to  go  out  as  soon  as  her  competitor.  But 
to  return  to  Oyster  Pond. 

Deacon  Pratt  was  in  his  porch  ere  Roswell  Gardiner 
overtook  him.  There  the  deacon  gave  his  young  friend 
to  understand  he  had  private  business  of  moment,  and  led 
the  way  at  once  into  his  own  apartment,  which  served  the 
purposes  of  office,  bedroom,  and  closet ;  the  good  man 
being  accustomed  to  put  up  his  petition  to  the  throne  of 
Mercy  there,  as  well  as  transact  all  his  temporal  affairs. 
Shutting  the  door,  and  turning  the  key,  not  a  little  to 
Rosvvell's  surprise,  the  old  man  faced  his  companion  with 
a  most  earnest  and  solemn  look,  telling  him  at  once  that 
he  was  now  about  to  open  his  mind  to  him  in  a  matter  of 
the  last  concern.  The  young  sailor  scarce  knew  what  to 
think  of  it  all ;  but  he  hoped  that  Mary  was,  in  some  way, 
connected  with  the  result. 

<kln  the  first  place,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  continued  the 
deacon,  "  I  must  ask  you  to  take  an  oath." 

"  An  oath,  deacon  !  This  is  quite  new  for  the  sealing 
business — as  ceremonious  as  Uncle  Sam's  people." 

"Yes,  sir,  an  oath;  and  an  oath  that  must  be  most  re- 
ligiously kept,  and  on  this  Bible.  Without  the  oath^  our 
whole  connection  must  fall  through,  Captain  Gar'ner." 


76  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  Rather  than  that  should  happen,  deacon,  I  will  cheer« 
fully  take  two  oaths  ;  one  to  clench  the  other." 

"  It  is  well.  I  ask  you,  Roswell  Gar'ner,  to  swear  on  this 
Holy  Book  that  the  secrets  I  shall  now  reveal  to  you  shall 
not  be  told  to  any  other,  except  in  a  manner  prescribed  by 
myself  ;  that  in  no  other  man's  employment  will  you  profit 
by  them  ;  and  that  you  will  in  all  things  connected  with 
them  be  true  and  faithful  to  your  engagements  to  me  and 
to  my  interests — so  help  you  God  !  " 

Roswell  Gardiner  kissed  the  book,  while  he  wondered 
much,  and  was  dying  with  curiosity  to  know  what  was  to 
follow.  This  great  point  secured,  the  deacon  laid  aside 
the  sacred  volume,  opened  a  drawer,  and  produced  the  two 
all-important  charts,  to  which  he  had  transferred  the  notes 
of  Daggett 

"Captain  Gar'ner,"  resumed  the  deacon,  spreading  the 
chart  of  the  antarctic  sea  on  the  bed,  "you  must  have 
known  me  and  my  ways  long  enough  to  feel  some  surprise 
at  finding  me,  at  my  time  of  life,  first  entering  into  the 
shipping  concern." 

"  If  I've  felt  any  surprise,  deacon,  it  is  that  a  man  of 
your  taste  and  judgment  should  have  held  aloof  so  long 
from  the  only  employment  that  I  think  fit  for  a  man  of 
real  energy  and  character." 

"Ay,  this  is  well  enough  for  you  to  say,  as  a  seaman 
yourself ;  though  you  will  find  it  hard  to  persuade  most  of 
those  who  live  on  shore  into  your  own  ways  of  thinking." 

"  That  is  because  people  ashore  think  and  act  as  they 
have  been  brought  up  to  do.  Now  just  look  at  that  chart, 
deacon  ;  see  how  much  of  it  is  water,  and  how  little  of  it  is 
land.  Minister  Whittle  told  us  only  the  last  Sabbath,  that 
nothing  was  created  without  a  design,  and  that  a  wise  dis- 
pensation of  Divine  Providence  was  to  be  seen  in  all  the 
works  of  nature.  Now  if  the  land  was  intended  to  take 
the  lead  of  the  water,  would  there  have  been  so  much 
more  of  the  last  than  of  the  first,  deacon  ?  That  was  the 
idea  that  came"  into  my  mind  when  I  heard  the  minister's 
words  ;  and  had  not  Mary — 

"What  of  Mary?"  demanded  the  deacon,  seeing  that 
the  young  man  paused. 

"  Only  I  was  in  hopes  that  what  you  had  to  say,  deacon, 
might  have  some  connection  with  her." 

"  What  I  have  to  say  is  better  worth  hearing  than  fifty 
Marys.  As  to  my  niece,  Gar'ner,  you  are  welcome  to  her, 
if  she  will  have  you  ;  and  why  she  does  not  is  to  me  unac- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  77 

countable.     But,  you  see  that  chart— look  at  it  well,  and 
tell  me  if  you  find  anything  new  or  remarkable  about  it." 

"  It  looks  like  old  times,  deacon,  and  here  are  many 
places  that  I  have  visited  and  know.  What  have  we  here"? 
Islands  laid  down  in  pencil,  with  the  latitude  and  longitude 
in  figures!  Who  says  there  is  land  thereaway,  Deacon 
Pratt,  if  I  may  be  so  free  as  to  ask  the  question  ? ;' 

"  I  do — and  capital  pood  land  it  is  for  a  sealing  craft  to 
get  alongside  of.  Them  islands,  Gar'ner,  may  make  your 
fortune,  as  well  as  mine.  No  matter  how  I  know  they  are 
there — it  is  enough  that  1  do  know  it,  and  that  I  wish  you 
to  carry  the  Sea  Lion  to  that  very  spot,  as  straight  as  you 
can  go  ;  fill  her  up  with  elephant's  oil,  ivory,  and  skins, 
and  bring  her  back  again  as  fast  as  she  can  travel." 

"  Islands  in  that  latitude  and  longitude  !  "  said  Roswell 
Gardiner,  examining  the  chart  as  closely  as  if  it  were  of 
very  fine  print  indeed — "  I  never  heard  of  any  such  land 
before  !  " 

"  'Tis  there,  notwithstanding  ;  and  like  all  land  in  distant 
seas  that  men  have  not  often  troubled,  plentifully  garnished 
with  what  will  pay  the  manner  well  for  his  visit." 

"  Of  that  I  have  little  doubt,  should  there  be  actually 
any  land  there.  It  may  be  a  Cape  Fly  Away  that  some 
fellow  has  seen  in  thick  weather.  The  ocean  is  full  of 
such  islands  ! " 

"  This  is  none  of  them.  It  is  bony  fidy  'arth,  as  I  know 
from  the  man  who  trod  it.  You  must  take  good  care,  Gar'- 
ner,  and  not  run  the  schooner  on  it," — with  a  small,  chuck- 
ling laugh,  such  as  a  man  little  accustomed  to  this  species 
of  indulgence  uses  when  in  high  good-humor.  "  I  am  not 
rich  enough  to  buy  and  fit  out  Sea  Lions  for  you  to  cast 
'em  away." 

"  That's  high  latitude,  deacon,  to  carry  a  craft  into. 
Cook  himself  fell  short  of  that  somewhat !  " 

"  Never  mind  Cook — he  was  a  king's  navigator — my  man 
was  an  American  sealer ;  and  what  he  has  once  seen  he 
knows  where  to  find  again.  There  are  the  islands — three 
in  number;  and  there  you  will  find  'em,  with  animals  on 
their'shores  as  plenty  as  clam-shells  on  the  south  beach." 

"  I  hope  it  may  be  so.  If  land  is  there,  and  you'll  risk 
the  schooner,  I'll  try  to  get  a  look  at  it.  I  shall  want  you 
to  put  it  down  in  black  and  white,  however,  that  I'm  to  go 
as  high  as  this." 

"  You  shall  have  any  authority  a  man  may  ask.  On  that 
point  there  can  be  no  difficulty  between  me  and  you.  The 


78  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

risk  of  the  schooner  must  be  mine,  of  course  ;  but  I  rely 
on  you  to  take  -as  good  care  of  her  as  a  man  can.  Go 
then,  direct  to  that  point,  and  fill  up  the  schooner.  But, 
Gar'ner,  my  business  doesn't  end  with  this !  As  soon  as 
the  schooner  is  full  you  will  come  to  the  southward,  and 
get  her  clear  of  everything  like  ice  as  fast  as  possible." 

"That  I  should  be  very  likely  to  do,  deacon,  though  you 
had  said  nothing  on  the  subject." 

"  Yes,  by  all  accounts  them  are  stormy  seas,  and  the 
sooner  a  body  is  shut  of  them  the  better.  And  now,  Gar'- 
ner, I  must  swear  you  again.  I  have  another  secret  to  tell 
you,  and  an  oath  must  go  with  each.  Kiss  this  sacred  vol- 
ume once  more,  and  swear  to  me  never  to  reveal  to  another 
that  which  I  am  about  to  reveal  to  you,  unless  it  may  be 
in  a  court  of  law,  and  at  the  command  of  justice,  so  help 
you  God  ! " 

"  What,  a  second  oath,  deacon  ! — You  are  as  bad  as  the 
custom-houses,  which  take  you  on  all  tacks,  and  don't 
believe  you  when  you've  done.  Surely,  I'm  sworn  in  al- 
ready." 

"  Kiss  the  book,  and  swear  to  what  I  have  put  to  you," 
said  the  deacon,  sternly,  "or  never  go  to  sea  in  a  craft  of 
mine.  Never  to  reveal  what  I  shall  now  tell  you,  unless 
compelled  by  justice,  so  help  you  God  ! " 

Thus  cornered,  Roswell  Gardiner  hesitated  ho  longer, 
but  swore  as  required,  kissing  the  book  gravely  and  rever- 
ently. This  was  the  young  man's  first  command,  and  he 
was  not  going  to  lose  it  on  account  of  so  small  a  matter  as 
swearing  to  keep  his  owner's  secrets.  Having  obtained 
the  pledge,  the  deacon  now  produced  the  second  chart, 
which  was  made  to  take  the  place  of  the  other  on  the  bed. 

"  There  !  "  he  exclaimed,  in  a  sort  of  triumph — "  that  is 
the  real  object  of  your  voyage  !  " 

"  That  key  !     Why,  deacon,  that  is  in  north  latitude— 
— ",  and  you  make  a  crooked  road   of  it,  truly,  when  you 
tell  me  to  go  as  far  south  as — ° — ",  in  order  to  reach  it." 

"  It  is  well  to  have  two  strings  to  a  body's  bow.  When 
you  hear  what,  you  are  to  bring  from  that,  key,  you  will 
understand  why  I  send  you  south,  before  you  are  to  come 
here  to  top  off  your  cargo." 

"It  must  be  with  turtle,  then,"  said  Roswell  Gardiner, 
laughing.  "Nothing  grows  on  these  keys  but  a  few  stunted 
shrubs,  and  nothing  is  ever  to  be  found  on  them  but  turtle. 
Once  in  a  while  a  fellow  ,niay  pick  up  a  few  turtle,  if  he 
happen  to  hit  the  right  key." 


THE   SEA    LIOiVS.  v  79 

"Gar'ner,"  rejoined  the  deacon,  still  more  solemnly — 
"  that  island,  low  and  insignificant  as  it  is,  contains  treas- 
ure. Pirates  made  their  deposits  here  a  long  time  agt>, 
and  the  knowledge  of  that  fact  is  now  confined  to  my- 
self." 

The  young  man  stared  at  the  deacon  as  if  he  had  some 
doubts  whether  the  old  man  were  in  his  right  mind.  He 
knew  the  besetting  weakness  of  his  character  well,  and 
had  no  difficulty  in  appreciating  the  influence  of  such  a 
belief  as  that  he  had  just  expressed,  on  his  feelings  ;  but 
it  seemed  so  utterly  improbable  that  he,  living  on  Oyster 
Pond,  should  learn  a  fact  of  this  nature,  which  was  con- 
cealed from  others,  that,  at  first,  he  fancied  his  owner  had 
been  dreaming  of  money  until  its  images  had  made  him 
mad.  Then  he  recollected  the  deceased  mariner,  the 
deacon's  many  conferences  with  him,  the  interest  he  had 
always  appeared  to  take  in  the  man,  and  the  suddenness, 
as  well  as  the  time,  of  the  purchase  of  the  shooner  ;  and 
he  at  once  obtained  a  clew  to  the  whole  affair. 

"  Daggett  has  told  you  this,Deacon  Pratt,"  said  Gardiner, 
in  his  off-hand  way.  "  And  he  is  the  man  who  has  told  you 
of  those  sealing-islands  too  !  " 

"  Admitting  it  to  be  so,  why  not  Daggett  as  well  as  any 
other  man  ? " 

"  Certainly,  if  he  knew  what  he  was  saying  to  be  true 
—but  the  yarn  of  a  sailor  is  not  often  to  be  taken  for 
gospel." 

"  Daggett  was  near  his  end,  and  cannot  be  classed  with 
those  who  talk  idly  in  the  pride  of  their  health  and  strength 
— men  who  are  ever  ready  to  say,  '  Tush,  God  has  forgot- 
ten.' " 

"Why  was  this  told  to  you,  when  the  man  had  natural 
friends  and  relatives  by  the  dozen  over  on  the  Vineyard  ? " 

"  He  had  been  away  from  the  Vineyard  and  them  rela- 
tives fifty  years  ;  a  length  of  time  that  weakens  a  body's 
feelings  considerably.  Take  you  away  from  Mary  only  a 
fourth  part  of  that  time,  and  you  would  forget  whether 
her  eyes  are  blue  or  black,  and  altogether  how  she  looks." 

"  If  I  should,  a  most  miserable  and  contemptible  dog 
should  I  account  myself!  No,  deacon,  twice  fifty  years 
would  not  make  me  forget  the  eyes  or  the  looks  of  Mary  ! 

"Ay,  so  all  youngsters  think,  and  feel,  and  tall^  But 
let  'em  try  the  world,  and  they'll  soon  find  out  their  own 
foolishness.  But  Daggett  made  me  his  confidant  because 
Providence  put  me  in  his  way,  and  because  he  trusted  to 


8o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

be  well  enough  to  go  in  the  schooner,  and  to  turn  the  ex- 
pedition to  some  account  in  his  own  behalf." 

"  Had  the  man  the  impudence  to  confess  that  he  had 
been  a  pirate,  and  helped  to  bury  treasure  on  this  key  ?  " 

"  That  is  not,  by  any  means,  his  history.  Daggett  was 
never  a  pirate  himself,  but  accident  placed  him  in  the  same 
prison  and  same  room  as  that  in  which  a  real  pirate  was 
confined.  There  the  men  became  friends,  and  the  con- 
demned prisoner,  for  such  he  was  in  the  end,  gave  this 
secret  to  Daggett  as  the  last  service  he  could  do  him." 

"  I  hope,  deacon,  you  do  not  expect  much  in  the  way  of 
profit  from  this  part  of  the  voyage  ? " 

"  I  expect  the  most  from  it,  Gar'ner,  as  you  will  too, 
when  you  come  to  hear  the  whole  story." 

The  deacon  then  went  into  all  the  particulars  of  the  rev- 
Delations  made  by  the  pirate  to  his  fellow-prisoner,  much 
as  they  had  been  given  by  Daggett  to  himself.  The  young 
man  listened  to  this  account  at  first  with  incredulity,  then 
with  interest ;  and  finally  with  a  feeling  that  induced  him 
to  believe  that  there  might  be  more  truth  in  the  narrative 
than  he  had  originally  supposed  possible.  This  change  was 
produced  by  the  earnest  manner  of  the  deacon  as  much  as 
by  the  narrative  itself ;  for  he  had  become  graphic  under 
the  strong  impulses  of  that  which,  with  him,  was  a  master 
passion.  So  deep  had  been  the  impression  made  on  the 
mind  of  the  old  man  by  Daggett's  account,  and  so  intense 
the  expectations  thereby  awakened,  that  he  omitted  noth- 
ing, observed  the  most  minute  accuracy  in  all  his  details, 
and  conveyed  just  as  distinct  impressions  to  his  listener,  as 
had  been  conveyed  to  himself,  when  the  story  was  first  told 
to  him. 

"  This  is  a  most  extr'or'nary  account,  take  it  on  whatever 
tack  you  will !  "  exclaimed  Roswell  Gardiner,  as  soon  as  a 
pause  in  the  deacon's  story  enabled  him  to  put  in  another 
word.  "  The  most  extr'or'nary  tale  I  ever  listened  to  J 
How  came  so  much  gold  and  silver  to  be  abandoned  for  so 
long  a  time  ?" 

"  Them  three  officers  hid  it  there,  fearing  to  trust  their 
own  crew  with  it  in  their  vessel.  Their  pretence  was  to  stop 
for  turtle,  just  as  you  must  do  ;  whilst  the  hands  were  turt- 
ling,  the  captain  and  his  mates  walked  about  the  key,  and 
took  occasion  to  make  their  deposits  in  that  hole  on  the 
coral  rock,  as  you  have  heard  me  say.  Oh  \  it's  all  too  natu- 
ral not  to  be  true ! "  % 

Roswell  Gardiner  saw  that  the  old  man's  hopes  were  too 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  »          8r 

keenly  excited  to  be  easily  cooled,  and  that  his  latent  covet- 
ousness  was  thoroughly  awakened.  Of  all  the  passions  to 
which  poor  human  nature  is  the  slave,  the  love  of  gold  is 
that  which  endures  the  longest,  and  is  often  literally  car- 
ried with  us  to  the  verge  of  the  grave.  Indeed,  in  minds 
so  constituted  originally  as  to  submit  to  an  undue  love  of 
money,  the  passion  appears  to  increase,  as  others  more  de- 
pendent on  youth,  and  strength,  and  enterprise,  and  am- 
bition, gradually  become  of  diminished  force,  slowly  but 
surely  usurping  the  entire  sway  over  a  being  that  was  once 
subject  to  many  masters.  Thus  had  it  been  with  the  deacon. 
Nearly  all  his  passions  now  centred  in  this  one.  He  no 
longer  cared  for  preferment  in  politics,  though  once  it  had 
been  the  source  of  a  strong  desire  to  represent  Suffolk  at 
Albany ;  even  the  meeting,  and  its  honors,  were  loosening 
their  hold  on  his  mind  ;  while  his  fellow-men,  his  kindred  in- 
cluded, were  regarded  by  him  as  little  more  than  so  many 
competitors,  or  tools. 

"  A  lie  may  be  made  to  seem  very  natural,"  answered 
Roswell  Gardiner,  "  if  it  has  been  put  together  by  one  who 
understands  knotting  and  splicing  in  such  matters.  Did 
this  Daggett  name  the  amount  of  the  sum  that  he  supposed 
the  pirates  may  have  left  on  that  key?" 

"  He  did,"  returned  the  deacon,  the  whole  of  his  narrow 
and  craving  soul  seeming  to  gleam  in  his  two  sunken  eyes 
as  he  answered.  "  According  to  the  account  of  the  pirate, 
there  could  not  have  been  much  less  than  thirty  thousand 
dollars,  and  nearly  all  of  it  in  good  doubloons  of  the  coin 
of  the  kings — doubloons  that  will  weigh  their  full  sixteens 
to  the  pound — ay,  and  to  spare  !  " 

"  The  Sea  Lion's  cargo,  well  chosen  and  well  stowed, 
would  double  that,  deacon,  if  the  right  animals  can  only  be 
found." 

1 '  Maybe  so — but  just  think,  Gar'ner — this  will  be  in 
good,  bright  coined  gold  !  " 

"  But  what  right  can  we  have  to  that  gold,  even  admit- 
ting that  it  is  there,  and  can  be  found  ? " 

"  Right  !"  exclaimed  the  deacon,  staring.  "Does  not 
that  which  Divine  Providence  gives  man  become  his  own  ?" 

"  By  the  same  rule  it  might  be  said  Divine  Providence 
gave  i't  to  the  pirates.  There  must  be  lawful  owners  to  all 
this  money,  if  one  could  only  find  them." 

"  Ay,  if  one  could  only  find  them.  Harkee,  Gar'ner; 
have  you  spent  a  shilling  or  a  quarter  lately  ?" 

"A  good  many  of  both,  deacon,"  answered  the  young 
r» 


82  T/fE   SEA   LIONS. 

man,  again  betraying  the  lightness  of  his  heart  with  a 
laugh.  "  I  wish  I  had  more  of  your  saving  temper,  and  I 
might  get  rich.  Yes,  I  spent  a  quarter  only  two  hours 
since,  in  buying  fish  for  the  cabin,  of  old  Baiting  Joe." 

"Well,  tell  me  the  impression  of  that  quarter.  Had  it 
a  head,  or  only  pillars  ?  What  was  its  date,  and  in  whose 
reign  was  it  struck  ?  Maybe  it  was  from  the  mint  at  Phil- 
adelphia— if  so,  had  it  the  old  eagle  or  the  new  ?  In  a 
word,  could  you  swear  to  that  quarter,  Gar'ner,  or  to  any 
quarter  you  ever  spent  in  your  life  ?" 

"  Perhaps  not,  deacon.  A  fellow  doesn't  sit  down  to  take 
likenesses,  when  he  gets  a  little  silver  or  gold." 

"  Nor  is  it  very  probable  that  any  one  could  say — '  that 
is  my  doubloon.'  " 

"  Still  there  must  be  a  lawful  owner  to  each  piece  of  that 
money,  if  any  such  money  be  there,"  returned  Rosweli 
Gardiner,  a  little  positively.  "  Have  you  ever  talked  with 
Mary,  deacon,  on  this  subject  ?" 

"  I  talk  of  such  a  matter  with  a  woman  !  Do  you  think 
I'm  mad,  Gar'ner  ?  If  I  wanted  to  have  the  secret  run 
through  old  Suffo'k,  as  fire  runs  over  the  salt  meadows  in 
the  spring,  I  might  think  of  such  a  thing;  but  not  without. 
I  have  talked  with  no  one  but  the  master  of  the  craft  that 
I  am  about  to  send  out  in  search  of  this  gold,  as  well  as  in 
search  of  the  sealing-islands,  I  have  shown  you.  Had  there 
been  but  one  object  in  vie\v,  I  might  not  have  ventured  so 
much  ;  but  with  two  before  my  eyes,  it  would  seem  like 
flying  in  the  face  of  Divine  Providence  to  neglect  so  great 
an  opportunity  !" 

.  Rosweli  Gardiner  saw  that  arguments  would  avail  noth- 
ing against  a  cupidity  so  keenly  aroused.  He  abstained, 
therefore,  from  urging  any  more  of  the  objections  that  sug- 
gested themselves  to  his  mind,  but  heard  all  that  the  deacon 
had  to  tell  him,  taking  full  notes  of  what  he  heard.  It 
would  seem  that  Daggett  had  been  sufficiently  clear  in  his 
directions  for  finding  the  hidden  treasure,  provided  always 
that  his  confidant  the  pirate  had  been  as  clear  with  him, 
and  had  not  been  indulging  in  a  mystification.  The  prob- 
ability of  the  last  had  early  suggested  itself  to  one  of  Deacon 
Pratt's  cautious  temperament ;  but  Daggett  had  succeeded 
in  removing  the  impression  by  his  forcible  statements  of 
his  friend's  sincerity.  There  was  as  little  doubt  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  the  belief  of  the  Martha's  Vineyard  mariner,  as 
there  was  of  that  of  the  deacon  himself. 

The  day  that  succeeded  this  conference,  the  Sea  Lion 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  83 

hauled  off  from  the  wharf,  and  all  communications  with 
her  were  now  made  only  by  means  of  boats.  The  sudden 
disappearance  of  Watson  may  have  contributed  to  this 
change — men  being  more  under  control  with  a  craft  at  her 
moorings  than  when  fast  to  a  wharf.  Three  days  later  the 
schooner  lifted  her  anchor,  and  with  a  light  air  made  sail. 
She  passed  through  the  narrow  but  deep  channel  which 
separates  Shelter  Island  from  Oyster  Pond,  quitting  the 
waters  of  Peconic  altogether.  There  was  not  an  air  of  de^ 
parture  about  her,  notwithstanding.  The  deacon  was  not 
much  concerned  ;  and  some  of  Rosweli  Gardiner's  clothes 
were  still  at  his  washerwoman's,  circumstances  that  were 
fully  explained,  when  the  schooner  was  seen  to  anchor  in 
Gardiner's  Bay,  whicli  is  an  outer  roadstead  to  all  the  ports 
and  havens  of  that  region. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

"Walk  in  the  light  !  so  shalt  thou  know 

That  fellowship  of  love, 
His  spirit  only  can  bestow 

Who  reigns  in  light  above. 
Walk  in  the  light  !  and  sin,  abhorr'cl, 

Shall  ne'er  defile  again  ; 
The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord, 

Shall  cleanse  from  every  stain." — BERNARD  BARTON. 

ABOUT  an  hour  after  the  Sea  Lion,  of  Oyster  Pond,  had 
let  go  her  anchor  in  Gardiner's  Bay,  a  coasting  sloop  ap- 
proached her,  coming  from  the  westward.  There  are  two 
passages  by  which  vessels  enter  or  quit  Long  Island  Sound, 
at  its  eastern  termination.  The  main  channel  is  between 
Plum  and  Fisher's  Islands,  and  from  the  rapidity  of  its  cur- 
rents, is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Race.  The  other  pas- 
sage is  much  less  frequented,  being  out  of  the  direct  line 
for  sailing  for  craft  that  keep  mid-sound.  It  lies  to  the 
southward  of  the  Race,  between  Plum  Island  and  Oyster 
Pond  Point,  and  is  called  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  appellation 
of  Plum  Gut.  The  coaster  just  mentioned  had  come 
through  this  latter  passage  ;  and  it  was  the  impression  of 
those  who  saw  her  from  the  schooner,  that  she  was  bound 
up  into  Peconic,  or  the  waters  of  Sag  Harbor.  Instead  of 
luffing'  up  into  either  of  the  channels  that  would  have  car- 
ried her  into  these  places,  however,  she  kept  off,  crossing 


Si  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Gardiner's  Bay,  until  she  got  within  hail  of  the  schooner. 
The  wind  being  quite  light,  there  was  time  for  the  follow- 
ing short  dialogue  to  take  place  between  the  skipper  of 
this  coaster  and  Roswell  Gardiner,  before  the  sloop  had 
passed  beyond  the*  reach  of  the  voice. 

"  Is  that  the  Sea  Lion,  of  Oyster  Pond  ?"  demanded  the 
skipper,  boldly. 

"Ay,  ay,"  answered  Roswell  Gardiner,  in  the  senten- 
tious manner  of  a  seaman. 

"  Is  there  one  Watson  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  shipped  in 
that  craft  ? " 

"  He  was  aboard  here  for  a  week,  but  left  us  suddenly. 
As  he  did  not  sign  articles,  I  cannot  say  that  he  run." 

"He  changed  his  mind,  then,"  returned  the  other,  as 
one  expresses  a  slight  degree  of  surprise  at  hearing  that 
which  was  new  to  him.  "  Watson  is  apt  to  whiffle  about, 
though  a  prime  fellow,  if  you  can  once  fasten  to  him,  and 
get  him  into  blue  water.  Does  your  schooner  go  out  to- 
morrow, Captain  Gar'ner  ? " 

"  Not  till  next  day,  I  think,"  said  Roswell  Gardiner,  with 
the  frankness  of  his  nature,  utterly  free  from  the  slightest 
suspicion  that  he  was  communicating  with  one  in  the  in- 
terests of  rivals.  "  My  mates  have  not  yet  joined  me,  and 
I  am  short  of  my  complement  by  two  good  hands.  Had 
that  fellow  Watson  stuck  by  me,  I  would  have  given  him 
a  look  at  water  that  no  lead  ever  sounded." 

"Ay,  ay  ;  he's  a  whiffler,  but  a  good  man  on  a  sea-ele- 
phant. Then  you  think  you'll  sail  day  a'ter  to-morrow  ? " 

"If  my  mates  come  over  from  the  main.  They  wrote 
me  yesterday  that  they  had  got  the  hands,  and  were  then 
on  the  lookout  for  something  to  get  across  in.  I've  come 
out  here  to  be  ready  for  them,  and  to  pick  'em  up,  that 
they  needn't  go  all  the  way  up  to  the  Harbor." 

"  That's  a  good  traverse,  and  will  save  a  long  pull.  Per- 
haps they  are  in  that  boat." 

At  this  allusion  to  a  boat,  Roswell  Gardiner  sprang  into 
his  main  rigging,  and  saw,  sure  enough,  that  a  boat  was 
pulling  directly  toward  the  schooner,  coming  from  the 
main,  and  distant  only  a  short  half  mile.  A  glass  was 
handed  to  him,  and  he  was  soon  heard  announcing  cheer- 
fully to  his  men,  that  "  Mr.  Hazard  and  the  second  officer 
were  in  the  boat,  with  two  seamen,"  and  that  he  supposed 
they  should  now  have  their  complement.  All  this  was 
overheard  by  the  skipper  of  the  sloop,  who  caught  each 
syllable  with  the  most  eager  attention. 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  85 

"  You'll  soon  be  travelling  south,  I'm  thinking,  Captain 
Gar'ner  ? "  called  out  this  worthy,  again,  in  a  sort  of  felici- 
tating way.  "  Them's  your  chaps,  and  they'll  set  you  up." 

"  I  hope  so,  with  all  my  heart,  for  there  is  nothing  more 
tiresome  than  waiting  when  one  is  all  ready  to  trip.  My 
owner  is  getting  to  be  impatient  too,  and  wants  to  see 
some  skins  in  return  for  his  dollars." 

"Ay,  ay,  them's  your  chaps,  and  you'll  be  off  the  day 
a'ter  to-morrow,  at  the  latest.  Well,  a  good  time  to  you, 
Captain  Gar'ner,  and  a  plenty  of  skinning.  It's  a  long 
road  to  travel,  especially  when  a  craft  has  to  go  as  far 
southyis  yours  is  bound  !  " 

"  How  do  you  know,  friend,  whither  I  am  bound  ?  You 
have  not  asked  me  for  my  sealing-ground,  nor  is  it  usual, 
in  our  business,  to  be  hawking  it  up  and  down  the 
country." 

"All  that  is  true  enough,  but  I've  a  notion,  notwith- 
standing. Now  as  you'll  be  off  so  soon,  and  as  I  shall  not 
see  you  again,  for  some  time  at  least,  I  will  give  you  a 
'piece  of  advice.  If  you  fall  in  with  a  consort,  don't  fall 
out  with  her  and  make  a  distant  v'y'ge  a  cruise  for  an 
enemy,  but  come  to  tarms,  and  work  in  company  ;  lay  for 
lay  ;  and  make  fair  weather  of  what  can't  be  helped." 

The  men  on  board  the  sloop  laughed  at  this  speech, 
while  those  on  board  the  schooner  wondered.  To  Roswell 
Gardiner  and  his  people  the  allusions  were  an  enigma, 
and  the  former  muttered  something  about  the  stranger's 
being  a  dunce,  as  he  descended  from  the  rigging  and  gave 
some  orders  to  prepare  to  receive  the  boat. 

"The  chap  belongs  to  the  Hole,"  rejoined  the  master  of 
the  schooner  ;  "  and  all  them  Vineyard  fellows  fancy 
themselves  better  blue-jackets  than  the  rest  of  mankind  : 
I  suppose  it  must  be  because  their  island  lies  further  out 
to  sea  than  anything  we  have  here  inside  of  Montauk." 

Thus  ended  the  communications  with  the  stranger.  The 
sloop  glided  away  before  a  light  south  wind,  and,  favored 
by  an  ebb-tide,  soon  rounded  the  spit  of  sand  that  shel- 
ters the  anchorage  ;  and,  hauling  up  to  the  eastward,  she 
went  on  her  way  toward  Holmes's  Hole.  The  skipper  was 
a  relative  of  half  of  those  who  were  interested  in  fitting 
out  the  rival  Sea  Lion,  and  had  volunteered  to  obtain  the 
very  information  he  took  with  him,  knowing  how  ac- 
ceptable it  would  be  to  those  at  home.  Sooth  to  say,  a 
deep  but  wary  excitement  prevailed  on  the  Vineyard, 
touching  not  only  the  sealing  islands,  but  also  in  respect 


36  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

to  the  buried  treasure.  The  information  actually  possessed 
by  the  relations  of  the  deceased  mariner  was  neither  very 
full  nor  very  clear.  It  consisted  principally  of  sayings  of 
Daggett,  uttered  during  his  homeward-bound  passage,  and 
transmitted  by  the  master  of  the  brig  to  him  of  the  sloop 
in  the  course  of  conferences  that  wore  away  a  long  sum- 
mer's afternoon,  as  the  two  vessels  lay  becalmed  within  a 
hundred  fathoms  of  each  other.  These  sayings,  however, 
had  been  frequent  and  intelligible.  All  men  like  to  deal  in 
that  which  makes  them  of  importance  ;  and  the  possession 
of  his  secrets  had  just  the  effect  on  Daggett's  mind  that 
was  necessary  to  render  him  boastful.  Under  such  im- 
pulses his  tongue  had  not  been  very  guarded  ;  and  facts 
leaked  out  which,  when  transmitted  to  his  native  island, 
through  the  medium  of  half-a-dozen  tongues  and  as  many 
fancies,  amounted  to  statements  sufficient  to  fire  the  im- 
aginations of  a  people  much  duller  than  those  of  Martha's 
Vineyard.  Accustomed  to  converse  and  think  of  such  ex- 
peditions, it  is  not  surprising  that  a  few  of  the  most 
enterprising  of  those  who  first  heard  the  reports  should 
unite  and  plan  the  adventure  they  now  actually  had  in 
hand.  When  the  intelligence  of  what  was  going  on  on 
Oyster  Pond  reached  them,  everything  like  hesitation  or 
doubt  disappeared  ;  and  from  the  moment  of  the  nephew's 
return  in  quest  of  his  uncle's  assets,  the  equipment  of  the 
"Humses'  Hull"  craft  had  been  pressed  in  a  way  that 
would  have  done  credit  to  that  of  a  government  cruiser. 
Even  Henry  Eckford,  so  well  known  for  having  under- 
taken to  cut  the  trees  and  put  upon  the  waters  of  Ontario 
two  double-bank  frigates,  if  frigates  they  could  be  termed, 
each  of  which  was  to  mount  its  hundred  guns,  in  the  short 
space  of  sixty  days,  scarce  manifested  greater  energy  in 
carrying  out  his  contract,  than  did  these  rustic  islanders  in 
preparing  their  craft  to  compete  with  that  which  they  were 
now  certain  was  about  to  sail  from  the  place  where  their 
kinsman  had  breathed  his  last. 

These  keen  and  spirited  islanders,  however,  did  not  work 
quite  as  ranch  in  the  dark  as  our  accounts,  unexplained, 
might  give  the  reader  reason  to  suppose.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  there  was  a  till  to  the  chest  which  had  not 
been  examined  by  the  deacon.  This  till  contained  an  old 
mutilated  journal,  not  of  the  last,  but  of  one  or  two  of  the 
earlier  voyages  of  the  deceased  ;  though  it  had  detached 
entries  that  evidently  referred  to  different  and  distant 
periods  of  time.  By  dint  of  study,  and  by  putting  to- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  v         87 

gather  sundry  entries  that  at  first  sight  might  not  be  sup- 
posed to  have  any  connection  with  each  other,  the  present 
possessor  of  that  chest  had  obtained  what  he  deemed  to 
be  very  sufficient  clews  to  his  uncle's  two  great  secrets. 
There  were  also  in  the  chest  several  loose  pieces  of  paper, 
on  which  there  were  rude  attempts  to  make  charts  of  all 
the  islands  and  keys  in  question,  giving  their  relative 
positions  as  it  respected  their  immediate  neighbors,  but  in 
no  instance  giving  the  latitudes  and  longitudes.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  significant  proofs  that  the  reports  brought 
through  the  two  masters  were  not  without  a  foundation, 
there  was  an  unfinished  letter,  written  by  the  deceased, 
and  addressed  as  a  sort  of  legacy,  "  to  any,  or  all  of 
Martha's  Vineyard,  of  the  name  of  Daggett."  This  ad- 
dress was  sufficiently  wide,  including,  probably,  some  hun- 
dreds of  persons  ;  a. clan,  in  fact  ;  but  it  was  also  sufficiently 
significant.  The  individual  into  whose  hands  it  first  fell, 
being  of  the  name,  read  it  first,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
when  lie  carefully  folded  it  up,  and  placed  it  in  a  pocket- 
book,  which  he  was  much  in  the  habit  of  carrying  in  his 
own  pocket.  On  what  principle  this  letter,  unfinished  and 
without  a  signature,  with  nothing  indeed  but  its  general 
and  comprehensive  address  to  point  out  its  origin  as  well 
as  its  destination,  was  thus  appropriated  to  the  purposes 
of  a  single  individual,  we  .shall  not  stop  to  inquire.  Such 
was  the  fact,  however,  and  none  connected  with  the  equip- 
ment of  the  Sea  Lion,  of  Holraes's  Hole,  knew  anything  of 
the  existence  of  that  document,  its  present  possessor  ex- 
cepted.  He  looked  it  over  occasionally,  and  deemed  the 
information  it  conveyed  of  no  trifling  import,  under  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case. 

Both  the  enterprises  of  which  we  have  given  an  opening 
account  were  perfectly  characteristic  of  the  state  of  society 
in  which  they  were  brought  into  existence.  Deacon  Pratt, 
if  he  had  any  regular  calling,  was  properly  a  husbandman, 
though  the  love  of  money  had  induced  him  to  invest  his 
cash  in  nearly  every  concern  around  him,  which  promised 
remunerating  returns.  The  principal  owners  of  the  Sea 
Lion,  of  Holmes's  Hole,  were  husbandmen  also  ;  folks  who 
literally  tilled  the  earth,  cradled  their  own  oats  and  rye, 
and  mowed  their  own  meadows.  Notwithstanding,  neither 
of  these'  men,  those  of  the  Vineyard  any  more  than  he  of 
Oyster  Pond,  had  hesitated  about  investing  of  his  means 
in  a  maritime  expedition,  just  as  if  they  were  all  regular 
shipowners  of  the  largest  port  in  the. Union.  With  such 


88  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

men,  it  is  only  necessary  to  exhibit  an  account  with  a  faif 
prospect  of  large  profits,  and  they  are  ever  ready  to  enter 
into  the  adventure,  heart,  hand,  and  pocket.  Last  season, 
it  may  have  been  to  look  for  whales  on  the  coast  of  Japan  ; 
the  season  before  that,  to  search  for  islands  frequented  by 
the  seals  ;  this  season,  possibly,  to  carry  a  party  out  to  hunt 
for  camelopards,  set  nets  for  young  lions,  and  beat  up  the 
quarters  of  the  rhinoceros  on  the  plains  of  Africa  ;  while 
the  next,  they  may  be  transporting  ice  from  Long  Pond  to 
Calcutta  and  Kingston — not  to  say  to  London  itself.  Of 
such  materials  are  those  descendants  of  the  Puritans  com- 
posed ;  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil ;  'of  the  religion  which 
clings  to  the  past,  in  recollection  rather  than  in  feeling, 
mingled  with  a  worldly-mindedness  that  amounts  nearly  to 
rapacity  ;  all  cloaked  and  rendered  decent  by  a  conven- 
tional respect  for  duties,  and  respectable  and  useful,  by 
frugality,  enterprise,  and  untiring  activity. 

Roswell  Gardiner  had  not  mistaken  the  persons  of  those 
in  the  boat.  They  proved  to  be  Phil  Hazard,  his  first  offi- 
cer ;  Tim  Green,  the  second  mate  ;  and  the  two  sealers 
whom  it  had  cost  so  much  time  and  ingenuity  to  obtain. 
Although  neither  of  the  mates  even  suspected  the  truth, 
no  sooner  had  they  engaged  the  right  sort  of  man  than  he 
was  tampered  with  by  the  agents  of  the  Martha's  Vineyard 
concern,  and  spirited  away  by  means  of  more  tempting 
proposals,  before  he  had  got  quite  so  far  as  to  sign  the  ar- 
ticles. One  of  the  motives  for  sending  Watson  across  to 
Oyster  Pond  had  been  to  induce  Captain  Gardiner  to  be- 
lieve he  had  engaged  so  skilful  a  hand,  which  would  ef- 
fectually prevent  his  attempting  to  procure  another,  until, 
at  the  last  moment,  he  might  find  himself  unable  to  put  to 
sea  for  the  want  of  a  complement.  A  whaling  or  a  sealing 
voyage  requires  that  the  vessel  should  take  out  with  her 
the  particular  hands  necessary  to  her  specific  object, 
though,  of  late  years,  the  seamen  have  got  so  much  in  the 
habit  of  "  running,"  especially  in  the  Pacific,  that  it  is  only 
the  craft  that  strictly  belong  to  what  may  be  termed  the 
whaling  communities,  that  bring  back  with  them  the  peo- 
ple they  carry  out,  and  not  always  them. 

But  here  had  Roswell  Gardiner  his  complement  full, 
and  nearly  everything  ready  to  sea.  He  had  only  to  go 
up  to  the  Harbor  and  obtain  his  clearance,  have  a  short 
interview  with  his  owner,  a  longer  with  Mary,  and  be  off 
for  the  antarctic  circle,  if  indeed  the  ice  would  allow  him 
to  get  so  far  south.  There  were  now  sixteen  souls  on 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  x          89 

board  the  Sea  Lion,  a  very  sufficient  number  for  the  voy- 
age on  which  she  was  about  to  sail.  The  disposition  or 
rating  of  the  crew  was  as  follows,  vig.  : 

1.  Roswell  Gardiner,  master.  9.  Joshua  Short,  seaman. 

2.  Philip  Hazard,  chief  mate.  10.  Stephen  Stimson,  do. 

3.  Timothy  Green,  second  do.  n.  Bartlett  Davidson,  do. 

4.  David  Weeks,  carpenter.  12.  Peter  Mount,  landsman. 

5.  Nathan  Thompson,  seaman.  13.  Arcularius  Mott,     do. 

6.  Sylvester  Havens,          do.  14.  Robert  Smith,        do. 

7.  Marcus  Todd,                do.  15.  Cato  Livingston,  cook. 

8.  Hiram  Flint,                   do.  16.  Primus  Floyd,  boy. 

This  was  considered  a  good  crew,  on  the  whole.  Every 
man  was  a  native  American,  and  most  of. them  belonged  to 
old  Suffolk.  Thompson,  and  Flint,  and  Short,  and  Stim- 
son, four  capital  fellows  in  their  way,  came  from  the  main  ; 
the  last,  it  was  said,  from  as  far  east  as  Kennebunk.  No 
matter  ;  they  were  all  reasonably  young,  hale,  active  fel- 
lows, with  a  promise  of  excellent  service  about  every  man 
of  them.  Livingston  and  Floyd  were  colored  persons,  who 
bore  the  names  of  the  two  respectable  families  in  which 
they  or  their  progenitors  had  formerly  been  slaves.  Weeks 
was  accustomed  to  the  sea,  and  might  have  been  rated  in- 
differently as  a  carpenter  or  as  a  mariner.  Mount  and 
Mott,  though  shipped  as  landsmen,  were  a  good  deal  ac- 
customed to  the  water  also,  having  passed  each  two  seasons 
in  coasters,  though  neither  had  ever  yet  been  rz-a\\.y  outside > 
or  seen  blue  water. 

It  would  not  have  been  easy  to  give  to  the  Sea  Lion  a 
more  efficient  crew  ;  yet  there  was  scarce  a  real  seaman  be- 
longing to  her — a  man  who  could  have  been  made  a  cap- 
tain of  the  forecastle  on  board  a  frigate  or  a  ship  of  the 
line.  Even  Gardiner,  the  best  man  in  his  little  craft  in 
nearly  every  respect,  was  deficient  in  many  attainments 
that  mark  the  thorough  sea-dog.  He  would  have  been  re- 
markable anywhere  for  personal  activity,  for  courage,  readi- 
ness, hardihood,  and  all  those  qualities  which  render  a  man 
useful  in  the  business  to  which  he  properly  belonged  ;  but 
he  could  hardly  be  termed  a  skilful  leadsman,  knew  little 
of  the  finesse  of  his  calling,  and  was  wanting  in  that  in- 
and-in  breeding  which  converts  habit  into  an  instinct,  and 
causes  the  thorough  seaman  to  do  the  right  thing,  blow 
high  or  blow  low,  in  the  right  way,  and  at  the  right  mo- 
ment. In  all  these  respects,  however,  he  was  much  the 
best  man  on  board  ;  and  he  was  so  superior  to  the  rest  as 


90  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

fully  to  command  all  their  respect.  Stimson  was  probably 
the  next  best  seaman,  after  the  master. 

The  day  succeeding  that  on  which  the  Sea  Lion  received 
the  remainder  of  her  people,  Roswell  Gardiner  went  up  to 
the  Harbor,  where  he  met  Deacon  Pratt,  by  appointment. 
The  object  was  to  clear  the  schooner  out,  which  could  be 
done  only  at  that  place.  Mary  accompanied  her  uncle,  to 
transact  some  of  her  own  little  domestic  business  ;  and  it 
was  then  arranged  between  the  parties,  that  the  deacon 
should  make  his  last  visit  to  his  vessel  in  the  return-boat 
of  her  master,  while  Roswell  Gardiner  should  take  Mary 
back  to  Oyster  Pond,  in  the  whale-boat  that  had  brought 
her  and  her  uncle  over.  As  Baiting  Joe,  as  usual,  had 
acted  as  ferryman,  it  was  necessary  to  get  rid  of  him,  the 
young  sailor  desiring  to  be  alone  with  Mary.  This  was  eas- 
ily enough  effected,  by  a  present  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar. 
The  boat  having  two  lugg  sails,  and  the  wind  being  light 
and  steady,  at  southwest,  there  was  nothing  to  conflict  with 
Roswell  Gardiner's  wishes. 

The  young  sailor  left  the  wharf  at  Sag  Harbor  about  ten 
minutes  after  the  deacon  had  preceded  him,  on  his  way  to 
the  schooner.  As  the  wind  was  so  light  and  so  fair,  he  soon 
had  his  sheets  in,  and  the  boat  gliding  along  at  an  easy 
rate,  which  permitted  him  to  bestow  nearly  all  his  attention 
on  his  charming  companion.  Roswell  Gardiner  had  sought 
this  occasion,  that  he  might  once  more  open  his  heart  to 
Mary,  and  urge  his  suit  for  the  last  time,  previously  to  so 
long  an  absence.  This  he  did  in  a  manly,  frank  way,  that 
was  far  from  being  unpleasant  to  his  gentle  listener,  whose 
inclinations,  for  a  few  minutes,  blinded  her  to  the  reso- 
lutions already  made  on  principle.  So  urgent  was  her 
suitor,  indeed,  that  she  should  solemnly  plight  her  faith 
to  him,  ere  he  sailed,  that  a  soft  illusion  came  over  the 
mind  of  one  as  affectionate  as  Mary,  and  she  was  half  in- 
clined to  believe  -her  previous  determination  was  unjusti- 
fiable and  obdurate.  But  the  head  of  one  of  her  high 
principles,  and  clear  views  of  duty,  could  not  long  be  de- 
ceived by  her  heart,  and  she  regained  the  self-command 
which  had  hitherto  sustained  her  in  all  her  former  trials, 
in  connection  with  this  subject. 

"Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better,  Roswell,"  she  said, 
"  had  I  taken  leave  of  you  at  the  Harbor,  and  not  in- 
curred the  risk  of  the  pain  that  I  foresee  I  shall  both  give 
and  bear,  in  our  present  discourse.  I  have  concealed  noth- 
ing from  you  ;  possibly  I  have  been  more  sincere  than 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  s         91 

prudence  would  sanction.  You  know  the  only  obstacle 
there  is  to  our  union  ;  but  that  appears  to  increase  in 
strength  the  more  I  ask  you  to  reflect  on  it — to  try  to  re- 
move it." 

"What  would  you  have  me  do,  Mary  ?  Surely,  not  to 
play  the  hypocrite,  and  profess  to  believe  that  which  I  cer- 
tainly do  not,  and  which,  after  all  my  inquiries,  I  cannot 
believe." 

"I  am  sorry  it  is  so,  on  every  account,"  returned  Mary, 
in  a  low  and  saddened  tone.  "  Sorry,  that  one  of  so  frank, 
ingenuous  a  mind,  should  find  it  impossible  to  accept  the 
creed  of  his  fathers,  and  sorry  that  it  must  leave  so  impas- 
sable a  chasm  between  us  forever." 

"  No,  Mary ;  that  can  never  be  !  Nothing  but  death  can 
separate  us  for  so  long  a  time  !  While  we  meet,  we  shall 
at  least  be  friends  ;  and  friends  love  to  meet  and  to  see 
each  other  often." 

"It  may  seem  unkind,  at  a  moment  like  this,  Roswell, 
but  it  is  in  truth  the  very  reverse,  if  I  say  we  ought  not  to 
meet  each  other  here,  if  we  are  bent  on  following  our  own 
separate  ways  toward  a  future  world.  My  God  is  not  your 
God  ;  and  what  can  there  be  of  peace  in  a  family,  when  its 
two  heads  worship  different  deities  ?  I  am  afraid  that  you 
do  not  think  sufficiently  of  the  nature  of  these  things." 

"I  did  not  believe  you  to  be  so  illiberal,  Mary!  Had 
the  deacon  said  as  much,  I  might  not  have  been  surprised ; 
but,  for  one  like  you  to  tell  me  that  my  God  is  not  your 
GocT,  is  narrow  indeed." 

"  Is  it  not  so,  Roswell?  And,  if  so,  why  should  we  at- 
tempt to  gloss  over  the  truth,  by  deceptive  words  ?  I  am 
a  believer  in  the  Redeemer,  as  the  Son  of  God  ;  as  one  of 
the  Holy  Trinity ;  while  you  believe  in  him  only  as  a  man 
— a  righteous  and  just,  a  sinless  man,  if  you  will,  but  as  a 
man  only.  Now  is  not  the  difference  in  these  creeds  im- 
mense ?  Is  it  not,  in  truth,  just  the  difference  between 
God  and  man  ?  I  worship  my  Redeemer  ;  regard  him  as 
the  equal  of  the  Father — as  a  part  of  the  Divine  Being  •, 
while  you  look  on  him  as  merely  a  man  without  sin — as  a 
man  such  as  Adam  probably  was  before  the  fall." 

"Do  we  know  enough  of  these  matters,  Mary,  to  justify 
us  in  allowing  them  to  interfere  with  our  happiness  ? " 
•  "  We  are  told  that  they  are  all-essential  to  our  happiness 
— not  in  the  sense  you  may  mean,  Roswell,  but  in  one  of 
far  higher  import — and  we  cannot  neglect  them  without 
paying  the  penalty." 


92  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  I  think  that  you  carry  these  notions  too  far,  dearest 
Mary,  and  that  it  is  possible  for  man  and  wife  most  hearti- 
ly to  love  each  other,  and  to  be  happy  in  each  other,  with- 
out their  thinking  exactly  alike  on  religion.  How  many 
good  and  pious  women  do  you  see,  who  are  contented  and 
prosperous  as  wives  and  mothers,  and  who  are  members 
of  meeting,  but  whose  husbands  make  no  profession  of 
any  sort ! " 

"  That  may  be  true,  or  not.  I  lay  no  claim  to  a  right  to 
judge  of  any  other's  duties,  or  manner  of  doing  what  they 
ought  to  do.  Thousands  of  girls  marry  without  feeling  the 
very  obligations  that  they  profess  to  reverence  ;  and  when, 
in  after  life,  deeper  convictions  come,  they  cannot  cast 
aside  the  connections  they  have  previously  formed,  if  they 
would  ;  and  probably  would  not  if  they  could.  That  is  a 
different  thing  from  a  young  woman,  who  has  a  deep  sense 
of  what  she  owes  to  her  Redeemer,  becoming  deliberately, 
and  with  a  full  sense  of  what  she  is  doing,  the  wife  of  one 
who  regards  her  God  as  merely  a  man — I  care  not  how  you 
qualify  this  opinion,  by  saying  a  pure  and  sinless  man  ;  it 
will  be  man  still.  The  difference  between  God  and  man  is 
too  immense  to  be  frittered  away  by  any  such  qualifications 
as  that." 

"  But,  if  I  find  it  impossible  to  believe  all  you  believe, 
Mary,  surely  you  would  not  punish  me  for  having  the  sin- 
cerity to  tell  you  the  truth,  und  the  whole  truth." 

"  No,  indeed,  Roswell,"  answered  the  honest  girl,  gently, 
not  to  say  tenderly.  "  Nothing  has  given  me  a  better  opin- 
ion of  your  principles,  Roswell — a  higher  notion  of  what 
your  upright  and  frank  character  really  is,  than  the  manly 
way  in  which  you  have  admitted  the  justice  qf  my  suspi- 
cions of  your  want  of  faith— of  faith,  as  I  consider  faith 
can  alone  exist.  This  fair  dealing  has  made  me  honor  you, 
and  esteem  you,  in  addition  to  the  more  girlish  attachment 
that  I  do  not  wish  to  conceal  from  you,  at  least,  I  have  so 
long  felt." 

"  Blessed  Mary  ! "  exclaimed  Roswell  Gardiner,  almost 
ready  to  fall  down  on  his  knees  and  worship  the  pretty  en- 
thusiast  who  sat  at  his  side,  with  a  countenance  in  which 
intense  interest  in  his  wrelfare  was  beaming  from  twro  of 
the  softest  and  sweetest  blue  eyes  that  maiden  ever  bent  on 
a  youth  in  modest  tenderness,  whatever  disposition  he 
might  be  in  to  accept  her  God  as  his  God.  "  How  can  one 
so  kind  in  all  other  respects,  prove  so  cruel  in  this  one 
particular !  " 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


93 


"  Because  that  one  particular,  as  you  term  it,  Roswell,  is 
all  in  all  to  her,"  answered  the  girl,  with  a  face  that  was 
now  flushed  with  feeling.  "  I  must  answer  you  as  Joshua 
told  the  Israelites  of  old — '  Choose  you,  this  day,  whom 
you  will  serve  ;  whether  the  gods  which  your  fathers  served, 
that  were  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood,  or  the  gods  of  the 
Amorites,  in  whose  land  ye  dwell ;  but  as  for  me  and  my 
house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord'  " 

"  Do  you  class  me  with  the  idolators  and  pagans  of  Pal- 
estine ?  "  demanded  Gardiner,  reproachfully. 

<;  You  have  said  it,  Roswell.  It  is  not  f,  but  yourself, 
who  have  thus  classed  you.  You  worship  your  reason, 
instead  of  the  only  true  and  living  God.  This  is  idolatry 
of  the  worst  character,  since  the  idol  is  never  seen  by  the 
devotee,  and  he  does  not  know  of  its  existence." 

"You  consider  it  then  idolatry  for  one  to  use  those  gifts 
which  he  has  received  from  his  Maker,  and  to.  treat  the 
most  important  of  all  subjects  as  a  rational  being,  instead 
of  receiving  a  creed  blindly,  and  without  thought?" 

"  If  what  you  call  thought  could  better  the  matter ;  if  it 
were  sufficient  to  comprehend  and  master  this  subject,  there 
might  be  force  in  what  you  say.  But  what  is  this  boasted 
reason  after  all  ?  It  is  not  sufficient  to  explain  a  single 
mystery  of  the  creation,  though  there  are  thousands.  I 
know  there  are,  nay  there  must  be,  a  variety  of  opinions 
among  those  who  look  to  their  reasons,  instead  of  accept- 
ing the  doctrine  of  revelation,  for  the  character  of  Christ  ; 
but  I  believe  all  who  are  not  open  infidels  admit  that  the 
atonement  of  his  death  was  sufficient  for  the  salvation  of 
men  ;  now  can  you  explain  this  part  of  the  theory  of  our 
religion  any  more  than  you  can  explain  the  divine  nature 
of  the  Redeemer  ?  Can  you  reason  any  more  wisely  touch- 
ing the  fall  than  touching  the  redemption  itself  ?  I  know 
I  am  unfit  to  treat  of  matters  of  this  profound  nature," 
continued  Mary,  modestly,  though  with  great  earnestness 
and  beauty  of  manner  ;  "  but,  to  me,  it  seems  very  plain 
that  the  instant  circumstances  lead  us  beyond  the  limits  of 
our  means  of  comprehension,  we  are  to  believe  in,  and  not 
to  reason  on,  revelation.  The  whole  history  of  Christianity 
teaches  this.  Its  first  ministers  were  uneducated  men  ; 
men  who  were  totally  ignorant  until  enlightened  by  their 
faith  ;  and  all  the  lessons  it  teaches  are  to  raise  faith,  and 
faith  in  the  Redeemer,  high  above  all  other  attainments, 
as  the  one  great  acquisition  that  includes  and  colors  every 
other.  When  such  is  the  fact,  the  heart  does  not  make  a 


94  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

stumbling-block  of  everything  that  the  head  cannot  under- 
stand." 

"  I  do  not  know  how  it  is,"  answered  Roswell  Gardiner, 
influenced,  though  unconvinced  ;  "  but  when  I  talk  with 
you  on  the  subject,  Mary,  I  cannot  do  justice  to  my  opin- 
ions, or  to  the  nlanner  in  which  I  reason  on  them  with  my 
male  friends  and  acquaintance.  I  confess  it  does  appear 
to  me  illogical,  unreasonable — I  scarce  know  how  to  desig- 
nate what  I  mean — but,  improbable,  that  God  should  suf- 
fer himself,  or  his  Son,  to  be  crucified  by  beings  that  he 
himself  created,  or  that  he  should  feel  a  necessity  for  any 
such  course,  in  order  to  redeem  beings  he  had  himself 
brought  into  existence." 

"  If  there  be  any  argument  in  the  last,  Roswell,  it  is  an 
argument  as  much  against  the  crucifixion  of  a  man,  as 
against  the  crucifixion  of  one  of  the  Trinity  itself.  I  un- 
derstand you  to  believe  that  such  a  being  as  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth did  exist ;  that  he  was  crucified  for  our  redemption  ; 
and  that  the  atonement  was  accepted,  and  acceptable  be- 
fore God  the  Father.  Now  is  it  not  just  as  difficult  to  un- 
derstand how,  or  why,  this  should  be,  as  to  understand  the 
common  creed  of  Christians  ?" 

"Surely  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  crucifixion 
of  a  subordinate  being,  and  the  crucifixion  of  one  who 
made  a  part  of  the  Godhead  itself,  Mary  !  I  can  imagine 
the  first,  though  I  may  not  pretend  to  understand  its  rea- 
sons, or  why  it  was  necessary  it  should  be  so  ;  but  I  am 
certain  you  will  not  mistake  my  motive  when  I  say  I  can- 
not imagine  the  other." 

"  Make  no  apologies  to  me.  Roswell  ;  look  rather  to 
that  dread  Being  whose  teachings,  through  chosen  minis- 
ters, you  disregard.  As  for  what  you  say,  I  can  fully  feel 
its  truth.  I  do  not  pretend  to  understand  why  such  a  sacri- 
fice should  be  necessary,  but  I  believe  it,  feel  it ;  and  be- 
lieving and  feeling  it,  I  cannot  but  adore  and  worship  the 
Son,  who  quitted  heaven  to  come  on  earth,  and  suffered, 
that  we  might  possess  eternal  life.  It  is  all  mystery  to 
me,  as  is  the  creation  itself,  our  existence,  God  himself, 
and  all  else  that  my  mind  is  too  limited  to  comprehend. 
But,  Roswell,  if  I  believe  a  part  of  the  teachings  of  the 
Christian  church,  I  must  believe  all.  The  apostles,  who 
were  called  by  Ch'rist  in  person,  who  lived  in  his  very 
presence,  who  knew  nothing  except  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
prompted,  worshipped  him  as  the  Son  of  God,  as  one  'who 
thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  ; '  and  shalJ 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  95 

I,  ignorant  and  uninspired,  pretend  to  set  up  my  feeble 
means  of  reasoning,  in  opposition  to  their  written  instruo 
tions  !  " 

."  Yet  must  each  of  us  stand  or  fall  by  the  means  he  pos- 
sesses, and  the 'use  he  makes  of  them." 

"That  is  quite  true,  Roswfll ;  and  ask  yourself  the  use 
to  which  you  put  your  own  faculties.  I  do  not  deny  that 
we  are  to  exercise  our  reason,  but  it  is  within  the  bounds 
set  for  its  exercise.  We  may  examine  the  evidence  of 
Christianity  and  determine  for  ourselves  how  far  it  is  sup- 
ported by  reasonable  and  sufficient  proofs,  beyond  this 
we  cannot  be-  expected  to  go,  else  might  we  be  required  to 
comprehend  the  mystery  of  our  own  existence,  which  just 
as  much  exceeds  our  understanding  as  any  other.  We  are 
told  that  man  was  created  in  the  image  of  his  Creator, 
which  means  that  there  is  an  immortal  and  spiritual  part 
of  him  that  is  entirely  different  from  the  material  creature. 
One  perishes,  temporarily  at  least — a  limb  can  be  severed 
from  the  body  and  perish,  even  while  the  body  survives  ; 
but  it  is  not  so  with  that  which  has  been  created  in  the  im- 
age of  the  Deity.  That  is  imperishable,  immortal,  spirit- 
ual, though  doomed  to  dwell  awhile  in  a  tenement  of  clay. 
Now  why  is  it  more  difficult  to  believe  that  pure  divinity 
may  have  entered  into  the  person  of  one  man,  than  to  be- 
lieve, nay  to  feel,  that  the  image  of  God  has  entered  into 
the  persons  of  so  many  myriads  of  men  ?  You  not  only 
overlook  all  this,  Roswell,  but  you  commit  the,  to  me  in- 
explicable, mistake  of  believing  a  part  of  a  mystery,  while 
you  hesitate  about  believing  all.  Were  you  to  deny  the 
merits  of  the  atonement  altogether,  your  position  would 
be  much  stronger  than  it  is  in  believing  what  you  do.  But, 
Roswell,  we  will  not  embitter  the  moment  of  separation 
by  talking  more  on  this  subject  now.  '  I  have  other  things 
to  say  to  you,  and  but  little  time  to  say  them  in.  The 
promise  you  have  asked  of  me  to  remain  single  until  your 
return,  I  most  freely  make.  It  costs  me  nothing  to  give 
you  this  pledge,  since  there  is  scarce  a  possibility  of  my 
ever  marrying  another." 

Mary  repeated  these  words,  or  rather  this  idea  in  other 
words,  to  Roswell  Gardiner's  great  delight  ;  and  again  and 
again  he  declared  that  he  could  now  penetrate  the  icy  seas 
with  a  light  heart,  confident  he  should  find  her,  on  his  re- 
turn, disengaged,  and,  as  he  hoped,  as  much  disposed  to 
regard  him  with  interest  as  she  then  was.  Nevertheless, 
Gardiner  did  not  deceive  himself  as  to  Mary's  intentions. 


9e  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

He  knew  her  and  her  principles  too  well  to  fancy  that  lief 
resolution  would  be  very  likely  to  falter.  Notwithstand- 
ing their  long  and  intimate  knowledge  of  each  other,  at 
no  .time  had  she  ever  betrayed  a  weakness  that  promised  to 
undermine  her  high  sense  of  duty  ;  and  as  time  increased 
her  means  of  judging  of  what  those  duties  were,  her 
submission  to  them  seemed  to  be  stronger  and  stronger. 
Had  there  been 'anything  stern  or  repulsive  in  Mary's  man- 
ner of  manifesting  the  feeling  that  was  uppermost  in  her 
mind,  one  of  Roswell  Gardiner's  temperament  would  have 
been  very  apt  to  shake  off  her  influence  ;  but,  so  far  from 
this  being  the  case,  she  ever  met  him  and  parted  from  him 
with  a  gentle  and  ingenuous  interest  in  his  welfare,  and 
occasionally  with  much  womanly  tenderness.  He  knew 
that  she  prayed  for  him  daily,  as  fervently  as  she  prayed 
for  herself  ;  and  even  this,  he  hoped,  would  serve  to  keep 
alive  her  interest  in  him  during  his  absence.  In  this  re- 
spect our  young  sailor  showed  no.  bad  comprehension  of 
human  nature,  nothing  being  more  likely  to  maintain  an 
influence  of  this  sort  than  the  conviction  that  on  ourselves 
depends  the  happiness  or  interests  of  the  person  beloved. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"And  I  have  loved  thee,  Ocean  !  and  my  joy 
Of  yputhful  sports  was  on  thy  breast  to  be 
Borne,  like  thy  bubbles,  onward  ;  from  a  boy 
I  wanton' d  with  thy  breakers — they  to  me 
Were  a  delight  ;  and  if  the  freshening  sea 
Made  them  a  terror — 'twas  a  pleasing  fear  ; 
For  I  was,  as  it  were,  a  child  of  thee, 
And  trusted  to  thy  billows,  far  and  near, 
And  laid  my  hand  upon  thy  mane — as  I  do  here." — BYRON. 

IT  was  past  the  turn  of  the  day  when  Roswell  Gardiner 
reached  his  vessel,  after  having  carefully  and  with  manly 
interest  in  all  that  belonged  to  her,  seen  Mary  to  her  home 
and  taken  his  final  leave  of  her.  Of  that  parting  we  shall 
say  but  little.  It  was  touching  and  warm-hearted,  and  it 
was  rendered  a  little  solemn  by  Mary  Pratt's  putting  into 
her  lover's  hand  a  pocket-bible,  with  an  earnest  request 
that  he  would  not  forget  to  consult  its  pages.  She  added 
at  the  same  time,  that  she  had  carefully  marked  those 
passages  which  she  wished  him  most  to  study  and  reflect 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  97 

on.  The  book  was  accepted  in  the*  spirit  in  which  it  was 
offered,  and  carefully  placed  in  a  little  case  that  contained 
about  a  hundred  volumes  of  different  works. 

As  the  hour  approached  for  lifting  the  anchor,  the  nerv- 
ousness of  the  deacon  became  very  apparent  to  the  com- 
mander of  his  schooner.  At  each  instant  the  former  was 
at  the  latter's  elbow,  making  some  querulous  suggestion, 
or  asking  a  question  that  betrayed  the  agitated  and  unset- 
tled state  of  his  mind.  It  really  seemed  as  if  the  old  man 
at  the  last  moment  had  not  the  heart  to  part  with  his  prop- 
erty, or  to  trust  it  out  of  his  sight.  All  this  annoyed 
Roswell  Gardiner,  disposed  as  he  was,  at  that  instant,  to 
regard  every  person  and  thing  that  in  any  manner  per- 
tained to  Mary  Pratt  with  indulgence  and  favor. 

"You  wrill  be  particular  about  them  islands,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  and  not  get  the  schooner  ashore,"  said  the  deacon, 
for  the  tenth  time  at  least.  "  They  tell  me  the  tide  runs 
like  a  horse  in  the  high  latitudes,  and  that  seamen  are 
often  stranded  by  them,  before  they  know  where  they  are." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir;  I'll  try  and  bear  it  in  mind,"  answered 
Gardiner,  vexed  at  being  importuned  so  often  to  recollect 
that  which  there  was  so  little  likelihood  of  his  forgetting. 
"I  am  an  old  cruiser  in  those  seas,  deacon,  and  know  all 
about  the  tides.  Well,  Mr.  Hazard,  what  is  the  news  of  the 
anchor?" 

"  We  are  short,  sir,  and  only  wait  for  orders  to  go  on, 
and  get  clear  of  the  ground."  . 

"Trip  at  once,  sir-;  and  so  farewell  to  America — or  to 
this  end  of  it,  at  least." 

"Then  the-keys,  they  tell  me,  are  dangerous  navigation, 
Gar'ner,  and  a  body  needs  have  all  his  eyes  about  him." 

"  All  places  have  their  dangers  to  your  sleepy  navigator, 
deacon  ;  but  the  man  who  keeps  his  eyes  open  has  little  to 
fear.  Had  you  given  us  a  chronometer,  there  would  not 
have  been  one-half  the  risk  there  will  be  without  one." 

This  had  been  a  bone  of  contention  between  the  master 
of  the  Sea  Lion  and  his  owner.  Chronometers  were  not, 
by  any  means,  in  as  general  use  at  the  period  of  our  tale 
as  they  are  to-day  ;  and  the  deacon  abhorred  the  expense 
to  which  such  an  article  would  have  put  him.  Could  he 
have  got  one  at  a  fourth  of  the  customary  price  he  might 
have  been  tempted  ;  but  it  formed  no  part  of  his  principles 
of  saving  to  anticipate  and  prevent  waste  by  liberality. 

No  sooner  was  the  schooner  released  from  the  ground 
than  her  sails  were  filled,  and  she  went  by  the  low  spit  of 


g8  THE   SEA    LIONS.  , 

sand  already  mentioned,  with  the  light  southwest  breeze 
still  blowing  in  her  favor,  and  an  ebb  tide.  Everything 
appeared  propitious,  and  no  vessel  probably  ever  left  home 
under  better  omens.  The  deacon  remained  on  board  until 
Baiting  Joe,  who  was  to  act  as  his  boatman,  reminded  him 
of  the  distance  and  the  probability  that  the  breeze  would 
go  down  entirely  with  the  sun.  As  it  was,  they  had  to  con- 
tend with  wind  and  tide,  and  it  would  require  all  his  own 
knowledge  of  the  eddies  to  get  the  whale-boat  up  to 
Oyster  Pond  in  anything  like  reasonable  time.  Thus  ad- 
monished, the  owner  tore  himself  away  from  his  beloved 
craft,  giving  "young  Gar'ner"  as  many  "last  words"  as 
if  he  were  about  to  be  executed.  Roswell  had  a  last 
word  on  his  part,  however,  in  the  shape  of  a  message  to 
Mary. 

"Tell  Mary,  deacon,"  said  the  young  sailor,  in  an  asides 
"  that  I  rely  on  her  promise,  and  that  I  shall  think  of  her, 
whether  it  be  under  the  burning  sun  of  the  line,  or  among 
the  ice  of  the  antarctic." 

"  Yes,  yes  ;  that's  as  it  should  be,"  answered  the  deacon, 
heartily.  "  I  like  your  perseverance,  Gar'ner,  and  hope  the 
gal  will  come  round  yet,  and  I  shall  have  you  for  a  nephew. 
There's  nothing  that  takes  the  women's  minds  like  money. 
Fill  up  the  schooner  with  skins  and  ile,  and  bring  back 
that  treasure,  and  you  make  as  sure  of  Mary  for  .a  wife  as 
if  the  parson  had  said  the  benediction  over  you." 

Such  was  Deacon  Pratt's  notion  of  his  niece,  as  well  as 
of  the  female  sex.  For  months  he  regarded  this  speech  as 
a  coup  de  maitre,  while  Roswell  Gardiner  forgot  it  in  half  an 
hour  ;  so  much  better  than  the. uncle  did  the  lover  compre- 
hend the  character  of  the  niece. 

The  Sea  Lion,  of  Oyster  Pond,  had  now  cast  off  the  last 
ligament  which  connected  her  with  the  land.  She  had  no 
pilot,  none  being  necessary,  or  usual,  in  those  waters  ;  all 
that  a  vessel  had  to  do  being  to  give  Long  Island  a  suffi- 
cient berth  in  rounding  its  eastern  extremity.  The  boat 
was  soon  shut  in  by  Gardiner's  Island, -and  thenceforth 
nothing  remained  but  the  ties  of  feeling  to  connect  those 
bold  adventurers  with  their  native  country.  It  is  true  that 
Connecticut,  and  subsequently  Rhode  Island,  was  yet  visi- 
ble on  one  hand,  and  a  small  portion  of  New  York  on  the 
other ;  but  as  darkness  came  to  close  the  scene,  even  that 
means  of  communication  was  soon  virtually  cut  off.  The 
light  on  Montauk,  for  hours,  was  the  sole  beacon  for  these 
bold  mariners,  who  rounded  it  about  midnight,  fairly  meet- 


THE   SKA    LIOXS.  99 

ing  the  long,  rolling  swell  of  the  broad  Atlantic.  Then 
the  craft  might  be  said  to  be  at  sea  for  the  first  time. 

The  Sta  Lion  was  found  to  perform  well.  She  had 
been  constructed  with  an  eye  to  comfort,  as  well  as  to  sail- 
ing, and  possessed  that  just  proportion  in  her  hull  which 
carried  her  over  the  surface  of  the  waves  like  a  duck. 
This  quality  is  of  more  importance  to  a  small  than  to  a 
large  vessel,  for  the  want  of  momentum  renders  what  is 
termed  "burying"  a  very  deadening  process  to  a  light 
craft.  In  this  very  important  particular  Roswell  was  soon 
satisfied  that  the  shipwright  had  done  his  duty. 

As  the  wind  still  stood  at  southwest,  the  schooner  was 
brought  upon  an  easy  bowline,  as  soon  as  she  had  Montauk 
light  dead  to  windward.  This  new  course  carried  her  out 
to  sea,  steering  south-southeast,  a  little  easterly,  under 
everything  that  would  draw.  The  weather  appearing  set- 
tled, and  there  being  no  signs  of  a  change,  Gardiner  now 
went  below  and  turned  in,  leaving  the  care  of  the  vessel 
to  the  proper  officers  of  the  watch,  with  an  order  to  call 
him  at  sunrise.  Fatigue  soon  asserted  its  power,  and  the 
young  man  was  shortly  in  as  profound  a  sleep  as  if  he  had 
not  just  left  a  mistress  whom  he  almost  worshipped  for  an 
absence  of  two  years,  and  to  go  on  a  voyage  that  probably 
would  expose  him  to  more  risks  and  suffering  than  any 
other  enterprise  then  attempted  by  seafaring  men.  Our 
young  sailor  thought  not  of  the  last  at  all,  but  he  fell 
asleep  dreaming  of  Mary. 

The  master  of  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  was  called 
precisely  at  the  hour  he  had  named.  Five  minutes  sufficed 
to  bring  him  on  deck,  where  he  found  everything  as  he 
had  left  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  schooner  itself.  In 
the  six  hours  he  had  been  below,  his  vessel  had  moved  her 
position  out  to  sea  nearly  forty  miles.  No  land  was  now 
to  be  seen,  the  American  coast  being  very  tame  and  un- 
picturesque  to  the  eye,  as  the  purest  patriot,  if  he  happen 
to  know  anything  of  other  parts  of  the  world,  must  be 
constrained  to  admit.  A  low,  monotonous  coast,  that  is 
scarcely  visible  at  a  distance  of  five  leagues,  is  certainly 
not  to  be  named  in  the  same  breath  with  those  glorious 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  for  instance,  where  nature 
would  seem  to  have  exhausted  herself  in  uniting  the  mag- 
nificent with  the  bewitching.  On  this  continent,  or  on 
our  own  portion  of  it  at  least,  we  must  be  content  with 
the  useful,  and  lay  no  great  claims  to  the  beautiful ;  the 
rivers  and  bays  giving  us  some  compensation  in  their  ad- 


TOO  THE   SEA    LJO.VS. 

mirable  commercial  facilities,  for  the  sameness,  not  to  say 
lameness,  of  the  views.  We  mention  these  things  in  pass- 
ing, as  a  people  that  does  not  understand  its  relative 
position  in  the  scale  of  nations,  is  a  little  apt  to  fall  into 
errors  that  do  not  contribute  to  its  character  or  respecta- 
bility ;  more  especially  when  they  exhibit  a  self-love 
founded  altogether  on  ignorance,  and  which  has  been 
liberally  fed  by  flattery. 

The  first  thing  a  seaman  does  on  coming  on  deck,  after 
a  short  absence,  is  to  look  to  windward,  in  order  to  see 
how  the  wind  stands,  and  what  are  the  prospects  of  the 
weather.  Then  he  turns  his  eyes  aloft  to  ascertain  what 
canvas  is  spread,  and  how  it  draws.  Occasionally,  the 
order  of  these  observations  is  changed,  the  first  look  being 
sometimes  bestowed  on  the  sails,  and  the  second  on  the 
clouds.  Roswell  Gardiner,  however,  cast  his  first  glance 
this  morning  toward  the  southward  and  westward,  and 
perceived  that  the  breeze  promised  to  be  steady.  On  look- 
ing aloft,  he  was  well  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which 
everything  drew  ;  then  he  turned  to  the  second  mate,  who 
had  the  watch,  whom  he  addressed  cheerfully,  and  with  a 
courtesy  that  is  not  always  observed  among  sailors. 

"A  fine  morning,  sir,"  said  Roswell  Gardiner,  "and  a 
good-by  to  America.  We've  a  long  road  to  travel,  Mr. 
Green,  but  we've  a  fast  boat  to  do  it  in.  Here  is  an  offing 
ready-made  to  our  hands.  Nothing  in  sight  to  the  west- 
ward ;  not  so  much  as  a  coaster  even  !  It's  too  early  for  the 
outward-bound  craft  of  the  last  ebb,  and  too  late  for  those 
that  sailed  the  tide  before.  I  never  saw  this  bight  of  the 
coast  clearer  of  canvas." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir  ;  it  does  seem  empty,  like.  Here's  a  chap, 
however,  to  leeward,  who  appears  inclined  to  try  his  rate 
of  sailing  with  us.  Here  he  is,  sir,  a  very  little  abaft  the 
beam  ;  and,  as  near  as  I  can  make  him  out,  he's  a  fore- 
tawsail  schooner,  of. about  our  own  dimensions;  if  you'll 
just  look  at  him  through  this  glass,  Captain  Gar'ner,  you'll 
see  he  has  not  only  our  rig,  but  our  canvas  set." 

"You  are  ri^ht  enough,  Mr.  -Green,"  returned  Roswell, 
after  getting  his  look.  "  He  is  a  schooner  of  about  our 
tonnage,  and  under  precisely  our  canvas.  How  long  has  the 
fellow  bore  as  he  does  now  ? " 

"  He  came  out  from  .under  Block  Island  a  few  hours  since, 
and  we  made  him  by  moonlight.  The  question  with  me 
is,  where  did  that  chap  come  from  ?  A  Stunnin'tun  man 
would  have  naturally  passed  to  windward  of  Block  Island; 


THE    SEA    LION'S.  N  io\ 

and  a  Newport  or  Providence  fellow  would  not  have 
fetched  so  far  to  windward  without  making  a  stretch  or 
two  on  purpose.  That  schooner  has  bothered  me  ever  since 
it  was  daylight ;  for  I  can't  place  him  where  he  is  by  any 
traverse  my  poor  1'arnin'  can  work  ! " 

"  She  does  seem  to  be  out  of  her  way.  Possibly  it  is  a 
schooner  beating  up  for  the  Hook,  and  finding  herself  too 
close  in,  she  is -standing  to  the  southward  to  get  an  offing 
again." 

"  Not  she,  sir.  She  came  out  from  behind  Block,  and  a 
craft  of  her  size  that  wanted  to  go  to  the  westward,  and 
which  found  itself  so  close  in,  would  have  taken  the  first 
of  the  flood  and  gone  through  the  Race  like  a  shot.  No, 
no,  Captain  Gar'ner ;  this  fellow  is  bound  south  as  well  as 
ourselves,  and  it  is  quite  onaccountable  how  he  should  be 
just  where  he  is — so  far  to  windward,  or  so  far  to  leeward, 
as  a  body  might  say.  A  south-southeast  course,  from  any 
place  behind  Point  Judith,  would  have  taken  him  oif  near 
No  Man's  Land,  and  here  he  is  almost  in  a  line  with  Block 
Island ! " 

"  Perhaps  he  is  out  of  New  London,  or  some  of  the  ports 
on  the  main,  and  being  bound  to  the  West  Indies  he  has 
been  a  little  careless  about  weathering  the  island.  It's  no 
great  matter  after  all." 

"It  is  some  such  matter,  Captain  Gar'ner,  as  walkin' 
round  a  meetin'-us'  when  your  ar'n'd  is  at  the  door  in  front 
But  there  was  no  such  craft  in  at  Stunnin'tun  or  New  Lon- 
don, as  I  know  from  havin'  been  at  both  places  within  the 
last  eight-and-forty  hours." 

"You  begin  to  make  me  as  curious  about  this  fellow  as 
you  seem  to  be  yourself,  sir.  And  now  I  think  the  matter 
all  over,  it  is  somewhat  ext'or'nary  he  should  be  just  where 
he  is.  It  is,  however,  a  very  easy  thing  to  get  a  nearer 
look  at  him,  and  it's  no  great  matter  to  us,  intending  as  we 
do  to  make  the  islands  off  the  Cape  de  Verde,  if  we  do  lose 
a  little  of  our  weatherly  position — keep  the  schooner  away 
a  point,  and  get  a  small  pull  on  your  weather  braces — 
give  her  a  little  sheet  too,  fore  and  aft,  sir.  So,  that  will 
do — keep  her  steady  at  that — southeast  and  by  south.  In 
two  hours  we  shall  just  about  speak  this  out-of-the-way 
joker." 

As  every  command  was  obeyed,  the  Sea  Lion  was  soon 
running  off  free,  her  bowlines  hanging  loose,  and  all  her 
canvas  a  rap  full.  The  change  in  her  line  of  sailing 
brought  the  sail  to  leeward,  a  little  forward  of  her  beam  ; 


102  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

but  the  movement  of  the  vessel  that  made  the  freest  wind 
was  consequently  the  most  rapid.  In  the  course  of  half 
an  hour  the  stranger  was  again  a  little  abaft  the  beam,  and 
he  was  materially  nearer  than  when  first  seen.  No  change 
was  made  in  the  route  of  the  stranger,  who  now  seemed 
disposed  to  stand  out  to  sea,  with  the  wind,  as  it  was,  on  an 
easy  bowline,  without  paying  any  attention  to  the  sail  in 
sight.  . 

It  was  noon  ere  the  two  schooners  came  within  hail  of 
each  other.  Of  course,  as  they  drew  nearer  and  nearer, 
it  was  possible  for  those  on  board  of  each  to  note  the  ap- 
pearance, equipments,  and  other  peculiarities  of  his  neigh- 
bor. In  size,  there  was  no  apparent  difference  between 
the  vessels,  and  there  was  a  somewhat  remarkable  resem- 
blance in  the  details. 

"  That  fellow  is  no  West  India  drogger,"  said  Roswrell 
Gardiner,  when  less  than  a  mile  from  the  stranger.  "  He 
carries  a  boat  on  deck,  as  we  do,  and  has  one  on  each 
quarter  too.  Car?  it  be  possible  that  he  is  bound  after  seals, 
as  well  as  we  are  ourselves  !  " 

"  I  believe  you're  right,  sir,"  answered  Hazard,  the  chief 
mate,  who  was  now  on  deck.  "  There's  a  sealing  look 
about  the  gentleman,  if  I  know  my  own  complexion.  It's 
odd  enough,  Captain  Gar'ner,  that  two  of  us  should  come 
together,  out  here  in  the  offing,  and  both  of  us  bound  to 
the  other  end  of  the  'arth  !  " 

"  There  is  nothing  so  very  remarkable  in  that,  Mr.  Haz- 
ard, when  we  remember  that  the  start  must  be  properly 
timed  for  those  who  wish  to  be  off  Cape  Horn  in  the  sum- 
mer season.  We  shall  neither  of  us  get  there  much  before 
December,  and  I  suppose  the  master  of  yon  schooner 
knows  that  as  well  as  I  do  myself.  The  position  of  this 
craft  puzzles  me  far  more  than  anything  else  about  her. 
From  what  port  can  a  vessel  come,  that  she  should  be  just 
here,  writh  the  wind  at  southwest  ? " 

u  Ay,  sir,"  put  in  Green,  who  was  moving  about  the 
decks,  coiling  ropes  and  clearing  things  away,  "  that's 
what  I  tell  the  chief  mate.  Where  can  a  craft  come  from, 
to  be  just  here,  with  this  wind,  if  she  don't  come  from 
Stunnin'tun.  Even  from  Stunnin'tun  she'd  be  out  of  her 
way  ;  but  no  such  vessel  has  been  in  that  port  any  time 
these  six  weeks.  Here,  you  Stimson,  come  this  way  a  bit. 
Didn't  you  tell  me  something  of  having  seen  a  schooner  at 
New  Bedford,  that  Was  about  our  build  and  burden,  an<? 
that  you  understood  had  been  bought  for  a  sealer  ? " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  103 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  Stimson,  as  bluff  an  old  sea-dog 
as  ever  flattened  in  a  jib-sheet,  "  and  that's  tho  craft,  as  I'm 
a  thinkin',  Mr.  Green.  She  had  an  animal  for  a  figure- 
head, and  that  craft  has  an  animal,  as  well  as  I  can  judge 
at  this  distance." 

"  You  are  right  enough  there,  Stephen,"  cried  Roswell 
Gardiner,  "  and  that  animal  is  a  seal.  It's  the  twin-brother 
of  the  sea  lion  we  carry  under  our  own  bowsprit.  There's 
some  proof  in  that,  tastes  agree  sometimes,  even  if  they  do 
differ  generally.  What  became  of  the  schooner  you  saw  ?" 

"I  heard,  sir,  that  she  was  bought  up  by  some  Vineyard 
men,  and  was  taken  across  to  Hum'ses  Hull.  They  some- 
times fit  out  a  craft  there,  as  well  as  on  the  main.  I  should 
have  crossed'myself  to  see  what  they  was  at,  but  I  fell  in 
with  Mr.  Green,  and  shipped  aboard  here." 

"  An  adventure  by  which,  I  hope,  you  will  not  be  a  loser, 
my  hearty,"  put  in  the  captain.  "  And  you  think  that  is 
the  craft  which  was  built  at  New  Bedford,  and  fitted  out 
on  the  Vineyard?" 

"  Sartain  of  it,  sir  ;  for  I  know  the  figure-head,  and  all 
about  her  build." 

"  Hand  me  the  trumpet,  Mr.  Green  ;  we  shall  soon  be  near 
enough  for  a  hail,  and  it  will  be  easy  to  learn  the  truth." 

Roswell  Gardiner  waited  a  few  minutes  for  the  two 
schooners  to  close,  and  was  in  the  very  act  of  applying  the 
trumpet  to  his  mouth,  when  the  usual  salutation  was  sent 
across  the  water  from  the  stranger.  During  the  conversa- 
tion that  now  took  place,  the  vessels  gradually  drew  nearer 
to  each  other,  until  both  parties  laid  aside  their  trumpets, 
and  carried  on  the  discourse  with  the  unaided  voice. 

"  Schooner,  ahoy  ! "  was  the  greeting  of   the  stranger, 
and  a  simple  "  Hilloa  !  "  the  answer. 
.   "  What  schooner  is  that,  pray  ?  " 

"  The  Sea  Lion,  of  Oyster  Pond,  Long  Island  ;  bound  to 
the  southward,  after  seal,  as  I  suppose  you  know  by  our 
outfit." 

"  When  did  you  leave  Oyster  Pond — and  how  did  you 
leave  your  owner,  the  good  Deacon  Pratt  ?" 

"  VVe  sailed  yesterday  afternoon,  on  the  first  of  the  ebb, 
and  the  deacon  left  us  as  we  weighed  anchor.  He  was 
well,  and  full  of  hope  for  our  luck.  What  schooner  is 
that,  pray  ? " 

"  The  Sea  Lion,  of  Hum'ses  Hull ;  bound  to  the  south- 
ward, after  seals,  as  you  probably  kne\v  by  our  outfit.  Who 
commands  that  schooner  ?  " 


ro4  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"Captain  Roswell  Gar'ner;  who  commands  aboard  you, 
pray  ?  " 

"  Captain  Jason  Daggett,"  showing  himself  moie  plainly, 
by  moving  out  of  the  line  of  the  main-rigging.  "  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  when  I  was  on  the  P'int,  look- 
ing after  my  uncle's  dunnage,  you  may  remember,  Captain 
Gar'ner.  Twas  but  the  other  day,  and  yen  are  not  likely 
to  have  forgotten  my  visit." 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all,  Captain  Daggett  ;  though  I  had 
no  idea  then  that  you  intended  to  make  a  voyage  to  the 
southward  so  soon.  When  did  you  leave  the  Hole,  sir  ? " 

"  Day  before  yesterday,  a'ternoon.  We  came  out  of  the, 
Hull  about  five  o'clock." 

"  How  had  you  the  wind,  sir  ?" 

"  Sou'west,  and  sou'west  and  by  south.  There  has  been 
but  little  change  in  that  these  three  days." 

Roswell  Gardiner  muttered  something  to  himself ;  but 
he  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  utter  the  thoughts  that  were 
just  then  passing  through  his  mind  aloud. 

"Ay,  ay,"  he  answered,  after  a  moment's  pause,  "the 
wind  has  stood  there  the  whole  week  ;  but  I  think  we  shall 
shortly  get  a  change.  There  is  an  easterly  feeling  in  the 
air." 

"  Waal,  let  it  come.  With  this  offing,  we  could  clear 
Hatteras  with  anything  that  wasn't  worse  than  a  south- 
easter. There's  a  southerly  set  in  here  down  the  coast  for 
two  or  three  hundred  miles." 

"  A  heavy  southeaster  would  jam  us  in  here  between  the 
shoals  in  a  way  I  shouldn't  greatly  relish,  sir.  I  like  always 
to  get  to  the  eastward  of  the  Stream,  as  soon  as  I  can,  in 
running  off  the  land." 

"  Very  true,  Captain  Gar'ner — very  true,  sir.  It  is  best 
to  get  outside  the  Stream,  if  a  body  can.  Once  there,  I 
call  a  craft  at  sea.  Eight-and-forty  hours  more  of  this 
wind  would  just  about  carry  us  there.  Waal,  sir,  as  we're 
bound  on  the  same  sort  of  v'y'ge,  I'm  happy  to  have  fallen 
in  with  you  ;  and  I  see  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be 
neighborly,  and  'gam'  it 'a  little,  when  we've  nothing 
better  to  do.  I  like  that  schooner  of  yours  so  well,  that 
I've  made  my  own  to  look  as  nearly  resembling  her  as  I 
could.  You  seo  our  paint  is  exactly  the  same." 

"  I  have  observed  that,  Captain  Daggett ;  and  you  might 
say  the  same  of  the  figure-heads." 

"  Ay,  ay  ;  when  I  was  over  on  the  P'int,  they  told  me 
the  name  of  the  carver  in  Boston,  who  cut  your  seal,  and 


THE   SEA    LIO^7S.  105 

I  sent  to  him  to  cut  me  a  twin.  If  they  lay  in  a  ship-yard, 
side  by  side,  I  don't  think  you  could  tell  one  from  the 
other." 

"  So  it  seems,  sir.  Pray,  haven't  you  a  man  aboard 
there  of  the  name  of  Watson  ?" 

"  Ay,  ay — he's  my  second  mate.  I  know  what  you  mean, 
Captain  Gar'ner — you're  right  enough,  'tis  the  same  hand 
who  was  aboard  you  ;  but  wanting  a  second  officer,  I 
offered  him  the  berth,  and  he  thought  that  better  than 
taking  a  foremast  4ay  in  your  craft." 

This  explanation  probably  satisfied  all  who  heard  it, 
though  the  truth  was  not  more  than  half  told.  In  point  of 
fact,  Watson  was  engaged  as  Daggett's  second  mate  before 
he  ever  laid  eyes  on  Roswell  Gardiner,  and  had  been  sent 
to  watch  the  progress  of  the  work  on  Oyster  Pond,  as  has 
been  previously  stated.  It  was  so  much  in  the  natural 
order  of  events  for  a  man  to  accept  preferment  when  of- 
fered, however,  that  even  Gardiner  himself  blamed  the 
delinquent  for  the  desertion -far  less  than  he  had  previously 
done.  In  the  meantime,  the  conversation  proceeded. 

"  You  told  us  nothing  of  your  having  that  schooner 
fitting  when  you  were  on  the  Point,"  observed  Roswell 
Gardiner,  whose  thoughts  just  then  happened  to  advert  to 
this  particular  fact. 

•"  My  mind  was  pretty  much  taken  up  with  the  affairs 
of  my  poor  uncle,  I  suppose,  Captain  Gar'ner.  Death 
must  visit  each  of  us  once  ;  nevertheless,  it  makes  us  all 
melancholy  when  he  comes  among  friends." 

Now  Roswell  Gardiner  was  not  in  the  least  sentimental, 
nor  had  he  the  smallest  turn  toward  indulging  in  moral  in- 
ferences from  ordinary  events  ;  but  this  answer  seemed  so 
proper  that  it  found  no  objection  in  his  mind.  Still,  the 
young  man  had  his  suspicions  on  the  subject  of  the 
equipment  of  the  other  schooner,  and  suspicions  that 
were  now  active  and  keen,  and  which  led  him  directly 
to  fancy  that  Daggett  had  also  some  clew  to  the  very  ob- 
jects he  was  after  himself.  Singular  as  it  may  seem  at 
first,  Deacon  Pratt's  interests  were  favorably  affected  by 
this  unexpected  meeting  with  the  Sea  Lion  of  Holmes's 
Hole.  From  the  first,  Roswell  Gardiner  had  been  indis- 
posed to  give  full  credit  to  the  statements  of  the  deceased 
mariner,  ascribing  no  small  part  of  his  account  to  artifice, 
stimulated  by  a  desire  to  render  himself  important.  But, 
now  that  he  found  one  of  this  man's  family  embarked  in 
an  enterprise  similar  to  his  own,  his  views  of  its  expedi* 


106  THE.    SEA    LIONS. 

ency  were  sensibly  changed.  Perfectly  familiar  with  th« 
wary  economy  with  which  every  interest  was  regulated  in 
that  part  of  the  world,  he  did  not  believe  a  company  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  men  would  risk  their  money  in  an  en- 
terprise that  they  had  not  good  reasons  for  believing 
would  succeed.  Although  it  exceeded  his  means  to  ap- 
preciate fully  the  information  possessed  by  the  Vineyard 
folks,  and  covetousness  did  not  quicken  his  faculties  on 
this  subject,  as  they  had  quickened  those  of  the  deacon, 
he  could  see  enough  to  satisfy  his  mind  that  either  the 
sealing-islands,  or  the  booty  of  the  pirates,  or  both,  had  a 
reality,  in  the  judgment  of  others,  which  had  induced  them 
also  to  risk  their  money  in  turning  their  knowledge  to  ac- 
count. The  effect  of  this  conviction  was  very  natural.  It 
induced  Roswell  to  regard  the  charts,  and  his  instructions, 
and  all  connected  with  his  voyage,  as  much  more  serious 
matters  than  he  had  originally  been  inclined  to  do.  Until 
now,  he  had  thought  it  well  enough  to  let  the  deacon 
have  his  fancies,  relying  on  his  own  ability  to  obtain  a 
cargo  for  the  schooner,  by  visiting  sealing  stations  where 
he  had  been  before  ;  but  now  he  determined  to  steer  at 
once  for  Daggett's  Islands,  as  he  and  his  owner  named  the 
land  revealed  to  them,  and  ascertain  what  could  be  done 
there.  He  thought  it  probable  the  other  Sea  Lion  might 
wish  to  keep  him  company  ;  but  the  distance  was  so  great 
that  a  hundred  occasions  must  occur  when  it  would  be  in 
his  power  to  shake  off  such  a  consort,  should  he  deem  it 
necessary. 

For  several  hours  the  two  schooners  stood  on  in  com- 
pany, keeping  just  without  hailing  distance  apart,  and 
sailing  so  nearly  alike  as  to  render  it  hard  to  say  which 
craft  had  the  best  of  it.  There  was  nothing  remarkable 
in  the  fact  that  two  vessels,  built  for  the  same  trade,  should 
have  a  close  general  resemblance  to  each  other  ;  but  it  was 
not  common  to  find  them  so  moulded,  sparred,  and 
handled,  that  their  rate  of  sailing  should  be  nearly  identi- 
cal. If  there  was  any  difference,  it  was  slightly  in  favor 
of  the  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard,  which  rather  drew  ahead 
of  her  consort,  if  consort  the  other  Sea  Lion  could  be 
termed,  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  many  were  the 
speculations  that  were  made  on  board  these  rival  vessels 
• — competitors  now  for  the  commonest  glories  of  their  pur- 
suits, as  well  as  in  the  ultimate  objects  of  their  respective 
voyages.  On  the  part  of  Roswell  Gardiner  and  his  two 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  107 

mates,  they  did  not  fail,  in  particular,  to  comment  on 
the  singularity  of  the  circumstance  that  the  Sea  Lion 
of  the  Vineyard  should  be  so  far  out  of  her  direct  line 
of  sailing. 

"  Although  we  have  had  the  wind  at  sow-west "  (sow- 
west  always,  as  pronounced  by  every  seaman,  from  the 
Lord  High  Admiral  of  England,  when  there  happens  to  be 
such  a  functionary,  down  to  the  greenest  hand  on  board 
the  greenest  sealer)  "for  these  last  few  days,"  said  Hazard, 
"  anybody  can  see  we  shall  soon  have  easterly  weather. 
There's  an  easterly  feel  in  the  air,  and  all  last  night  the 
water  had  an  easterly  glimmer  about  it.  Now  why  a 
man  who  came  out  of  the  Vineyard  Sound,  and  who  had 
nothing  to  do  but  just  to  clear  the  west  eend  of  his  own 
island,  and  then  lay  his  course  off  yonder  to  the  south- 
ward and  eastward,  should  bear  up  cluss  (Anglice,  close) 
under  Block,  and  stretch  out  to  sea,  for  all  the  world  as  if 
he  was  a  Stunnin'tun  chap,  or  a  New  Lunnoner,  that  had 
fallen  a  little  to  leeward,  is  more  than  I  can  understand, 
Captain  Gar'ner  !  Depend  on  it,  sir,  there's  a  reason  for't. 
Men  don't  put  schooners  into  the  water,  nowadays,  and 
give  them  costly  outfits,  with  three  whale-boats,  and  sealin' 
gear  in  abundance,  just  for  the  fun  of  making  fancy 
traverses  on  or  off  a  coast,  like  your  yacht  gentry,  who 
never  know  what  they  would  be  at,  and  who  never  make  a 
v'y'ge  worth  speaking  on." 

"  I  have  been  turning  all  this  over  in  my  mind,  Mr. 
Hazard,"  answered  the  young  master,  who  was  amusing 
himself  at  the  moment  with  strapping  a  small  block,  while 
he  threw  many  a  glance  at  the  vessel  that  was  just  as  close 
under  his  lee  as  comported  with  her  sailing.  "There  is  a 
reason  for  it,  as  you  say ;  but  I  can  find  no  other  than  the 
fact  that  she  has  come  so  much  out  of  her  way,  in  order 
to  fall  in  with  us  ;  knowing  that  we  were  to  come  around 
Montauk  at  a  particular  time." 

"Well,  sir,  that  may  have  been  her  play!  Men  bound 
the  same  way  often  wish  to  fall  into  good  company,  to 
make  the  journey  seem  the  shorter,  by  making  it  so  much 
the  pleasanter." 

"  Those  fellows  can  never  suppose  the  two  schooners 
will  keep  in  sight  of  each  other  from  forty-one  degrees 
north  all  the  way  to  seventy  south,  or  perhaps  further 
south  still !  If  we  remain  near  each  other  a  week,  'twill 
be  quite  out  of  the  common  way." 

"I  don't  kn'ow  that,  sir.     I  was  once  in  a  sealer  that,  do 


io8  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

all,  she  could,  couldn't  get  shut  of  a  curious  neighbor. 
When  seals  are  scarce,  and  the  master  don't  know  where 
to  look  for  'em,  he  is  usually  glad  to  drop  into  some  vessel's 
wake,  if  it  be  only  to  pick  up  her  leavin's." 

"  Outfits  are  not  made  on  such  chances  as  that.  These 
Vineyard  people  know  where  they  are  going  as  well  as  we 
know  ourselves  ;  perhaps  better." 

"  There  is  great  confidence  aboard  here,  in  the  master, 
Captain  Gar'ner.  I  overheard  the  watch  talking  the  mat- 
ter over  early  this  morning ;  and  there  was  but  one 
opinion  among  them,  I  can  tell  you,  sir." 

"Which  opinion  was,  Mr.   Hazard " 

"  That  a  lay  aboard  this  craft  would  be  worth  a  lay  and 
a  half  aboard  any  other  schooner  out  of  all  America ! 
Sailors  go  partly  on  skill  and  partly  on  luck.  I've  known 
hands  that  wouldn't  ship  with  the  best  masters  that  ever 
sailed  a  vessel,  if  they  didn't  think  they  were  lucky  as  well 
as  skilful." 

"  Ay,  ay,  it's  all  luck  !  Little  do  these  fellows  think  of 
Providence — or  of  deserving,  or  undeserving.  Well,  I  hope 
the  schooner  will  not  disappoint  them — or  her  master, 
either.  But,  whaling  and  sealing,  and  trusting  to  the 
chances  of  the  ocean,  and  our  most  flattering  hopes,  may 
mislead  us  after  all." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir  ;  nevertheless,  Captain  Gar'ner  has  a  name, 
and  men  will  trust  to  it !  " 

Our  young  master  could  not  but  be  flattered  at  this, 
which  came  at  a  favorable  moment  to  sustain  the  resolu- 
tions awakened  by  the  competition  with  the  rival  schooner. 
Although  so  obviously  competitors,  and  that  in  a  matter  of 
trade,  the  interest  which  above  all  others  is  apt  to  make 
men  narrow-minded  and  hostile  to  each  other,  though  the 
axiom  would  throw  this  particular  reproach  on  doctors, 
there  were  no  visible  signs  that  the  two  vessels  did  not 
maintain  the  most  amicable  relations.  As  the  day  ad- 
vanced the  wind  fell,  and  after  many  passages  of  nautical 
compliments,  by  means  of  signals  and  the  trumpet,  Ros- 
well  Gardiner  fairly  lowered  a  boat  into  the  water,  and 
went  a  "gamming,"  as  it  is  termed,  on  board  the  other 
schooner. 

Each  of  these  little  vessels  was  well  provided  with  boats, 
and  those  of  the  description  in  common  use  among  whal- 
ers. A  whale-boat  differs  from  the  ordinary  jolly-boat, 
launch,  or  yawl — gigs,  barges,  dinguis,  etc.,  etc.,  being 
exclusively  for  the  service  of  vessels  of  war— in  the  follow- 


TffR   SEA    LIOXS.  109 

ing  particulars,  viz.  : — It  is  sharp  at  both  ends  in  order 
that  it  may  ".back  off  "  as  well  as  "  pull  on  ; "  it  steers 
with  an  oar  instead  of  with  a  rudder,  in  order  that  the 
bows  may  be  thrown  round  to  avoid  danger  when  not  in 
motion  ;  it  is  buoyant  and  made  to  withstand  the  shock  of 
waves  at  both  ends  ;  and  it  is  light  and  shallow,  though 
strong,  that  it  may  be  pulled  with  facility.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  one  of  these  little  egg-shells — little  as 
vessels,  though  of  good  size  as  boats — is  often  dragged 
through  troubled  waters  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  twelve  knots, 
and  frequently  at  even  a  swifter  movement,  one  can  easily 
understand  how  much  depends  on  its  form,  buoyancy  and 
strength.  Among  seamen  it  is  commonly  thought  that  a 
whale-boat  is  the  safest  craft  of  the  sort  in  which  men  can 
trust  themselves  in  rough  water. 

Captain  Daggett  received  his  guest  with  marked  civility, 
though  in  a  quiet,  eastern  way.  The  rum  and  water  were 
produced  and  a  friendly  glass  was  taken  by  one  after  the 
other.  The  two  masters  drank  to  each  other's  success, 
and  many  a  conventional  remark  was  made  between 
them  on  the  subject  of  sea-lions,  sea-elephants,  and  the 
modes  of  capturing  such  animals.  Even  Watson,  semi- 
deserter  as  he  was,  was  shaken  cordially  by  the  hand,  and 
his  questionable  conduct  overlooked.  The  ocean  has 
many  of  the  aspects  of  eternity,  and  often  disposes  mari- 
ners to  regard  their  fellow-creatures  with  an  expansiveness 
of  feeling  suited  to  their  common  situations.  Its  vastness 
reminds  them  of  the  time  that  has  neither  beginning  nor 
end  ;  its  ceaseless  movement,  of  the  never-tiring  impulses 
of  human  passions  ;  ar\d  its  accidents  and  dangers,  of  the 
Providence  which  protects  all  alike,  and  which  alone  pre- 
vents our  being  abandoned  to  the  dominion  of  chance. 

Roswell  Gardiner  was  a  kind-hearted  man,  moreover, 
and  was  inclined  to  judge  his  fellows  leniently.  Thus  it 
was  that  his  "  good  evening  "  at  parting  to  Watson  was 
just  as  frank  and  sincere  as  that  he  bestowed  on  Captain 
Daggett  himself. 


no  THE   SEA    L1OXS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

et  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean — roll ! 

Ten  thousand  fleets  sweep  over  thee  in  vain  ; 

Man  marks  the  earth  with  ruin — his  control 

Stops  with  the  shore  ; — upon  the  watery  plain 

The  wrecks  are  all  thy  deeds,  nor  doth  remain 

A  shadow  of  man's  ravage,  save  his  own, 

When  for  a  moment,  like  a  drop  of  rain, 

He  sinks  into  thy  depths  with  bubbling  groan, 
Without  a  grave,  unknell'd,  uncomn'd,  and  unknown. " — BYRON. 

THAT  evening  the  sun  set  in  clouds,  though  the  eastern 
horizon  was  comparatively  clear.  There  was,  however,  an 
unnatural  outline  to  objects,  by  which  their  dimensions 
were  increased,  and  in  some  degree  rendered  indefinite. 
We  do  not  know  the  reason  why  the  wind  at  east  should 
produce  these  phenomena,  nor  do  we  remember  ever  to 
have  met  with  any  attempt  at  a  solution  ;  but  of  the  fact, 
we  are  certain,  by  years  of  observation.  In  what  is  called 
"  easterly  weather,"  objects  are  seen  through  the  medium 
of  a  refraction  that  is  entirely  unknown  in  a  clear  north- 
wester ;  the  crests  of  the  seas  emit  a  luminous  light  that  is 
far  more  apparent  than  at  other  times  ;  and  the  face  of 
the  ocean,  at  midnight,  often  wears  the  aspect  of  a  cloudy 
day.  The  nerves,  too,  answer  to  this  power  of  the  eastern 
winds.  We  have  a  barometer  within  that  can  tell  when 
the  wind  is  east  without  looking  abroad,  and  one  that  never 
errs.  It  is  true  that  allusions  are  often  made  to  these  pe- 
culiarities, but  where  are  we  to  look  for  the  explanation  ? 
On  the  coast  of  America  the  sea  breeze  comes  from  the 
rising  sun,  while  on  that  of  Europe  it  blows  from  the  land  ; 
but  no  difference  in  these  signs  of  its  influence  could  we 
ever  discover  on  account  of  this  marked  distinction. 

Roswell  Gardiner  found  the  scene  greatly  changed  when 
he  came  on  deck  next  morning.  The  storm,  which  had 
been  brewing  so  long,  had  come  at  last,  and  the  wind  was 
blowing  a  little  gale  from  the  southeast.  The  quarter  from 
which  the  air  came  had  compelled  the  officer  of  the  watch 
to  haul  up  on  the  larboard  tack,  or  with  the  schooner's 
head  to  the  southward  and  westward  ;  a  course  that  might 
do  for  a  few  days,  provided  it  did  not  blow  too  heavily. 
The  other  tack  would  not  have  cleared  the  shoals,  which 
stretched  away  to  a  considerable  distance  to  the  eastward. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  -V.  in 

Hazard  had  got  in  his  flying-jib,  and  had  taken  the  bonnets 
off  his  foresail  and  jib,  to  prevent  the  craft  burying.  He 
had  also  single-reefed  his  mainsail  and  fore-topsail.  The 
Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard  imitated  each  movement,  %nd 
was  brought  down  precisely  to  the  same  canvas  as  her  con- 
sort, and  on  the  same  tack.  At  that  moment  the  two  ves- 
sels were  not  a  cable's  length  asunder,  the  Oyster  Ponders 
being  slightly  to  leeward.  Their  schooner,  however,  had 
a  trifling  advantage  in  sailing  when  it  blew  fresh  and  the 
water  was  rough  ;  which  advantage  was  now  making  itself 
apparent,  as  the  two  craft  struggled  ahead  through  the 
troubled  element. 

"  I  wish  we  were  two  hundred  miles  to  the  eastward," 
observed  the  young  master  to  his  first  officer,  as  soon  as 
his  eye  had  taken  in  the  whole  view.  "  I  am  afraid  we 
shall  get  jammed  in  on  Cape  Hatteras.  That  place  is  al- 
ways in  the  way  with  the  wind  at  southeast  and  a  vessel 
going  to  the  southward.  We  are  likely  to  have  a  dirty 
time  of  it,  Mr.  Hazard." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,  dirty  enough,"  was  the  careless  answer. 
"  I've  known  them  that  would  go  back  and  anchor  in  Fort 
Pond  Bay,  or  even  in  Gardiner's,  until  this  southeaster  has 
blown  itself  out." 

"I  couldn't  think  of  that!  We  are  a  hundred  miles 
southeast  of  Montauk,  and  if  I  run  the  craft  into  any  place, 
it  shall  be  into  Charleston,  or  some  of  the  islands  along 
that  coast.  Besides,  we  can  always  ware  off  the  land,  and 
place  ourselves  a  day's  run  further  to  the  southward,  and 
we  can  then  give  the  shoals  a  wide  berth  on  the  other  tack. 
If  we  were  in  the  bight  of  the  coast  between  Long  Island 
and  Jersey,  'twould  be  another  matter  ;  but,  out  here, 
where  we  are,  I  should  be  ashamed  to  look  the  deacon  in 
the  face,  if  I  didn't  hold  on." 

"  I  only  made  the  remark,  Captain  Gar'ner,  by  way  of 
saying  something.  As  for  getting  to  the  southward,  close 
in  with  our  own  coast,  I  don't  know  that  it  will  be  of  much 
use  to  a  craft  that  wishes  to  stand  so  far  to  the  eastward, 
since  the  trades  must  be  met  well  to  windward,  or  they  had 
better  not  be  met  at  all.  For  my  part,  I  would  as  soon 
take  my  chance  of  making  a  passage  to  the  Cape  de  Verds 
or  their  neighborhood,  by  lifting  my  anchor  from  Gar- 
diner's Bay,  three  days  hence,  as  by  meeting  the  next  shift 
of  wind  down  south,  off  Charleston  or  Tybee." 

"We  should  be  only  five  hundred  miles  to  windward,  in 
the  latter  case,  did  the  wind  come  from  the  southwest, 


U2  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

again,  as  at  this  season  of  the  year  it  is  very  likely  to  do. 
But  it  is  of  na  consequence  ;  men  bound  where  we  have 
got  to  go,  ought  not  to  run  into  port  every  time  the  wind 
confes  out  foul.  You  know  as  well  as  I  do,  Mr.  Hazard, 
that  away  do\vn  south,  yonder,  a  fellow  thinks  a  gale  of 
wind  is  a  relief,  provided  it  brings  clear  water  with  it.  I 
would  rather  run  a  week  among  islands,  than  a  single  day 
among  icebergs.  One  knows  where  to  find  land,  for  that 
never  moves  ;  but  your  mountains  that  float  about,  are  here 
to-day,  and  there  to-morrow." 

"  Quite  true,  sir,"  returned  Hazard;  "  and  men  that 
take  their  lays  in  sealers,  are  not  to  expect  anything  but 
squalls.  I'm  ready  to  hold  on  as  long  as  our  neighbor 
yonder  :  he  seems  to  be  trimming  down  to  it,  as  if  in  raal 
earnest  to  get  ahead." 

This  was  true  enough.  The  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard 
was  doing  her  best,  all  this  time  ;  and  though  unable  to 
keep  her  station  on  her  consort's  weather  bow,  where  she 
had  been  most  of  the  morning,  she  was  dropped  so  very 
slowly  as  to  render  the  change  nearly  imperceptible.  Now 
it  was,  that  the  officers  and  crews  of  these  two  crafts 
watched  their  "  behavior,"  as  it  is  technically  termed, 
with  the  closest  vigilance  and  deepest  interest.  Those  in 
the  Oyster  Pond  vessel  regarded  the  movements  of  their 
consort,  much  as  a  belle  in  a  ball-room  observes  the 
effect  produced  by  the  sister  belles  around  her  ;  or  a  rival 
physician  notes  the  progress  of  an  operation  that  is  to  add 
new  laurels,  or  to  cause  old  ones  to  wither.  Now,  the 
lurch  was  commented  on  ;  then,  the  pitch  was  thought  to 
be  too  heavy  ;  and  Green  was  soon  of  opinion  that  their 
competitor  w,as  not  as  easy  on  her  spars  as  their  own 
schooner.  In  short,  every  comparison  that  experience, 
jealousy,  or  skill  could  suggest,  was  freely  made  ;  and 
somewhat  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  favor  of  their  own 
vessel.  That  which  was  done  on  board  the  Sea  Lion  of 
Oyster  Pond,  was  very  freely  emulated  by  those  on  board 
her  namesake  of  the  Vineyard.  They  made  their  com- 
parisons, and  formed  their  conclusions,  with  the  same  def- 
erence to  self-esteem,  and  the  same  submission  to  hope,  as 
had  been  apparent  among  their  competitors.  It  would 
seem  to  be  a  law  of  nature  that  men  should  thus  flatter 
themselves,  and  perceive  the  mote  in  the  eye  of  their 
neighbor,  while  the  beam  in  their  own  escapes. 

Had  there  been  an  impartial  judge  present,  he  might  have 
differed  from  both  sets  of  critics.  Such  a  person  would 


THE   SEA    LZOXS.  113 

have  seen  that  one  of  these  schooners  excelled  in  this 
quality,  while  the  other  had  an  equal  advantage  in  another. 
In  this  way,  by  running  through  the  list  of  properties  that 
are  desirable  in  a  ship,  he  would,  most  probably,  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  not  much  to  choose 
between  the  two  vessels;  but  that  each  had  been  con- 
structed with  an  intelligent  regard  to  the  particular  service 
in  which  she  was  about  be  employed,  and  both  were 
handled  by  men  who  knew  perfectly  well  how  to  take  care 
of  craft  of  that  description. 

The  wind  gradually  increased  in  strength,  and  sail  was 
shortened  in  the  schooners,  until  each  was  finally  brought 
down  to  a  close-reefed  foresail.  This  would  have  been 
heaving  the  vessels  to,  had  they  not  been  kept  a  little  off, 
in  order  to  force  them  through  the  water.  To  lie-to,  in 
perfection,  some  after-sail  might  have  been  required  ;  but 
neither  master  saw  a  necessity,  as  yet,  of  remaining  station- 
ary. It  was  thought  better  to  wade  along  some  two  knots, 
than  to  be  pitching  and  lurching  with  nothing  but  a  drift, 
or  leeward  set.  In  this,  both  masters  were  probably  right, 
and  found  their  vessels  farther  to  windward  in  the  end,  than 
if  they  had  endeavored  to  hold  their  own,  by  lying-to. 
The  great  difficulty  they  had  to  contend  with,  in  keeping 
a  little  off,  was  the  danger  of  seas  coming  on  board ;  but, 
as  yet,  the  ocean  was  not  sufficiently  aroused  to  make  this 
very  hazardous,  and  both  schooners,  having  no  real  cargoes, 
were  light  and  buoyant,  and  floated  dry.  Had  they  en- 
countered the  sea  there  was,  with  full  freights  in  their 
holds,  it  might  have  been  imprudent  to  expose  them  even 
to  this  remote  chance  of  having  their  decks  swept.  Water 
comes  aboard  of  small  vessels,  almost  without  an  excep- 
tion, in  head  winds  and  seas  ;  though  the  contrivances  of 
modern  naval  architecture  have  provided  defences  that 
make  merchant  vessels,  now,  infinitely  more  comfortable, 
in  this  respect,  than  they  were  at  the  period  of  which  we 
are  writing. 

At  the  end  of  three  days,  Roswell  Gardiner  supposed 
himself  to  be  about  the  latitude  of  Cape  Henry,  and  some 
thirty  or  forty  leagues  from  the  land.  It  was  much  easier 
to  compute  the  last,  than  the  first  of  these  material  facts. 
Of  course,  he  had  no  observations.  The  sun  had  not  been 
visible  since  the  storm  commenced,  and  nearly  half  the 
time,  during  the  last  day,  the  two  vessels  were  shut  in 
from  one  another,  by  mists  and  a  small  rain.  It  blew 
more  in  squalls  than  it  had  done,  and  the  relative  posi- 
.8 


U4  THK   SEA    LIOXS. 

tions  of  the  schooners  were  more  or  less  affected  by  the 
circumstance.'  "  Sometimes,  one  would  be  to  windward, 
and  ahead  ;  then,  the  other  would  obtain  a  similar  advan- 
tage. Once  or  twice  they  seemed  about  to  separate,  the 
distance  between  them  getting  to  be  so  considerable,  as 
apparently  to  render  it  impossible  to  keep  in  company  ; 
then  the  "craft  would  change  places,  by  a  slow  process, 
passing  quite  near  to  each  other  again.  No  one  could 
tell,  at  the  moment,  precisely  why  these  variations  oc- 
curred ;  though  the  reasons,  generally,  were  well  under- 
stood by  all  on  board  them.  Squalls,  careless  steering, 
currents,  eddies,  and  all  the  accidents  of  the  ocean,  con- 
tribute to  create  these  vacillating  movements,  which  will 
often  cause  two  vessels  of  equal  speed,  and  under  the  same 
canvas,  to  seem  to  be  of  very  different  qualities.  In  the 
nights,  the  changes  were  greatest,  often  placing  the  schoon- 
ers leagues  asunder,  and  seemingly  separating  them  alto- 
gether. But  Roswell  Gardiner  became  satisfied  that  Cap- 
tain Daggett  stuck  by  him  intentionally  ;  for  on  all  such 
occasions  if  his  schooner  happened  to  be  out  of  the  way,  he 
managed  to  close  again,  ere  the  danger  of  separating  be- 
came too  great  to  be  overcome. 

Our  mariners  judged  of  their  distance  from  the  land, 
by  means  of  the  lead.  If  the  American  coast  is  wanting 
in  the  sublime  and  picturesque,  and  every  traveller  must 
admit  its  defects  in  both,  it  has  the  essential  advantage  of 
graduated  soundings.  So  regular  is. the  shoaling  of  the 
water,  and  so  studiously  have  the  fathoms  been  laid  down, 
that  a  cautious  navigator  can  always  feel  his  way  in  to  the 
coast,  and  never  need  place  his  vessel  on  the  beach,  as  is 
so  often  done,  without  at  least  knowing  that  he  was  about 
to  do  so.  Men  become  adventurous  by  often-repeated 
success  ;  and  the  struggles  of  competition,  the  go-ahead-ism 
of  the  national  character,  and  the  trouble  it  gives  to  sound 
in  deep  water,  all  contribute  to  cast  away  the  reckless  and 
dashing  navigator,  on  this  as  well  as  on  other  coasts,  and 
this  to  his  own  great  surprise  ;  but,  whenever  such  a  thing 
does  happen,  unless  in  cases  of  stress  of  weather,  the  reader 
may  rest  assured  it  is  because  those  who  have  had  charge 
of  the  stranded  vessel  have  neglected  to  sound.  The  mile- 
stones on  a  highway  do  not  more  accurately  note  the  dis- 
tances, than  does  the  lead  on  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
American  coast.  Thus  Roswell  Gardiner  judged  himself 
to  be  about  thirty-two  or  three  marine  leagues  from  the 
land,  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  of  that  gale  of  wind. 


THE    SEA    LIONS. 


"5 


He  placed  the  schooner  in  the  latitude  of  Cape  Henry  on 
less  certain  data,  though  that  was  the  latitude  in  which  he 
supposed  her  to  be,  by  dead  reckoning. 

"  I  wish  I  knew  where  Daggett  makes  himself  out,"  said 
the  young  master,  just  as  the  day  closed  on  a  most  stormy 
and  dirty-looking  night.  "  I  don't  half  like  the  appearance 
of  the  weather  ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  ware  off  the  land, 
with  that  fellow  ahead  and  nearer  to  the  danger,  if  there 
be  any,  than  we  are  ourselves." 

Here  Roswell  Gardiner  manifested  a  weakness  that  lies 
at  the  bottom  of  half  our  blunders.  He  did  not  like  to  be 
outdone  by  a  competitor,  even  in  his  mistakes.  If  the  Sea 
Lion  of  Holmes'  Hole  could  hold  on,  on  that  tack,  why 
might  not  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  do  the  same  ?  It 
is  by  this  process  of  human  vanity  that  men  sustain  each 
other  in  wrong,  and  folly  obtains  the  sanction  of  numbers, 
if  not  that  of  reason.  In  this  practice  we  see  one  of  the 
causes  of  the  masses  becoming  misled,  and  this  seldom 
happens  without  their  becoming  oppressive. 

Roswell  Gardiner,  however,  did  not  neglect  the  lead. 
The  schooner  had  merely  to  luff  close  to  the  wind,  and 
they  were  in  a  proper  state  to  sound.  This  they  did  twice 
during  that  night,  and  with  a  very  sensible  diminution  in 
the  depth  of  the  water.  It  was  evident  that  the  schooner 
was  getting  pretty  close  in  on  the  coast,  the  wind  coming 
out  nearly  at  south,  in  squalls.  Her  commander  held  on, 
for  he  thought  there  were  indications  of  a  change,  and  he 
still  did  not  like  to  ware  so  long  as  his  rival  of  the  Vine- 
yard kept  on  the  larboard  tack.  In  this  way,  each  encour- 
aging the  other  in  recklessness,  did  these  two  craft  run 
nearly  into  the  lion's  jaw,  as  it  might  be  ;  for,  when  the 
day  reappeared,  the  wind  veered  round  to  the  eastward,  a 
little  northerly,  bringing  the  craft  directly  on  a  lee  shore, 
blowing  at  the  time  so  heavily  as  to  render  a  foresail  reefed 
down  to  a  mere  rag,  more  canvas  than  the  little  vessels 
could  well  bear.  As  the  day  returned,  and  the  drizzle 
cleared  off  a  little,  land  was  seen  to  leeward,  stretching 
slightly  to  seaward,  both  ahead  and  astern  !  On  consult- 
ing his  charts,  and  after  getting. a  pretty  good  look  at  the 
coast  from  aloft,  Roswell  Gardiner  became  satisfied  that  he 
was  off  Currituck,  which  placed  him  near  six  degrees  to 
the  southward  of  his  port  of  departure,  and  about  four  to 
the  westward.  Our  young  man  now  deeply  felt  that  a 
foolish  rivalry  had  led  him  into  an  error,  and  he  regretted 
that  he  had  not  wore  the  previous  evening,  when  he  might 


n6  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

have  had  an  offing  that  would  have  enabled  him  to  stand  in 
either  direction,  clearing  the  land.  As  things  were,  he  was 
not  by  any  means  certain  of  the  course  he  ought  to  pursue. 

Little  did  Gardiner  imagine  that  the  reason  why  Dag- 
gett  had  thus  stood  on,  was  solely  the  wish  to  keep  him 
company ;  for  that  person,  in  consequence  of  Gardiner's 
running  so  close  in  toward  the  coast,  had  taken  up  the 
notion  that  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  meant  to  pass 
through  the  West  Indies,  visiting  the  key  which  was 
thought  to  contain  treasure,  and  of  which  he  had  some  ac- 
counts that  had  aroused  all  his  thirst  for  gold,  without 
giving  him  the  clew  necessary  to  obtain  it.  Thus  it  was 
that  a  mistaken  watchfulness  on  one  side,  and  a  mistaken 
pride  on  the  other,  had  brought  these  two  vessels  into  as 
dangerous  a  position  as  could  have  been  obtained  for  them 
by  a  direct  attempt  to  place  them  in  extreme  jeopardy. 

About  ten,  the  gale  was  at  its  height,  the  wind  still  hang-, 
ing  at  east,  a  little  northerly.  In  the  course  of  the  morn- 
ing, the  officers  on  board  both  schooners,  profiting  by  lulls 
and  clear  moments,  had  got  so  many  views  of  the  land  from 
aloft,  as  to  be  fully  aware  of  their  respective  situations. 
All  thoughts  of  competition  and  watchfulness  had  now 
vanished.  Each  vessel  was  managed  with  a  reference 
solely  to  her  safety  ;  and,  as  might  have  been  foreseen 
when  true  seamen  handled  both,  they  had  recourse  to  the 
same  expedients  to  save  themselves.  The  mainsails  of 
both  crafts  were  set  balance-reefed,  and  the  hulls  were 
pressed  up  against  the  wind  and  sea,  while  they  were  driven 
ahead  with  increased  momentum. 

"  That  mainmast  springs  like  a  whalebone  whip-handle, 
sir,"  said  Hazard,  when  this  new  experiment  had  been  tried 
some  ten  minutes  or  more.  "  She  jumps  from  one  sea  to 
another,  like  a  frog  in  a  hurry  to  hop  into  a  puddle!" 

"She  must  stand  it,  or  go  ashore,"  answered  Gardiner, 
.coolly,  though  in  secret  he  was  deeply  concerned.  "Did 
Deacon  Pratt  forgive  me,  should  we  lose  the  schooner,  I 
never  could  forgive  myself  !  *' 

"  Should  we  lose  the  schooner,  Captain  Gar'ner,  few  of 
us  would  escape  drowning,  to  feel  remorse  or  joy.  Look 
at  that  coast,  sir — it  is  clear  now,  and  a  body  can  see  a 
good  bit  of  it — never  did  I  put  eyes  upon  a  less  promising 
landfall  for  "strangers  to  make." 

Roswell  Gardiner  did  look  as  desired,  and  he  fully  agreed 
with  Hazard  in  opinion.  Ahead  and  astern  the  land  trend- 
ed to  seaward,  placing  the  schooners  in  a  curve  of  the 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  *  117 

coast,  or  what  seamen  term  a  bight,  rendering  it  quite  im- 
possible for  the  vessels  to  lay  out  past  either  of  the  head- 
lands in  sight.  The  whole  coast  was  low,  and  endless  lines 
of  breakers  were  visible  along  it,  flashing  up  with  luminous 
crests  that  left  no  doubt  of  their  character,  or  of  the  dan- 
gors  that  they  so  plainly  denoted.  At  times,  columns  of 
water  shot  up  into  the  air  like  enormous  jets,  and  the  spray 
was  carried  inland  for  miles.  Then  it  was  that  gloom  gath- 
ered around  the  brows  of  the  seamen,  who  fully  compre- 
hended the  nature  of  the  danger  that  was  so  plainly  indi- 
cated. The  green  hands  were  the  least  concerned,  ''know- 
ing nothing  and  fearing  nothing,"  as  the  older  seamen  are 
apt  to  express  their  sense  of  this  indifference  on  the  part 
of  the  boys  and  landsmen. 

According  to  the  calculations  of  those  on  board  the  Sea 
Lion  of  Oyster  Pond,  they  had  about  two  miles  of  drift 
before  they  should  be  in  the  breakers.  They  were  on  the 
best  tack,  to  all  appearances,  and  that  was  the  old  one,  or 
the  same  leg  that  had  carried  them  into  the  bight.  To 
ware  now,  indeed,  would  be  a  very  hazardous  step,  since 
every  inch  of  room  was  of  importance.  Gardiner's  secret 
hope  was  that  they  might  find  the  inlet  that  led  into  Curri- 
tuck,  which  was  then  open,  though  we  believe  it  has  since 
been  closed,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  the  sands.  This  often 
happens  on  the  American  coast,  very  tolerable  passages 
existing  this  year  for  vessels  of  an  easy  draught,  that  shall 
be  absolutely  shut  up,  and  be  converted  into  visible  beach, 
a  few  years  later.  The  waters  within  will  then  gain  head, 
and  break  out,  cutting  themselves  a  channel  that  remains 
open  until  a  succession  of  gales  drives  in  the  sands  upon 
them  from  the  outside  once  more. 

Gardiner  well  knew  he  was  on  the  most  dangerous  part 
of  the  whole  American  coast,  in  one  sense  at  least.  The 
capacious  sounds  that  spread  themselves  within  the  long 
beaches  of  sand  were  almost  as  difficult  of  navigation  as 
any  shoals  to  the  northward  ;  yet  would  he  gladly  have 
been  in  one,  in  preference  to  clawing  off  breakers  on  their 
outside.  As  between  the  two  schooners,  the  Vineyard  men 
had  rather  the  best  of  it,  being  near  a  cable's  length  to 
windward,  and  so  much  farther  removed  from  destruction. 
The  difference,  however,  was  of  no  great  account  in  the 
event  of  the  gale  continuing,  escape  being  utterly  impos- 
sible for  either  in  that  case.  So  critical  was  the  situation 
of  both  craft  becoming,  indeed,  that  neither  could  no\v 
afford  to  yield  a  single  fathom  of  the  ground  she  held 


iiB  THE   SEA    LIOXS. 

All  eyes  were  soon  looking  for  the  inlet,  it  having  been 
determined  to  keep  the  Sea  Lion  of 'Oyster  Pond  away  for 
it,  should  it  appear  to  leeward,  under  circumstances  that 
would  allow  of  her  reaching  it.  The  line  of  breakers  was 
now  very  distinctly  visible,  and  each  minute  did  it  not  only 
appear  to  be,  but  it  was  in  fact  nearer  and  nearer.  Anchors 
were  cleared  away,  and  ranges  of  cable  overhauled,  anchor- 
ing being  an  expedient  that  a  seaman  felt  bound  to  resort 
to,  previously  to  going  ashore,  though  it  would  be  with 
very  little  hope  of  ground-tackles  holding. 

The  schooner  had  been  described  by  Hazard  as  "jump- 
ing "  into  the  sea.  This  expression  is  not  a  bad  one,  as 
applied  to  small  vessels  in  short  seas,  and  it  was  particu- 
larly apt  on  this  occasion.  Although  constructed  with 
great  care  forward  as  to  buoyancy,  this  vessel  made  plunges 
into  the  waves  she  met  that  nearly  buried  her  ;  and,  once 
or  twice,  the  shocks  were  so  great,  that  those  on  board  her 
could  with  difficulty  persuade  themselves  they  had  not 
struck  the  bottom.  The  lead,  nevertheless,  still  gave  water 
sufficient,  though  it  was  shoaling  fast,  and  with  a  most 
ominous  regularity.  Such  was  the  actual  state  of  things 
when  the  schooner  made  one  of  her  mad  plunges,  and  was 
met  by  a  force  that  seemed  to  check  her  forward  move- 
ment as  effectually  as  if  she  had  hit  a  rock.  The  mainmast 
was  a  good  spar  in  some  respects,  but  it  wanted  wood.  An 
inch  or  two  more  in  diameter  might  have  saved  it ;  but  the 
deacon  had  been  induced  to  buy  it  to  save  his  money, 
though  remonstrated  with  at  the  time.  This  spar  now 
snapped  in  two,  a  few  feet  from  the  deck,  and  falling  to 
leeward,  it  dragged  after  it  the  head  of  the  foremast,  leav- 
ing the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  actually  in  a  worse 
situation,  just  at  that  moment,  than  if  she  had  no  spars 
at  all. 

Roswell  Gardiner  now  appeared  in  a  new  character. 
Hitherto  he  had  been  silent,  but  observant ;  issuing  his  or- 
ders in  a  way  not  to  excite  the  men,  and  with  an  air  of  un- 
concern that  really  had  the  effect  to  mislead  most  of  them 
on  the  subject  of  his  estimate  of  the  danger  they  were  in. 
Concealment,  however,  was  no  longer  possible,  and  our 
young  master  came  out  as  active  as  circumstances  required, 
foremost  in  every  exertion,  and  issuing  his  orders  amid  the 
gale  trumpet-tongued.  His  manner,  so  full  of  animation, 
resolution,  and  exertion,  probably  prevented  despair  from 
getting  the  ascendency  at  that  important  moment.  He 
was  nobly  sustained  by  both  his  mates  ;  and  three  or  fouj 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  119 

of  the  older  seamen  now  showed  themselves  men  to  be  re- 
lied on  to  the  last. 

The  first  step  was  to  anchor.  Fortunately,  the  foresight 
of  Gardiner  had  everything  ready  for  this  indispensable 
precaution.  Without  anchoring,  ten  minutes  would  prob- 
ably iiave  carried  the  schooner  directly  down  upon  the 
breakers,  leaving  no  hope  for  the  life  of  any  on  board  her, 
and  breaking  her  up  into  chips.  Both  bowers  were  let  go 
at  once,  and  long  ranges  of  cable  given.  The  schooner  was 
snubbed  without  parting  anything,  and  was  immediately 
brought  head  to  sea.  This  relieved  her  at  once,  and  there 
was  a  moment  when  her  people  fancied  she  might  ride  out 
the  gale  where  she  was,  could  they  only  get  clear  of  the 
wreck.  Axes,  hatchets,  and  knives  were  freely  used,  and 
Roswell  Gardiner  saw  the  mass  of  spars  and  rigging  float 
clear  of  him  with  a  delight  he  did  not  desire  to  conceal. 
As  it  drove  to  leeward,  he  actually  cheered.  A  lead  was 
instantly  dropped  alongside,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether 
the  anchors  held.  This  infallible  test,  however,  gave  the 
melancholy  certainty  that  the  schooner  was  still  drifting 
her  length  in  rather  less  than  two  minutes. 

The  only  hope  now  was  that  the  flukes  of  the  anchors 
might  catch  in  better  holding-ground  than  they  had  yet 
met  with.  The  bottom  was  hard  sand,  however,  which 
never  gives  a  craft  the  chance  that  it  gets  from  mud.  By 
Roswell  Gardiner's  calculations,  an  hour,  at  the  most, 
would  carry  them  into  the  breakers  ;  possibly  less  time. 
The  Sea  Lion  of  Holmes'  Hole  was  to  windward  a  cable's 
length  when  this  accident  happened  to  her  consort,  and 
about  half  a  rnile  to  the  southward.  Just  at  that  instant 
the  breakers  trended  seaward,  ahead  of  that  schooner,  ren- 
dering it  indispensable  for  her  to  ware.  This  was  done, 
bringing  her  head  to  the  southward,  and  she  now  came 
struggling  directly  on  toward  her  consort.  The  operation 
of  waring  had  caused  her  to  lose  ground  enough  to  bring  her 
to  leeward  of  the  anchored  craft,  and  nearer  to  the  danger. 

Roswell  Gardiner  stood  on  his  own  quarter-deck,  anx- 
iously watching  .the  drift  of  the  other  schooner,  as  she  drew 
near  in  her  labored  way,  struggling  ahead  through  billows 
that  were  almost  as  white  as  the  breakers  that  menaced 
them  with  destruction  to  leeward.  The  anchored  vessel, 
though  drifting,  had  so  slow  a  movement  that  it  served  to 
mark  the  steady  and  rapid  set  of  its  consort  toward  its 
certain  fate.  At  first,  it  seemed  to  Gardiner  that  Daggett 
would  pass  just  ahead  of  him,  and  he  trembled  for  his 


120  THE   SEA    LIO.YS. 

cables,  which  occasionally  appeared  above  water,  stretched 
like  bars  of  iron,  for  the  distance  of  thirty  or  forty  fathoms. 
But  the  leeward  set  of  the  vessel  under  way  was  too  fast 
to  give  her  any  chance  of  bringing  this  new  danger  on  her 
consort.  When  a  cable's  length  distant,  the  Sea  Lion  of 
the  Vineyard  did  seem  as  if  she  might  weather  her  con- 
sort ;  but,  ere  that  short  space  was  passed  over,  it  was 
found  that  she  fell  off  so  fast,  by  means  of  her  drift,  as  to 
carry  her  fairly  clear  of  her  stern.  The  two  masters,  hold- 
ing with  one  hand  to  some  permanent  object  by  which  to 
steady  themselves,  and  each  pressing  his  tarpauling  firmly 
down  on  his  head  with  the  other,  had  a  minute's  conversa- 
tion when  the  schooners  were  nearest  together. 

"  Do  your  anchors  hold  ?"  demanded  Daggett,  who  was 
the  first  to  speak,  and  who  put  his  question  as  if  he  thought 
his  own  fate  depended  on  the  answer. 

"  I'm  sorry  to  say  they  do  not.  We  drift  our  length  in 
about  two  minutes." 

"That  will  put  off  the  evil  moment  an  hour  or  two. 
Look  what  a  wake  we  are  making  !  " 

Sure  enough,  that  wake  was  frightful !  No  sooner  was 
the  head  of  the  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard  fairly  up  with 
the  stern  of  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond,  than  Gardiner 
perceived  that  she  went  off  diagonally,  moving  quite  as 
fast  to  leeward  as  she  went  ahead.  This  W7as  so  very  ob- 
vious that  a  line  drawn  from  the  quarter  of  Roswell's  craft, 
in  a  quartering  direction,  would  almost  have  kept  the  other 
schooner  in  its  range  from  the  moment  that  her  bow  hove 
heavily  past. 

"  God  bless  you  ! — God  bless  you  !  "  cried  Roswell 
Gardiner,  waving  his  hand  in. adieu,  firmly  persuaded  that 
he  and  the  Vineyard  master  were  never  to  meet  again  in 
this  world.  "  The  survivors  must  let  the  fate  of  the  lost 
be  known.  At  the  pinch,  I  shall  out  boats,  if  I  can." 

The  other  made  no  answer.  It  would  have  been  useless, 
indeed,  to  attempt  it ;  since  no  human  voice  had  power  to 
force  itself  up  against  such  a  gale,  the  distance  that  had 
now  to  be  overcome. 

"That  schooner  will  be  in  the  breakers  in  half  an  hour," 
said  Hazard,  who  stood  by  the  side  of  young  Gardiner. 
"  Why  don't  he  anchor !  No  power  short  of  Divine 
Providence  can  save  her." 

"  And  Divine  Providence  will  do  it — thanks  tc  Almighty 
God  for  his  goodness!"  exclaimed  Roswell  Gardiner. 
"Did  you  perceive  that,  Mr.  Hazard  ?" 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  ,  121 

The  "that"  of  our  young  mariner  was,  in  truth,  a  most 
momentous  omen.  The  wind  had  lulled  so  suddenly  that 
the  rags  of  sails  which  the  other  schooner  carried  actually 
flapped.  At  first  our  seamen  thought  she  had  been  be- 
calmed by  the  swell ;  but  the  change  about  themselves 
was  too  obvious  to  admit  of  any  mistake.  It  blew  terri- 
bly, again,  for  a  minute  ;  then  there  was  another  lull. 
Gardiner  sprang  to  the  lead-line  to  see  the  effect  on  his 
own  vessel.  She  no  longer  dragged  her  anchor  ! 

"  God  is  with  us  !  "  exclaimed  the  young  master — 
"  blessed  forever  be  his  holy  name  !  " 

"And  that  of  his  only  and  true  Son,"  responded  a  voice 
from  one  at  his  elbow. 

Notwithstanding  the  emergency,  and  the  excitement 
produced  by  this  sudden  change,  Roswell  Gardiner  turned 
to  see  from  whom  this  admonition  had  come.  The  oldest 
seaman  on  board,  who  was  Stimson,  a  Kennebunk  man, 
and  who  had  been  placed  there  to  watch  the  schooner's 
drift,  had  uttered  these  unusual  words.  The  fervor  with 
which  he  spoke  produced  more  impression  on  the  young 
master  than  the  words  themselves  ;  the  former  being  very 
unusual  among  seafaring  men,  though  the  language  was 
not  so  much  so.  Subsequently,  Gardiner  remembered 
that  little  incident,  which  was  not  without  its  results. 

"I  do  believe,  sir,"  cried  Hazard,  "that  the  gale  is 
broken.  It  often  happens  on  our  own  coast  that  the  south- 
easters  chop  round  suddenly,  and  come  out  nor'westers. 
I  hope  this  will  not  be  too  late  to  save  the  Vineyard  chap, 
though  he  slips  down  upon  them  breakers  at  a  most  fear- 
ful rate." 

"  There  goes  his  foresail  again — and  here  is  another 
lull!"  rejoined  Gardiner.  "I  tell  you,  Mr.  Hazard,  we 
shall  have  a  shift  of  wind — nothing  short  of  which  could 
save  either  of  us  from  these  breakers." 

"  Which  comes  from  the  marcy  of  God  Almighty,  through 
the  intercession  of  his  only  Son  ! "  added  Stimson,  with  the 
same  fervor  of  manner,  though  he  spoke  in  a  very  low  tone 
of  voice. 

Roswell  Gardiner  was  again  surprised,  and  for  another 
moment  he  forgot  the  gale  and  its  dangers.  Gale  it  was 
no  longer,  however,  for  the  lull  was  now  decided,  and  the 
two  cables  of  the  schooner  were  distended  only  when  the 
roll  of  the  seas  came  in  upon  her.  This  wash  of  the  waves 
still  menaced  the  other  schooner,  driving  her  down  toward 
the  breakers,  though  less  rapidly  than  before. 


122  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"Why don't  the  fellow  anchor  !"  exclaimed  Gardiner,  in 
his  anxiety,  all  care  for  himself  being  now  over.  "  Unless 
he  anchor,  he  will  yet  go  into  the  white  water  and  be  lost ! " 

**  So  little  does  he  think  of  that,  that  he  is  turning  out 
his  reefs,"  answered  Hazard.  "  See  !  there  is  a  hand  aloft 
loosening  his  topsail — and  there  goes  up  a  whole  mainsail 
already  ! " 

Sure  enough,  Daggett  appeared  more  disposed  to  trust 
to  his  canvas  than  to  his  ground-tackle.  In  a  very  brief 
space  of  time  he  had  his  craft  under  whole  sail,  and  was 
struggling  in  the  puffs  to  claw  off  the  land.  Presently  the 
wind  ceased  altogether,  the  canvas  flapping  so  as  to  be 
audible  to  Gardiner  and  his  companions  at  the  distance  of 
half  a  mile.  Then  the  cloth  was  distended  in  the  opposite 
direction,  and  the  wind  came  off  the  land.  The  schooner's 
head  was  instantly  brought  to  meet  the  seas,  and  the  lead 
dropped  at  her  side  showed  that  she  was  moving  in  the 
light  direction.  These  sudden  changes,  sometimes  destruc- 
tive, and  sometimes  providential  as  acts  of  mercy,  always 
bring  strong  counter-currents  of  air  in  their  train. 

"Now  we  shall  have  it!"  said  Hazard;  "a  true  nor'- 
wester,  and  butt-end  foremost !  " 

This  opinion  very  accurately  described  that  which  fol- 
lowed.. In  ten  minutes  it  was  blowing  heavily,  in  a  di- 
rection nearly  opposite- to  that  which  had  been  the  previous 
current  of  the  wind.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  Sea  Lion 
of  the  Vineyard  drew  off  the  land,  wallowing  through  the 
meeting  billows  that  still  came  rolling  in  from  the  broad 
Atlantic  ;  while  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  tended  to  the 
new  currents  of  air,  and  rode,  as  it  might  be,  suspended 
between  the  two  opposing  forces,  with  little  or  no  strain 
on  her  cables.  Gardiner  expected  to  see  his  consort  stand 
out  to  sea,  and  gain  an  offing  ;  but,  instead  of  this,  Captaia 
Daggett  brought  his  schooner  quite  near  to  the  disabled 
vessel,  and  anchored.  This  act  of  neighborly  kindness 
was  too  unequivocal  to  require  explanation.  It  was  the 
intention  of  the  Vineyard  men  to  lie  by  their  consort  until 
she  was  relieved  from  all  apprehensions  of  danger.  The 
"  butt-end"  of  the  "  nor' wester"  was  too  large  to  admit  of 
intercourse  until  next  morning,  when  that  which  had  been 
a  small  gale  had  dwindled  to  a  good,  steady  breeze,  and 
the  seas  had  gone  down,  leaving  comparatively  smooth 
water  all  along  the  coast.  The  line  of  white  water  which 
marked  the  breakers  was  there,  and  quite  visible  ;  but  it 
no  longer  excited  apprehension.  The  jury-masts  on  board 


THE   SEA    -LIONS.  123 

the  disabled  craft  were  got  up  ;  and  what  was  very  con- 
venient,  just  at  that  moment,  the  wreck  came  floating  out 
on  the  ebb,  so  near  to  her  as  to  enable  the  boats  to  secure 
all  the  sails  and  most  of  the  rigging.  The  main-boom, 
too,  an  excellent  spar,  was  towed  alongside  and  saved. 


CHAPTER  X. 

*'  The  shadow  from  thy  brow  shall  melt, 

The  sorrow  from  thy  strain  : 
But  where  thy  earthly  smile  hath  dwelt, 

Our  hearts  shall  thirst  in  vain." — MRS:  HEMANS. 

As  soon  as  it  would  do  to  put  his  boats  in  the  water,  or 
at  daylight  next  morning,  Captain  Daggett  came  alongside 
of  his  consort.  He  was  received  with  a  seaman's  welcome, 
and  his  offers  of  services  were  accepted,  just  as  frankly  as, 
under  reversed  circumstances,  they  would  have  been  made. 
In  all  this  there  was  a  strange  and  characteristic  admixture 
of  neighborly  and  Christian  kindness,  blended  with  a  keen 
regard  of  the  main  chance.  If  the  former  duties  are  rarely 
neglected  by  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  it  may  be 
said  with  equal  truth,  that  the  latter  are  never  lost  sight  of. 
Speculation  and  profit  are  regarded  as  so  many  integral 
portions  of  the  duty  of  man-;  and,  as  our  kinsmen  of  Old 
England  have  set  up  an  idol  to  worship,  in  the  form  of 
aristocracy,  so  do  our  kinsmen  of  New  England  pay  hom- 
age to  the  golden  calf.  In  point  of  fact,  Daggett  had  a 
double  motive  in  now  offering  his  services  to  Gardiner: 
the  one  being  the  discharge  of  his  moral  obligations,  and 
the  other  a  desire  to  remain  near  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster 
Pond,  lest  she  should  visit  the  key,  of  which  he  had  some 
very  interesting  memorandums,  without  having  enough  to 
find  the  place  unless  led  there  by  those  who  were  better 
informed  on  the  subject  of  its  precise  locality  than  he  waj 
himself. 

The  boats  of  Daggett  assisted  in  getting  the  wreck  along- 
side, and  in  securing  the  sails  and  rigging.  Then  his  peo- 
ple aided  in  fitting  jury  masts  ;  and  by  noon  both  vessels 
got  under  way  and  stood  along  the  coast  to  the  southward 
and  westward.  Hatteras  was  no  longer  terrible,  for  the 
wind  still  stood  at  northwest,  and  they  kept  in  view  of 
those  very  breakers  which,  only  tlje  day  before,  they  would 
have  given  the  value  of  both  vessels  to  be  certain  of  never 


124 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


seeing  again.  That  night  they  passed  the  formidable  cape, 
a  spit  of  sand  projecting  far  to  seaward,  and  which  is  on  a 
low  beach,  and  not  on  any  mainland  at  all.  Once  around 
this  angle  in  the  coast,  they  had  a  lee,  hauling  up  to  the 
southwest.  With  the  wind  abeam,  they  stood  on  the  rest 
of  the  day,  picking  up  a  pilot.  The  next  night  they  doubled 
Cape  Look  Out,  a  very  good  landmark  for  those  going 
north  to  keep  in  view,  as  a  reminder  of  the  stormy  and 
sunken  Hatteras,  and  arrived  off  Beaufort  harbor  just  as 
the  sun  was  rising  the  succeeding  morning.  By  this  time 
the  northwester  was  done,  and  both  schooners  'entered 
Beaufort,  with  a  light  southerly  breeze,  there  being  just 
water  enough  to  receive  them.  This  was  the  only  place 
on  all  that  coast  into  which  it  would  have  answered  their 
purposes  to  go  ;  and  it  was,  perhaps,  the  very  port  of  all 
others  that  was  best  suited  to  supply  the  piesent  wants  of 
Roswell  Gardiner.  Pine  timber,  and  spars  of  all  sorts, 
abounded  in  that  region  ;  and  the  "  Banker,"  who  acted  as 
pilot,  told  our  young  master  that  he  could  get  the  very 
sticks  he  needed  in  one  hour's  time  after  entering  the 
haven.  This  term  of  "  Banker  "  applies  to  a  scattering 
population  of  wreckers  and  fishermen,  who  dwell  on  the 
long,  low,  narrow  beaches  which  extend  along  the  whole 
of  this  part  of  the  coast,  reaching  from  Cape  Fear  to  near 
Cape  Henry,  a  distance  of  some  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 
Within  lie  the  capacious  sounds  already  mentioned,  includ- 
ing Albemarle  and  Pamlico,  and  which  form  the  watery 
portals  to  the  sea-shores  of  all  North  Carolina.  Well  is 
the  last  headland  of  that  region,  but  one  which  the  schoon- 
ers did  not  double,  named  Cape  Fear.  It  is  the  commence- 
ment, on  that  side,  of  the  dangerous  part  of  the  coast,  and 
puts  the  mariner  on  his  guard  by  its  very  appellation,  ad- 
monishing him  to  be  cautious  and  prudent. 

Off  the  entrance  of  Beaufort,  a  very  perfect  and  beauti- 
ful haven,  if  it  had  a  greater  depth  of  water,  the  schooners 
hove  to,  in  waiting  for  the  tide  to  rise  a  little  ;  and  Ros- 
well Gardiner  took  that  occasion  to  go  on  board  the  sister 
craft,  and  express  to  Daggett  a  sense  of  the  obligations  he 
felt  for  the  services  the  other  had  rendered. 

"Of  course  you  will  not  think  of  going  in,  Captain  Dag- 
gett," continued  our  hero,  in  dwelling  on  the  subject, 
"  after  having  put  yourself,  already,  to  so  much  unneces- 
sary trouble.  If  I  find  the  spars  the  'Banker'  talks  of-,  I 
shall  be  out  again  in  ejght-and-forty  hours,  and  we  may 
meet,  $ome  months  hence,  off  Cape  Horn." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  125 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,  Gar'ner  "  returned  the  Vine- 
yard mariner,  pushing  the  rum  toward  his  brother  master, 
"  I'm  a  plain  sort  of  a  fellow,  and  don't  make  much  talk 
when  I  do  a  thing,  but  I  like  good-fellowship.  We  came 
near  going,  both  of  us— nearer  than  I  ever  was  before, 
and  escape  wrackin'  ;  but  escape  we  did — and  when  men 
have  gone  through  such  trials  in  company,  I  don't  like  the 
notion  of  casting  off  till  I  see  you  all  a-tanto  ag'in,  and 
with  as  many  legs  and  arms  as  I  carry  myself.  That's  just 
my  feelin',  Gar'ner,  and  I  won't  say  whether  it's  a  right 
feelin'  or  not — help  yourself." 

"  It's  a  right  feeling,  as  between  you  and  me,  Captain 
Daggett,  as  I  can  answer  for.  My  heart  tells  me  you  are 
right,  and  I  thank  you  from  it,  for  these  marks  of  friend- 
ship. But  you  must  not  forget  there  are  such  persons  as 
owners  in  this  world.  I  shall  have  trouble  enough  on  my 
hands  with  my  owner,  and  I  do  not  wish  you  to  have 
trouble  with  yours.  Here  is  a  nice  little  breeze  to  take 
you  out  to  sea  again  ;  and  by  passing  to  the  southward  of 
Bermuda,  you  can  make  a  short  cut,  and  hit  the  trades  far 
enough  to  windward  to  answer  all  your  purposes." 

"  Thankee,  thankee,  Gar'ner — I  knew  the  road,  and  can 
find  the  places  I'm  going  to,  though  no  great  navigator. 
Now,  I  never  took  a  lunar  in  my  life,  and  can't  do  any- 
thing with  a  chronometer  ;  but  as  for  finding  the  way  be- 
tween Martha's  Vineyard  and  Cape  Horn,  I'll  turn  my 
back  on  no  shipmaster  living." 

"  I'm  afraid,  Captain  Daggett,  that  we  have  both  of  us 
turned  our  backs  on  our  true  course,  when  we  suffered 
ourselves  to  get  jammed  away  down  here,  on  Hatteras. 
Why,  I  never  saw  the  place  before,  and  never  wish  to  see 
it  again  !  It's  as  much  out  of  the  track  of  a  whaler  or 
sealer,  as  Jupiter  is  out  of  the  track  of  Mars  or  Venus." 

"  Oh,  there  go  your  lunars,  about  which  I  know  nothing 
and  care  nothing.  I  tell  you,  Gar'ner,  a  man  with  a  good 
judgment,  can  just  as  well  jog  about  the  'arth,  without  any 
acquaintance  with  lunars,  as  he  can  with.  Then,  your 
sealer  hasn't  half  as  much  need  of  your  academy  sort  of 
navigation  as  another  man.  More  than  half  of  our  calling 
is  luck  ;  and  all  the  best  sealing  stations  I  ever  heard  of, 
have  been  blundered  on  by  some  chap  who  has  lost  his 
way.  I  despise  lunars,  if  the  truth  must  be  said  ;  yet  I 
like  to  go  straight  to  my  port  of  destination.  Take  a  little 
sugar  with  your  rum-and-water — we  Vineyard  folks  like 
sweetening." 


126  THE    SEA    LIOXS. 

"  For  which  purpose,  or  that  of  going  straight  to  your 
port,  Captain  Daggett,  you've  come  down  here,  on  your 
way  to  the  Pacific  ;  or,  about  five  hundred  miles  out  of 
your  way ! " 

"  I  came  here  for  company,  Gar'ner.  We  hadn't  much 
choice,  you  must  allow,  for  we  couldn't  have  weathered 
the  shoals  on  the  other  tack.  I  see  no  great  harm  in  our 
positions,  if  you  hadn't  got  dismasted.  That's  a  two  or 
three  hundred  dollar  job,  and  may  make  your  owner 
•  grumble  a  little,  but  it's  no  killing  matter.  I'll  stick  by 
you,  and  you  can  tell  the  deacon  as  much  in  the  letter 
you'll  write  him,  when  we  get  in." 

"  It  seems  like  doing  injustice  to  your  owners,  as  well  as 
to  my  own,  keeping  you  here,  Captain  Daggett,"  returned 
Roswell,  innocently,  for  he  had  not  the  smallest  suspicion 
of  the  true  motive  of  all  this  apparent  good-fellowship, 
"  and  I  really  wish  you  would  now  quit  me." 

"  I  couldn't  think  of  it,  Gar'ner.  Twould  make  an  awful 
talk  on  the  Vineyard,  was  I  to  do  anything  of  the  sort. 
'Stick  to  your  consort,' is  an  eleventh  commandment  in 
our  island." 

"  Which  is  the  reason  why  there  are  so  many  old  maids 
there,  I  suppose,  Daggett,"  cried  Roswell  Gardiner  laugh- 
ing. "  Well,  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness,  and  will  en- 
deavor to  remember  it  when  you  may  have  occasion  for 
some  return.  But,  the  tide  must  be  making,  and  we  ought 
to  lose  no  time  unnecessarily.  Here's  a  lucky  voyage  to 
us  both,  Captain^  Daggett,  and  a  happy  return  to  sweet- 
hearts and  wives." 

Daggett  tossed  off  his  glass  to  this  toast,  and  the  two 
then  went  on  deck.  Roswell  Gardiner  thought  that  a 
kinder  ship's  company  never  sailed  together  than  this  of 
the  Sea  Lion  of  Holmes'  Hole;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
interest  of  every  man  on  board  depended  on  the  returns  of 
their  own  voyage,  each  and  all  appeared  willing  to  stick  by 
him  and  his  craft  so  long  as  there  was  a  possibility  of  be- 
ing of  any  service. 

Whalers  and  sealers  do  not  ship  their  crews  for  wages 
in  mon^y,  as  is  done  with  most  vessels.  So  much  depends 
on  the  exertions  of  the  people  in  these  voyages,  that  it  is 
the  practice  to  give  every  man  a  direct  interest  in  the  re- 
sult. Consequently,  all  on  board  engage  for  a  compensa- 
tion to  be  derived  from  a  division  of  the  return  cargo. 
The  terms  on  which  a  party  engages  are  called  his  "  lay;" 
and  he  gets  so  many  parts  of  a  hundred,  according  to  sta* 


THE   SEA    LIONS.          t  127 

tion,  experience,  and  qualifications.  The  owner  is  paid 
for  his  risk  and  expenses  in  the  same  way,  the  vessel  and 
outfits  usually  taking  about  two-thirds  of  the  whole  re- 
turns, while  the  officers  and  crew  get  the  other.  These 
conditions  vary  a  little,  as  the  proceeds  of  whaling  and 
sealing  rise  or  fall  in  the  market,  and  also  in  reference  to 
the  cost  of  equipments.  It  follows  that  Captain  Daggett 
and  his  crew  were  actually  putting  their  hands  into  their 
own  pockets  when  they  lost  time  in  remaining  with  the 
crippled  craft.  This  Gardiner  knew,  and  it  caused  him  to 
appreciate  their  kindness  at  a  rate  so  much  higher  than  he 
might  otherwise  have  done. 

At  first  sight  it  might  seem  that  all  this  unusual  kind- 
ness was  superfluous  and  of  no  avail.  This,  however,  was 
not  really  the  case,  since  the  crew  of  the  second  schooner 
was  of  much  real  service  in  forwarding  the  equipment  of 
the  disabled  vessel.  Beaufort  has  an  excellent  harbor  for 
vessels  of  a  light  draught  of  water  like  our  two  sealers  ; 
but  the  town  is  insignificant,  and  extra  laborers,  especially 
those  of  an  intelligence  suited  to  such  work,  very  difficult 
to  be  had.  At  the  bottom,  therefore,  Roswell  Gardiner 
found  his  friendly  assistants  of  much  real  advantage,  the 
two  crews  pushing  the  work  before  them  with  as  much 
rapidity  as  suited  even  a  seaman's  impatience.  Aided  by 
the  crew  of  his  consort,  Gardiner  got  on  fast  with  his  re- 
pairs, and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  after  he  had 
entered  Beaufort,  he  was  ready  to  sail  once  more ;  his 
schooner  probably  in  a  better  state  of  service  than  the  day 
she  left  Oyster  Pond. 

The  lightning-line  did  not  exist  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  writing.  It  is  our  good  fortune  to  be  an  intimate 
acquaintance  of  the  distinguished  citizen  who  bestowed 
this  great  gift  on  his  country — one  that  will  transmit  his 
name  to  posterity,  side  by  side  with  that  of  Fulton.  In 
his  case,  as  in  that  of  the  last-named  inventor,  attempts 
have  been  made  to  rob  him  equally  of  the  honors  and  the 
profits  of  his  very  ingenious  invention.  As  respects  the 
last,  we  hold  that  it  is  every  hour  becoming  less  and  less 
possible  for  any  American  to  maintain  his  rights  against 
numbers.  There  is  no  question  that  the  government  of 
this  great  republic  was  intended  to  be  one  of  well-consid- 
ered and  upright  principles,  in  which  certain  questions  are 
to  be  referred  periodically  to  majorities,  as  the  wisest  and 
most  natural,  as  well  as  the  most  just  mode  of  disposing  of 
them.  Such  a  government,  well  administered,  and  with  an 


72g  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

accurate  observance  of  its  governing  principles,  would 
probably  be  the  best  that  human  infirmity  will  allow  men 
to  administer  ;  but  when  the  capital  mistake  is  made  of  sup- 
posing that  mere  numbers  are  to  control'all  things,  regard- 
less of  those  great  fundamental  laws  that  the  state  has 
adopted  for  its  own  restraint,  it  may  be  questioned  if  so 
loose,  and  capricious,  and  selfish  a  system  is  not  in  great 
danger  of  becoming  the  very  worst  scheme  of  polity  that 
cupidity  ever  set  in  motion.  The  tendency — not  the  spirit 
of  the  institutions,  the  two  things  being  the  very  antipodes 
of  each  other,  though  common  minds  are  so  apt  to  con- 
found them — the  tendency  of  the  institutions  of  this  coun- 
try, in  flagrant  opposition  to  their  spirit  or  intentions,  which 
were  devised  expressly  to  restrain  the  disposition  of  men 
to  innovate,  is  out  of  all  question  to  foster  this  great  abuse, 
and  to  place  numbers  above  principles,  even  when  the  prin- 
ciples were  solemnly  adopted  expressly  to  bring  numbers 
under  the  control  of  a  sound  fundamental  law.  This  in- 
fluence of  numbers,  this  dire  mistake  of  the  very  nature  of 
liberty,  by  placmg  men  and  their  passions  above  those 
great  laws  of  right  which  come  direct  from  God  himself, 
is  increasing  in  force,  and  threatens  consequences  which 
may  set  at  naught  all  the  well-devised  schemes  of  the  last 
generation  for  the  security  of  the  state,  and  the  happiness 
of  that  very  people,  who  can  never  know  either  security 
or  even  peace,  until  they  learn  to  submit  themselves,  with- 
out a  thought  of  resistance,  to  those  great  rules  of  right 
which  in  truth  form  the  spirit  of  their  institutions,  and 
which  are  only  too  often  in  opposition  to  their  own  im- 
pulses and  motives. 

We  pretend  to  no  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  the  dates 
of  discoveries  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  well  do  we  re- 
member the  earnestness  and  single-minded  devotion  to  a 
laudable  purpose,  with  which  onr  worthy  friend  first  com- 
municated to  us  his  ideas  on  the  subject  of  using  the  elec- 
tric spark  by  way  of  a  telegraph.  It  was  in  Paris,  and 
during  the  winter  of  1831-2,  and  the  succeeding  spring,  a 
time  when  we  were  daily  together  ;  and  we  have  a  satis- 
faction in  recording  this  date,  that  others  may  prove  bet- 
ter claims  if  they  can.  Had  Morse  set  his  great  invention 
on  foot  thirty  years  earlier,  Roswell  Gardiner  might  have 
communicated  with  his  owner,  and  got  a  reply,  ere  he 
again  sailed,  considerable  as  was  the  distance  between 
them.  As  things  then  were,  he  was  fain  to  be  content 
with  writing  a  letter,  which  was  put  into  the  deacon's  hand 


777 A'   SEA    LIONS.  rag 

about  a  week  after  it  was  written,  by  his  niece,  on  his 
own  return  from  a  short  journey  to  Southold,  whither  he 
had  been  to  settle  and  discharge  a  tardy  claim  against  his 
schooner. 

"  Here  is  a  letter  for  you,  uncle,"  said  Mary  Pratt,  strug* 
gling  to  command  her  feelings,  though  she  blushed  with 
the  consciousness  of  her  own  interest  in  the  missive.  "  It 
came  from  the  Harbor,  by  some  mistake  ;  Baiting  Joe 
bringing  it  across  just  after  you  left  home." 

"  \  letter  with  a  post-mark—'  Beaufort,  N.  C.'  Who  in 
natur'  can  this  letter  be  from  ?  What  a  postage,  too,  to 
charge  on  a  letter  !  Fifty  cents  !  " 

"  That  is  a  proof,  sir,  that  Beaufort  must  be  a  long  way 
off.  Besides,  the  letter  is  double.  I  think  the  handwriting 
is  Roswell's." 

Had  the  niece  fired  a  six-pounder  under  her  uncle's  ears, 
he  would  scarcely  have  been  more  startled.  He  even 
turned  pale,  and  instead  of  breaking  the  wafer  as  he  riad 
been  about  to  do,  he  actually  shrunk  from  performing  the 
act,  like  one  afraid  to  proceed. 

'•What  can  this  mean?"  said  the  deacon,  taking  a  mo- 
ment to  recover  his  voice.  "  Gar'ner's  handwriting  !  So 
it  is,  I  declare.  If  that  imprudent  young  man  has  lost  my 
schooner,  I'll  never  forgive  him  in  this  world,  whatever  a 
body  may  be  forced to  do  in  the  next !  " 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  believe  anything  as  bad  as  that, 
uncle.  Letters  are  often  written  at  sea,  and  sent  in  by 
vessels  that  are  met.  I  dare*  say  Roswell  has  done  just 
this." 

"  Not  he — not  he — the  careless  fellow  !  He  has  lost 
that  schooner,  and  all  my  property  is  in  the  hands  of 
wrackers,  who  are  worse  than  so  many  rats  in  the  larder. 
*  Beaufort,  N.  C.'  Yes,  that  must  be  one  of  the  Bahamas, 
and  N.  C.  stands  for  New  Providence.  Ah's  me  !  Ah's  me  !  " 

"  But  N.  C.  does  not  stand  for  New  Providence — it  would 
be  N.  P.  in  that  case,  uncle." 

"N.  C.  or  N.  P.,  they  sound  so  dreadfully  alike  that  I 
don't  know  what  to  think  !  Take  the  letter  and  open  it.  Oh  ! 
how  big  it  is  ! — there  must  be  a  protest,  or  some  other  costly 
thing,  enclosed." 

Mary  did  take  the  letter,  and  she  opened  it,  though  with 
trembling  hands.  The  enclosure  soon  appeared,  and  the 
first  glance  of  her  eye  told  her  it  was  a  letter  addressed  to 
herself. 

"What    is    it,    Mary?     What  is  it.   my  child?     Do   not 


I30 

be  afraid  to  tell  me,"  said  the  deacon,  in  a  low,  falter- 
ing voice.  "  I  hope  I  know  how  to  meet  misfortunes 
with  Christian  fortitude.  Has  it  one  of  them  awful-look- 
ing seals  that  Notary  Publics  use  when  they  want  money  ? " 

Mary  blushed  rosy  red,  and  she  appeared  very  charming 
at  that  moment,  though  as  resolute  as  ever  to  give  her  hand 
only  to  a  youth  whose  "  God  should  be  her  God." 

"  It  is  a  letter  to  me,  sir — nothing  else,  I  do  assure  you, 
uncle.  •  Roswell  often  writes  to  me,  as  you  know  ;  he  has 
sent  one  of  his  letters  enclosed  in  this  to  you." 

"  Yes,  yes — I'm  glad  it's  no  worse.  Well,  where  was  his 
letter  written  ?  Does  he  mention  the  latitude  and  longi- 
tude ?  It  will  be  some  comfort  to  learn  that  he  was  well  to 
the  southward  and  eastward." 

Mary's  color  disappeared,  and  a  paleness  came  over  her 
face,  as  she  ran  through  the  few  first  lines  of  the  letter. 
Then  she  summoned  all  her  resolution,  ar.d  succeeded  in 
telling  her  uncle  the  facts. 

"A  misfortune  has  befallen  poor  Roswell,"  she  said,  her 
voice  trembling  with  emotion,  "  though  it  does  not  seem  to 
be  half  as  bad  as  it  might  have  been.  The  letter  is  written 
at  Beaufort,  in  North  Carolina,  where  the  schooner  has  put 
in  to  get  new  masts,  having  lost  those  with  which  she  sailed 
in  a  gale  of  wind  off  Cape  Hatteras." 

"Hatteras!"  interrupted  the  deacon,  groaning — "what 
in  natur'  had  my  vessel  to  do  down  there  ?" 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know,  sir — but  I  had  better  read  you 
the  contents  of  Roswell's  letter,  and  then  you  will  hear  the 
whole  story." 

Mary  now. proceeded  to  read  aloud.  Gardiner  gave  a 
frank,  explicit  account  of  all  that  had  happened  since  he 
parted  with  his  owner,  concealing  nothing,  and  not  at- 
tempting even  to  extenuate  his  fault.  Of  the  Sea  Lion  of 
Holmes'  Hole  he  wrote  at  large,  giving  it  as  his  opinion  that 
Captain  Daggett  really  possessed  some  clew — what,  he  did 
not  know — to  the  existence  of  the  sealing  islands,  though 
he  rather  thought  that  he  was  not  very  accurately  informed 
of  their  precise  position.  As  respected  the  key  Roswell 
was  silent,  for  it  did  not  at  all  occur  to  him  that  Daggett 
knew  anything  of  that  part  of  his  own  mission.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  opinion,  not  the  least  suspicion  of  the  mo- 
tive of  the  Vineyard-man,  in  sticking  by  him,  presented 
itself  to  Gardiner's  mind  ;  and  nothing  on  the  subject  was 
communicated  in  the  letter.  On  the  contrary,  our  young 
master  was  quite  eloquent  in  expressing  his  gratitude  to 


77/A"    .S'/i//    LIO.VS.  131 

Daggett  and  his  crew,  for  the  assistance  they  had  volun- 
teered, and  without  which  he  could  not  have-been  ready  to 
go  to  sea  again  in  less  than  a  week.  As  it  was,  the  letter 
was  partly  written  as  the  schooner  repassed  the  bar,  and 
was  sent  ashore  by  the  pilot  to  be  mailed.  This  fact  was 
stated  in  full,  in  a  postscript. 

"  Volunteered  !  "  groaned  the  deacon  aloud.  "  As  if  a 
man  ever  volunteers  to  work  without  his  pay!" 

"  Roswell  tells  us  that  Captain  Daggett  did,  uncle,"  an- 
swered Mary,  "  and  that  it  is  understood  between  them  he 
is  to  make  no  charge  for  his  going  into  Beaufort,  or  for 
anything  he  did  while  there.  Vessels  often  help  each  other 
in  this  kind  way,  I  should  hope,  for  the  sake  of  Christian 
charity,  sir." 

"  Not  without  salvage,  not  without  salvage  !  Charity  is 
a  good  thing,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  exercise  it  on  all  occa- 
sions ;  but  salvage  comes  into  charity  all  the  same  as  'into 
any  other  interest.  This  schooner  will  ruin  me,  I  fear,  and 
leave  me  in  my  old  age  to  be  supported  by  the  town  !" 

"That .can  hardly  happen,  uncle,  since  you  owe  nothing 
lor  her,  and  have  your  farms,  and  all  your  other  property, 
unencumbered.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  schooner 
can  ruin  you." 

"  Yes,  I  am  undone,"  returned  the  deacon,  beating  the 
floor  with  his  foot  in  nervous  agitation  ;  "  as  much  undone 
as  ever  Roswell  Gar'ner's  father  was  ;  and  he  might  have 
been  the  richest  man  between  Oyster  Pond  and  Riverhead, 
had  he  kept  out  qf  the  way  of  speculation.  I  remember 
him  much  better  off  than  I  am  myself,  and  he  died  but  lit- 
tle more  than  a  beggar.  Yes,  yes  ;  I  see  how  it  is  ;  this 
schooner  has  undone  me!" 

"But  Roswell  sends  an  account  of  all  that  he  has  paid, 
and  draws  a  bill  on  you  for  its  payment.  The  entire  amount 
is  but  one  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars  and  seventy-two 
cents." 

"  That's  not  for  salvage.  The  next  thing  will  be  a  de- 
mand for  salvage  in  behalf  of  the  owners  and  crew  of  the 
Sea  Lion  of  Humses'  Hull !  I  know  how  it  will  be,  child  ! 
I  know  how  it  will  be  !  Gar'ner  has  undone  me,  and  I 
shall  go  down  into  my  grave  a  beggar,  as  his  father  has 
clone  already." 

"  If  such  be  the  fact,  uncle,  no  one  but  I  would  be  the 
sufferer,  and  I  will  strive  not  to  grieve  over  your  losses. 
But  here  is  a  paper  that  Roswell  has  enclosed  in  his  letter 
to  me,  by  mistake  no  doubt.  See,  sir  ;  it  is  an  acknowledg- 


132  '     77/7:'    .9/iVf    LtO.VS. 

ment,  signed  by  Captain  Daggett  and  all  his  crew,  admit- 
ting that  they  went  into  Beaufort  with  Rosweli  out  of  good 
feeling,  and  allowing  that  they  have  no  claims  to  salvage. 
Here  it  is,  sir ;  you  can  read  it  for  yourself." 

The  deacon  did  not  only  read  it — he  almost  devoured 
the  paper,  which,  as  Mary  suggested,  had  been  enclosed  in 
her  letter  by  mistake.  The  relief  produced  by  this  docu- 
ment so  far  composed  the  uncle,  that  he  not  only  read 
Gardiner's  letter  himself,  with  a  very  close  attention  to  its 
contents,  but  he  actually  forgave  the  cost  of  the  repairs 
incurred  at  Beaufort.  While  he  was  in  the  height  of  his 
joy  at  this  change  in  the  aspect  of  things,  the  niece  stole 
into  her  own  room  in  order  to  read  the  missive  she  had 
received  by  herself. 

The  tears  that  Mary  Pratt  profusely  shed  .over  Roswell's 
letter  were  both  sweet  and  bitter.  The  manifestations  of 
his  affection  for  her,  which  were  manly  and  frank,  brought 
tears  of  tenderness  from  her  eyes  ;  while  the  recollection 
of  the  width  of  the  chasm  that  separated  them  had  the 
effect  to  embitter  these  proofs  of  love.  Most  females 
would  have  lost  the  sense  of  duty  which  sustained  our 
heroine  in  this  severe  trial,  and,  in  accepting  the  man  01 
their  heart,  would  have  trusted  to  time,  and  their  own  in- 
fluence, and  the  mercy  of  Divine  Providence,  to  bring 
about  the  changes  they  desired  ;  but  Marv  Pratt  could  not 
thus  blind  herself  to  her  own  high  obligations.  The  tie  of 
husband  and  wife  she  rightly  regarded  as  the  most  serious 
of  all  the  obligations  we  can  assume,  ai\d  she  could  not — 
would  not  plight  her  vows  to  any  man  whose  "  God  was 
not  her  God." 

Still  there  was  much  of  sweet  consolation  in  this  little- 
expected  letter  from  Rosweli.  He  wrote,  as  he  always 
did,  simply  and  naturally,  and  attempted  no  concealments. 
This  was  just  as  true  of  his  acts  as  the  master  of  the 
schooner,  as  it  was  in  his  character  of  a  suitor.  To  Mary 
he  told  the  whole  story  of  his  weakness,  acknowledging 
that  a  silly  spirit  of  pride,  which  would  not  permit  him  to 
seem  to  abandon  a  trial  of  the  qualities  of  the  two  schoon- 
ers, had  induced  him  to  stand  on  to  the  westward  longer 
than  he  should  otherwise  have  done,  and  the  currents  had 
come  to  assist  in  increasing  the  danger.  As  for  Daggett, 
he  supposed  him  to  have  been  similarly  influenced  ;  though 
he  did  not  withhold  his  expressions  of  gratitude  for  the 
generous  manner  in  which  that  seaman  had  stuck  to  him 
to  the  last. 


TV//:  SI-:A  LIO.YS.  133 

For  weary  months  did  Mary  Pratt  derive  sweet  consola- 
tion from  her  treasure  of  a  letter.  It  was,  perhaps,  no 
more  than  human  nature,  or  woman's  nature  at  least,  that, 
in  time,  she  got  most  to  regard  those  passages  which  best 
answered  to  the  longings  of  her  own  heart  ;  and  that  she 
came  at  last  to  read  the  missive,  forgetful,  in  a  degree, 
that  it  was  written  by  one  who  had  deliberately,  and  as  a 
matter  of  faith,  adopted  the  idea  that  the  Redeemer  was 
not,  in  what  may  be  called  the  catholic  sense  of  the  term, 
the  Son  of  God.  The  papers  gave  an  account  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  "Twin  Sea  Lions,"  as  the  article  styled  them, 
in  the  port  of  Beaufort,  to  repair  damages  ;  and  of  their 
having  soon  sailed  again  in  company.  This  paragraph  she 
cut  out  of  the  journal  in  which  it  met  her  eye,  and  inclos- 
ing it  in  Roswell's  last  letter,  there  was  not  a  day  in  the 
succeeding  year  in  which  both  were  not  in  her  hand,  and 
read  for  the  hundredth  time  or  more.  These  proofs  of 
tenderness,  however,  are  not  to  be  taken  as  evidence  of 
any  lessening  of  principle,  or  as  signs  of  a  disposition  to 
let  her  judgment  and  duty  submit  to  ter  affection.  So 
far  from  this  her  resolution  grew  with  reflection,  and  her 
mind  became  more  settled  in  a  purpose  that  she  deemed 
sacred,  the  longer  she  reflected  on  the  subject.  But  her 
prayers  in  behalf  of  her  absent  lover  grew  more  frequent 
and  much  more  fervent. 

In  the  meantime  the  Twin  Lions  sailed.  On  leaving 
Beaufort  they  ran  off  the  coast  with  a  smart  breeze  from 
southwest,  making  a  leading  wind  of  it.  There  had  been 
some  variance  of  opinion  between  Daggett  and  Gardiner, 
touching  the  course  they  ought  to  steer.  The  last  was 
for  hauling  up  higher  and  passing  to  the  southward  of 
Bermuda,  while  the  first  contended  for  standing  nearly 
due  east  and  going  to  the  northward  of  those  islands. 
Gardiner  felt  impatient  to  repair  his  blunder,  and.  make 
the  shortest  cut  he  could  ;  whereas  Daggett  reasoned  more 
coolly  and  took  the  winds  into  the  account,  keeping  in 
view  the  main  results  of  the  voyage.  Perhaps  the  last 
wished  to  keep  his  consort  away  from  all  the  keys  until 
he  was  compelled  to  alter  his  course  in  a  way  that  would 
leave  no  doubt  of  his  intentions.  Of  one  thing  the  last 
was  now  certain  :  he  knew  by  a  long  trial  that  the  Sea 
Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  could  not  very  easily  run  away  from 
the  Sea  Lion  of  Holmes's  Hole,  and  he  was  fully  resolved 
that  she  should  not  escape  from  him  in  the  night,  or  in 
the  squalls.  As  for  Roswell  Gardiner,  not  having  the 


I34  THE   SEA    f./O.VS. 

smallest  idea  of  looking  for  his  key,  until  he  came  north, 
after  visiting  the  antarctic  circle,  he  had  no  notion  what- 
ever of  the  reason  why  the  other  stuck  to  him  so  closely  ; 
and,  least  of  all,  why  he  wished  to  keep  him  clear  of  the 
West  Indies,  until  ready  to  make  a  descent  on  his  El 
Dorado. 

Beaufort  lies  about  two  degrees  to  the  northward  of  the 
four  hundred  rocks,  islets,  and  small  islands,  whicli  are 
known  as  the  Bermudas  ;  an  advanced  naval  station,  that 
belongs  to  a  rival  commercial  power,  and  which  is  occu- 
pied by  that  power  solely  as  a  check  on  this  republic  in 
the  event  of  war.  Had  the  views  of  real  statesmen  pre- 
vailed in  America,  instead  of  those  of  mere  politicians,  the 
whole  energy  of  this  republic  would  have  been  long  since 
directed  to  the  object  of  substituting  our  own  flag  for 
that  of  England  in  these  islands.  As  things  are,  there 
they  exist  ;  a  station  for  hostile  fleets,  a  receptacle  for 
prizes,  and  a  depot  for  the  munitions  of  war,  as  if  ex- 
pressly designed  by  nature  to  hold  the  whole  American 
coast  in  command.  While  little  men  with  great  names  arc 
wrangling  about  southwestern  acquisitions  and  northeast- 
ern boundaries,  that  are  of  no  real  moment  to  the  growth 
and  power  of  the  republic,  these  islands,  that  ought  never 
to  be  out  of  the  mind  of  the  American  statesman,  have 
not  yet  entered  into  the  account  at  all;  a  certain  proof 
how  little  the  minds  that  do,  or  ought  to,  influence  events, 
are  really  up  to  the  work  they  have  been  delegated  to  per- 
form. Military  expeditions  have  twice  been  sent  from 
this  country  to  Canada,  when  both  the  Canadas  are  not 
of  one-half  the  importance  to  the  true  security  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  country — (no  nation  is  independent  until 
it  holds  the  control  of  all  its  greater  interests  in  its  own 
hands) — as  the  Bermudas.  When  England  asked  the  ces- 
sion of  territory  undoubtedly  American,  because  it  over- 
shadowed Quebec,  she  should  have  been  met  with  this 
plain  proposition — "  Give  us  the  Bermudas,  and  we  will 
exchange  with  you.  You  hold  those  islands  as  a  check 
on  our  power,  and  we  will  hold  the  angle  of  Maine  for  a 
check  on  yours,  unless  you  will  consent  to  make  a  fair  and 
mutual  transfer.  We  will  not  attack  you  for  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Bermudas,  for  we  deem  a  just  principle  even 
more  important  than  such  an  accession  ;  but  when  you 
ask  us  to  cede,  we  hold  out  our  hands  to  take  an  equiva- 
lent in  return.  The  policy  of  this  nation  is  not  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  saw-logs,  but  by  these  manifest,  important, 


THE   SEA    LJOXS.  135 

and  ulterior  interests.  If  you  wish  Maine,  give  us  Ber- 
muda in  exchange,  or  go  with  your  wishes  ungratified." 
Happily,  among  us,  events  are  stronger  than  men,  and  the 
day  is  not  distant  when  the  mere  force  of  circumstances 
will  compel  the  small-fry  of  diplomacy  to  see  what  the 
real  interests  and  dignity  of  the  republic  demand  in  refer- 
ence to  this  great  feature  of  its  policy. 

Rosvvell  Gardiner  and  Daggett  had  several  discussions 
touching  the  manner  in  which  they  ought  to  pass  those 
islands.  There  were  about  four  degrees  to  spare  between 
the  trades  and  the  Bermudas ;  and  the  former  was  of 
opinion  that  they  might  pass  through  this  opening,  and 
make  a  straighter  wake,  than  by  going  farther  north. 
These  consultations  took  place  from  quarter-deck  to  quar- 
ter-deck, as  the  two  schooners  ran  off  free,  steering  direct- 
ly for  the  islands,  as  a  sort  of  compromise  between  the 
two  opinions.  The  distance  from  the  main  to  the  Bermu- 
das is  computed  at  about  six  hundred  miles,  which  gave 
sufficient  leisure  for  the  discussion  of  the  subject  in  all  its 
bearings.  The  conversation  was  amicable,  and  the  weath- 
er continuing  mild,  and  the  wind  standing,  they  were  re- 
newed each  afternoon,  when  the  vessels  closed,  as  if  ex- 
pressly to  admit  of  the  dialogue.  In  all  this  time,  five 
days,  altogether,  it  was  farther  ascertained  that  the  differ- 
ence in  sailing  between  the  Twin  Lions,  as  the  sailors 
now  began  to  call  the  two  schooners,  was  barely  percepti- 
ble. If  anything,  it  was  slightly  in  favor  of  the  Vineyard 
craft,  though  there  yet  remained  many  of  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  seas,  in  which  to  make  the  trial.  While  this  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  course  prevailed,  the  low  land  appeared 
directly  ahead,  when  Daggett  consented  to  pass  it  to  the 
southward,  keeping  the  cluster  in  sight,  however,  as  they 
went  steadily  on  toward  the  southward  and  eastward. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"With  glossy  skin,  and  dripping  mane, 

And  reeling  limbs,  and  reeking  flank, 
The  wild  steed's  sinewy  nerves  still  strain 
Up  the  repelling  bank." — Mazeppa. 

ROSWELL  GARDINER  felt  as  if  he  could  breathe  more 
freely  when  they  had  run  the  Summers  Group  fairly  out 
of  sight,  and  the  last  hummock  had  sunk  into  the  waves 


136 


THE   SEA    LIO.VS. 


of  the  west.  He  was  now  fairly  quit  of  America,  and 
hoped  to  see  no  more  of  it  until  he  made  the  well-known 
rock  that  points  the  way  into  the  most  magnificent  of  all 
the  havens  of  the  earth,  the  bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Trav- 
ellers dispute  whether  the  palm  ought  to  be  given  to  this 
port,  or  to  those  of  Naples  and  Constantinople.  Each, 
certainly,  has  its  particular  claims  to  surpassing  beauty, 
which  ought  to  be  kept  in  view  in  coming  to  a  decision. 
Seen  from  its  outside,  with  its  minarets,  and  Golden  Horn, 
and  Bosphorus,  Constantinople  is  probably  the  most  glo- 
rious spot  on  earth.  Ascend  its  mountains  and  overlook 
the  gulfs  of  Salerno  and  Gaeta,  as  well  as  its  own  waters, 
the  Campagna  Felici,  and  the  memorials  of  the  past,  all  seen 
in  the  witchery  of  an  Italian  atmosphere,  and  the  mind  be- 
comes perfectly  satisfied  that  nothing  equal  is  to  be  found 
elsewhere  ;  but  enter  the  bay  of  Rio,  and  take  the  whole 
of  the  noble  panorama  in  at  a  glance,  and  even  the  ex- 
perienced traveller  is  staggered  with  the  stupendous,  as 
well  as  bewitching,  character  of  the  loveliness  that  meets 
his  eye.  Witchery  is  a  charm  that  peculiarly  belongs  to 
Italy,  as  all  must  feel  who  have  ever  been  brought  within 
its  influence ;  but  it  is  a  witchery  that  is  more  or  less  shared 
by  all  regions  of  low  latitudes. 

Our  two  Sea  Lions  met  with  no  adventures  worthy  of 
record  until  they  got  well  to  the  southward  of  the  equator. 
They  had  been  unusually  successful  in  getting  through 
the  calm  latitudes  ;  and  forty-six  days  from  Montauk,  they 
spoke  a  Sag  Harbor  whaler,  homeward  bound,  that  had 
come  out  from  Rio  only  the  preceding  week,  where  she 
had  been  to  dispose  of  her  oil.  By  this  ship,  letters  were 
sent  home  ;  and  as  Gardiner  could  now  tell  the  deacon 
that  he  should  touch  at  Rio  even  before  the  time  first  an- 
ticipated, he  believed  that  he  should  set  the  old  man's 
heart  at  peace.  A  little  occurrence  that  took  place  the  very 
day  they  parted  with  the  whaler,  added  to  the  pleasure  this 
opportunity  of  communicating  with  the  owner  had  afforded. 
As  the  schooners  were  moving  on  in  company,  about  a 
cable's  length  asunder,  Hazard  saw  a  sudden  and  extraor- 
dinary movement  on  board  the  Vineyard  Lion,  as  the  men 
now  named  that  vessel,  to  distinguish  her  from  her  consort. 

"  Look  out  for  a  spout !  "  shouted  the  mate  to  Stimson, 
who  happened  to  be  on  the  fore-topsail-yard  at  work,  when 
this  unexpected  interruption  to  the  quiet  of  the  passage 
occurred.  "There  is  a  man  overboard  from  the  other 
schooner,  or  they  see  a  spout." 


7V//:    .S/.V/     L/O.VS.  137 

"  A  spout  !  a  spout  !  "  shouted  Stimson,  in  return  ; 
"  and  a  spalm  (sperm,  or  spermaceti,  was  meant)  whale 
in  the  bargain  !  Here  he  is,  sir,  two  p'ints  on  our  weather 
beam." 

This  was  enough.  If  any  one  has  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  in  a  coach  drawn  by  four  horses,  when  a  sudden  fright 
starts  them  off  at  speed,  lie  can  form  a  pretty  accurate  no- 
tion of  the  movement  that  now  took  place  on  board  of 
Deacon  Pratt's  craft.  Every  one  seemed  to  spring  into 
activity,  as  if  a  single  will  directed  a  common  set  of  mus- 
cles. Those  who  were  below,  literally  "tumbled  up,"  as 
the  seamen  express  it,  and  those  who  were  aloft,  slid  down 
to  the  deck  like  flashes  of  lightning.  Captain  Gardiner 
sprang  out  of  his  cabin,  seemingly  at  a  single  bound  ;  at 
another,  he  was  in  the  whale-boat  that  Hazard  was  in  the 
very  act  of  lowering  into  the  water,  as  the  schooner 
rounded-to.  Perceiving  himself  anticipated  here,  the 
mate  turned  to  the  boat  on  the  other  quarter,  and  was  in 
her,  and  in  the  water,  almost  as  soon  as  his  commanding 
officer. 

Although  neither  of  the  schooners  was  thoroughly  fitted 
for  a  whaler,  each  had  lines,  lances,  harpoons,  etc.,  in 
readiness  in  their  quarter-boats,  prepared  for  any  turn  of 
luck  like  this  which  now  offered.  The  process  of  paddling 
up  to  whales,  which  is  now  so  common  in  the  American 
ships,  was  then  very  little  or  not  at  all  resorted  to.  It  is 
said  that  the  animals  have  got  to  be  so  shy,  in  consequence 
of  being  so  much  pursued,  that  the  old  mode  of  approach- 
ing them  will  not  suffice,  and  that  it  now  requires  much 
more  care  and  far  more  art  to  take  one  of  these  creatures, 
than  it  did  thirty  years  since.  On  this  part  of  the  subject, 
we  merely  repeat  what  we  hear,  though  we  think  we  can 
see  an  advantage  in  the  use  of  the  paddle  that  is  altogether 
independent  of  that  of  the  greater  quiet  of  that  mode  of 
forcing  a  boat  ahead.  He  that  paddles  looks  ahead,  and 
the  approach  is  more  easily  regulated,  when  the  whole  pf 
the  boat's  crew  are  apprised,  by  means  of  their  own  sen- 
ses,-of  the  actual  state  of  things,  than  when  they  attain 
their  ideas  of  them  through  the  orders  of  an  officer.  The 
last  must  govern  in  all  cases,  but  the  men  are  prepared  for 
them,  when  they  can  see  what  is  going  on,  and  will  be 
more  likely  to  act  with  promptitude  and  intelligence,  and 
will  be  less  liable  to  make  mistakes. 

The  four  boats,  two  from  each  schooner,  dropped  into 
the  water  nearly  about  the  same  time.  Dage^ett  was  at  the 


1 3*  THE    SEA    L10XS. 

steering-oar  of  one,  as  was  Roswell  at  that  of  "another. 
Hazard,  and  Macy,  the  chief  mate  of  the  Vineyard  craft, 
were  at  the  steering-oars  of  the  two  remaining  boats.  All 
pulled  in  the  direction  of  the  spot  on  the  ocean  where  the 
spouts  had  been  seen.  It  was  the  opinion  of  those  who 
had  been  aloft,  that  there  were  several  fish ;  and  it  was 
certain  that  they  were  of  the  most  valuable  species,  or  the 
spermaceti,  one  barrel  of  the  oil  of  which  was  worth  about 
as  much  as  the  oil  of  three  of  the  ordinary  sort,  or  that  ol 
the  right  whale,  supposing  them  all  to  yield  the  same 
quantity  in  number  of  barrels.  The  nature  or  species  of 
the  fish  was  easily  enough  determined  by  the  spouts  ;  the 
right  whale  throwing  up  two  high  arched  jets  of  water, 
while  the  spermaceti  throws  but  a  single,  low,  bushy  one. 

It  was  not  long  ere  the  boats  of  the  two  captains  came 
abreast  of  each  other,  and  within  speaking  distance.  A 
stern  rivalry  was  now  apparent  in  every  countenance,  the 
men  pulling  might  and  main,  and  without  even  a  smile 
among  them  all.  Every  face  was  grave,  earnest,  and  de- 
termined ;  every  arm  strung  to  its  utmost  powers  of  exer- 
tion. The  men  rowed  beautifully,  being  accustomed  to  the 
use  of  their  long  oars  in  rough  water,  and  in  ten  minutes 
they  were  all  fully  a  mile  dead  to  windward  of  the  two 
schooners. 

Few  things  give  a  more  exalted  idea  of  the  courage  and 
ingenuity  of  the  human  race  than  to  see  adventurers  set 
forth,  in  a  mere  shell,  on  the  troubled  waters  of  the  open 
ocean,  to  contend  with  and  capture  an  animal  of  the  size 
of  the  whale.  The  simple  circumstance  that  the  last  is  in 
its  own  element,  while  its  assailants  are  compelled  to  ap- 
proach it  in  such  light  and  fragile  conveyances,  that,  to 
the  unpractised  eye,  it  is  sufficiently  difficult  to  manage 
them  amid  the  rolling  waters,  without  seeking  so  powerful 
an  enemy  to  contend  with,  indicates  the  perilous  nature  of 
the  contest.  But,  little  of  all  this  did  the  crews  of  our 
four  boats  now  think.  They  had  before  them  the  objects, 
or  one  of  the  objects,  rather,  of  their  adventure,  and  so 
long  as  that  was  the  case,  no  other  view  but  that  of  pre- 
vailing could  rise  before  their  eyes. 

"  How  is  it,  Gar'ner  ?"  called  out  the  Vineyard  master, 
"  shall  it  be  shares  ?  or  does  each  schooner  whale  on  hei 
own  hook  ? " 

This  was  asked  in  a  friendly  way,  and  apparently  with 
great  indifference  as  to  the  nature  of  the  reply,  but  with 
profound  art.  It  was  Daggett's  wish  to  establish  a  sort  of 


THE   SEA    L/OA'S.  139 

partnership,  which,  taken  in  connection  with  the  good 
feeling  created  by  the  affair  at  Beaufort,  would  beVery 
apt  to  lead  on  to  further  and  more  important  association. 
Luckily  for  Gardiner,  an  idea  crossed  his  mind,  just  as  he 
was  about  to  reply,  which  induced  the  wisest  answer.  It 
was  the  thought,  that  competition  would  be  more  likely  to 
cause  exertion  than  a  partnership,  and  that  the  success  of 
all  would  better  repay  them  for  the  toils  and  risks,  should 
each  vessel  act  exclusively  for  itself.  This  is  the  principle 
that  renders  the  present  state  of  society  more  healthful 
and  advantageous  than  that  which  the  friends  of  the  differ- 
ent systems  of  associating,  that  are  now  so  much  in  vogue, 
wish  to  substitute  in  its  place.  Individuality  is  an  ail-im- 
portant feeling  in  the  organization  of  human  beings  into 
communities  ;  and  the  political  economist  who  does  not 
use  it  as  his  most  powerful  auxiliary  in  advancing  civiliza- 
tion, will  soon  see  it  turn  round  in  its  tracks,  and  become 
a  dead  weight  ;  indulging  its  self-love,  by  living  with  the 
minimum  of  exertion,  instead  of  pushing  his  private  ad- 
vantage, with  the  maximum. 

"I  think  each  vessel  had  better  work  for  herself  and 
her  owners,"  answered  Roswell  Gardiner. 

As  the  schooners  were  in  the  trades,  there  was  a  regular 
sea  running,  and  one  that  was  neither  very  high  nor  much 
broken.  Still,  the  boats  were  lifted  on  it  like  egg-shells 
or  bubbles,  the  immense  power  of  the  ocean  raising  the 
largest  ships,  groaning  under  their  vast  weight  of  ord- 
nance, as  if  they  were  feathers.  In  a  few  minutes,  Gar- 
diner and  Daggett  became  a  little  more  separated,  each 
looking  eagerly  for  the  spouts,  which  had  not  been  seen 
by  either  since  quitting  his  vessel.  All  this  time  the  two 
mates  came  steadily  on,  until  the  whole  of  the  little  fleet 
of  boats  was  now  not  less  than  a  marine  league  distant 
from  the  schooners.  The  vessels  themselves  were  work- 
ing up  to  windward,  to  keep  as  near  to  the  boats  as  possi- 
ble, making  short  tacks  under  reduced  canvas  ;  a  ship- 
keeper,  the  cook,  steward,  and  one  or  two  other  hands, 
being  all  who  were  left  on  board  them. 

We  shall  suppose  that  most  of  our  readers  are  suffi- 
ciently acquainted  with  the  general  character  of  that  class 
of  animals  to  which  the  whale  belongs,  to  know  that  all  of 
the  genus  breathe  the  atmospheric  air,  which  is  as  neces- 
sary for  life  to  them  as  it  is  to  man  himself.  The  only 
difference  in  this  respect  is  that  the  whale  can  go  longer 
without  renewing  his  respiration  than  all  purely  land-ani- 


'4o  THE    Si- A    L10.VS. 

\ 

mals,  though  he  must  come  up  to  breathe  at  intervals,  or 
die.  It  is  the  exhaling  of  .the  old  stock  of  air,  when  he 
brings  the  "blow-holes,"  as  seamen  call  the  outlets  of  his 
respiratory  organs,  to  the  surface,  that  forces  the  water 
upward,  and  forms  the  "  spouts,"  which  usually  indicate 
to  the  whalers  the  position  of  their  game.  The  "spouts  " 
vary  in  appearance,  as  has  been  mentioned,  owing  to  the 
number  and  situation  of  the  orifices  by  which  the  ex- 
hausted air  escapes.  No  sooner  is  the  vitiated  air  exhaled, 
than  the  lungs  receive  a  new  supply  ;  and  the  animal 
either  remains  near  the  surface,  rolling  about  and  sporting 
amid  the  waves,  or  descends  again,  a  short  distance,  in 
quest  of  its  food.  This  food,  also,  varies  materially  in  the 
different  species.  The  right  whale  is  supposed  to  live  on 
what  may  be  termed  marine  insects,  or  the  molluscae  of 
the  ocean,  which  it  is  thought  he  obtains  by  running  in 
the  parts  of  the  sea  where  they  most  abound  ;  arresting 
them  by  the  hairy  fibres  which  grow  on  the  laminae  of 
bone  that,  in  a  measure,  compose  his  jaws,  having  no  teeth. 
The  spermaceti,  however,  is  furnished  with  regular  grind- 
ers, which  he  knows  very  well  how  to  use,  and  with  which 
he  often  crushes  the  boats  of  those  who  come  against  him. 
Thus,  the  whalers  have  but  one  danger  to  guard  against, 
in  assaulting  the  common  animal,  viz.,  his  flukes,  or  tail  ; 
while  the  spermaceti,  in  addition  to  the  last  means  of  de- 
fence, possesses  those  of  his  teeth  or  jaws.  As  this  latter 
animal  is  quite  one-third  head,  he  has  no  very  great  dis- 
semblance to  the  alligator  in  this  particular. 

By  means  of  this  brief  description  of  the  physical 
formation  and  habits  of  the  animals  of  which  our  advent- 
urers were  in  pursuit,  the  general  reader  will  be  the  better 
able  to  understand  that  which  it  is  our  duty  now  to  record. 
After  rowing  the  distance  named,  the  boats  became  a  little 
separated,  in  their  search  for  the  fish.  That  spouts  had 
been  seen,  there  was  no  doubt ;  though,  since  quitting  the 
schooners,  no  one  in  the  boats  had  got  a  further  view  of 
the  fish, — if  fish,  animals  with  respiratory  organs  can  be 
termed.  A  good  lookout  for  spouts  had  been  kept  by  each 
man  at  the  steering-oars,  but  entirely  without  success. 
Had  not  Roswell  and  Daggett,  previously  to  leaving  their 
respective  vessels,  seen  the  signs  of  whales  with  their  own 
eyes,  it  is  probable  that  they  would  now  have  both  been 
disposed  to  return,  calling  in  their  mates.  But,  being 
certain  that  the  creatures  they  sought  were  not  far  distant, 
they  continued  slowly  to  separate,  each  straining  his  eye;; 


TUP.    SKA    I.IOXS.  141 

in  quest  of  his  game,  as  his  boat  rose  on  the  summit  of  the 
rolling  and  tossing  waves.  Water  in  motion  was  all  around 
them  :  and  the  schooners  working  slowly  up  against  the 
trades,  was  all  that  rewarded  their  vigilant  and  anxious 
looks.  Twenty  times  did  each  fancy  that  he  saw  the  dark 
back,  or  head,  of  the  object  he  sought  ;  but  as  often  did 
it  prove  to  be  no  more  than  a  lipper  of  water,  rolling  up 
into  a  hummock  ere  it  broke,  or  melting  away  again  into 
the  general  mass  of  the  unquiet  ocean.  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  surface  of  the  sea  is  tossed  into  a 
thousand  fantastic  outlines,  as  its  waves  roll  along,  it  can 
readily  be  imagined  how  such  mistakes  could  arise. 

At  length  Gardiner  discerned  that  which  his  practised 
eye  well  knew.  It  was  the  flukes,  or  extremity  of  the  tail 
of  an  Enormous  whale,  distant  from  him  less  than  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  and  in  such  a  position  as  to  place  the  animal  at 
about  the  same  breadth  of  water  from  Daggett.  It  would 
seem  that  both  of  these  vigilant  officers  perceived  their 
enemy  at  the  same  instant,  for  each  boat  started  for  it  as  if 
it  had  been  instinct  with  life.  The  pike  or  the  shark  could 
not  have  darted  toward  its  prey  with  greater  promptitude, 
and  scarcely  with  greater  velocity  than  these  two  boats. 
Very  soon  the  whole  herd  was  seen,  swimming  along  against 
the  wind,  an  enormous  bull  whale  leading,  while  half  a 
dozen  calves  kept  close  to  the  sides  of  their  dams,  or  sported 
among  themselves,  much  as  the  offspring  of  land-animals 
delight  in  their  youth  and  strength.  Presently  a  mother 
rolled  lazily  over  on  her  side,  permitting  its  calf  to  suck. 
Others  followed  this  example  ;  and  then  the  leader  of  the 
herd  ceased  his  passage  to  windward,  but  began  to  circle 
the  spot,  as  if  in  complaisance  to  those  considerate  nurses 
who  thus  waited  on  the  wants  of  their  young.  At  this  in- 
teresting moment  the  boats  came  glancing  in  among  the 
herd 

Had  the  competition  and  spirit  of  rivalry  been  at  a  lower 
point  among  our  adventurers  than  it  actually  \vas,  greater 
caution  might  have  been  observed.  It  is  just  as  dangerous 
to  assault  a  whale  that  has  its  young  to  defend,  as  to  assault 
most  other  animals.  We  know  that  the  most  delicate 
women  become  heroines  in  such  straits  ;  and  nature  seems 
to  have  given  to  the  whole  sex,  whether  endowed  with 
reason  or  only  with  an  instinct,  the  same  disposition  to  die 
in  defence  of  the  helpless  creatures  that  so  much  depend 
on  their  care.  But  no  one  there  now  thought  of  the  risk 
he  ran,  it  being  the  Vineyard  against  Oyster  Pond,  one 


I42  1HE    SEA    LI 0X5. 

Sea  Lion  against  the  other,  and,  in  many  instances,  pocket 
against  pocket. 

Roswell,  as  if  disdaining  all  meaner  game,  pulled  quite 
through  the  herd,  and  laid  the  bows  of  his  boat  directly  on 
the  side  of  the  old  bull — a  hundred-barrel  whale  at  the 
very  least.  No  sooner  did  the  enormous  creature  feel  the 
harpoon,  than,  throwing  its  flukes  upward,  it  descended 
into  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  with  a  velocity  that  caused 
smoke  to  arise  from  the  chuck  through  which  the  line 
passed.  Ordinarily,  the  movement  of  a  whale  is  not  much 
faster  than  an  active  man  can  walk  ;  and,  when  it  runs  on 
the  surface,  its  speed  seldom  exceeds  that  of  a  swift  vessel 
under  full  sail  ;  but,  when  suddenly  startled,  with  the  har- 
poon in  its  blubber,  the  animal  is  capable  of  making  a  pro- 
digious exertion.  When  struck,  it  usually  "sounds*"  as  it 
is  termed,  or  runs  downward,  sometimes  to  the  depth  of  a 
mile  ;  and  it  is  said  that  instances  have  been  known  in 
which  the  fish  inflicted  great  injury  on  itself,  by  dashing  its 
head  against  rocks. 

In  the  case  before  us,  after  running  out  three  or  four 
hundred  fathoms  of  line,  the  "  bull "  to  which  Gardiner 
had  "fastened,"  came  up  to  the  surface,  "  blowed,"  and 
began  to  move  slowly  toward  the  herd  again.  No  sooner 
was  the  harpoon  thrown,  than  a  change  took  place  in  the 
disposition  of  the  crew  of  the  boat,  which  it  may  be  well 
to  explain.  The  harpoon  is  a  barbed  javelin,  fastened  to 
a  staff  to  give  ;t  momentum.  The  line  is  attached  to  this 
weapon,  the  proper  use  of  which  is  to  "fasten"  to  the  fish, 
though  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  animal  is  killed  at 
the  first  blow.  This  is  when  the  harpoon  has  been  hurled 
by  a  very  skilful  and  vigorous  harpooner.  Usually,  this 
weapon  penetrates  some  distance  into  the  blubber  in  which 
a  whale  is  encased,  and  when  it  is  drawn  back  by  the 
plunge  of  the  fish,  the  barbed  parts  get  imbedded  in  the 
tough  integuments  of  the  hide,  together  with  the  blubber, 
and  hold.  The  iron  of  the  harpoon  being  very  soft,  the 
shank  bends  under  the  strain  of  the  line,  leaving  the  staff 
close  to  the  animal's  body.  Owing  to  this  arrangement 
the  harpoon  offers  less  resistance  to  the  water,  as  the  whale 
passes  swiftly  through  it.  No  sooner  did  the  boat-steerer, 
or  harpooner,  cast  his  "  irons,"  as  whalers  term  the  har- 
poon, than  he. changed  places  with  Roswell,  who  left  the 
steering-oar,  and  proceeded  forward  to  wield  the  lance,  the 
weapon  with  which  the  victory  is  finally  consummated. 
The  men  now  "peaked"  their  oars,  as  it  is  termed;  or 


'43 

they  placed  the  handles  in  cleats  made  to  receive  them, 
leaving  the  blades  elevated  in  the  air,  so  as  to  be  quite 
clear  of  the  water.  This  was  done  to  get  rid  of  the  oars, 
in  readiness  for  other  duty,  while  the.  instruments  were  left 
in  the  tholes,  to  be  resorted  to  in  emergencies.  This  gives 
a  whale-boat  a  peculiar  appearance,  with  its  five  long  oars 
raised  in  the  air,  at  angles  approaching  forty-five  degrees. 
In  the  meantime,  as  the  bull  approached  the  herd,  or 
school,*  as  the  whalers  term  it,  the  boat's  crew  began  to 
haul  in  line,  the  boat-steerer  coiling  it  away  carefully,  in  a 
tub  placed  in  the  stern-sheets  purposely  to  receive  it. 
Any  one  can  understand  how  important  it  was  that  this 
part  of  the  duty  should  be  well  performed,  since  bights  of 
line  running  out  of  a  boat,  dragged  by  a  whale,  would 
prove  so  many  snares  to  the  men's  legs,  unless  previously 
disposed  of  in  a  place  proper  to  let  it  escape  without  this 
risk.  For  this  reason  it  is,  that  the  end  of  a  line  is  never 
permitted  to  run  out  at  the  bow  of  a  boat  at  all.  It  might 
do  some  injury  in  its  passage,  and  an  axe  is  always  applied 
near  the  bows,  when  it  is  found  necessary  to  cut  from  a 
whale. 

It  was  so  unusual  a  thing  to  see  a  fish  turn  toward  the 
spot  where  it  was  struck,  that  Roswell  did  not  know  what  to 
make  of  this  manoeuvre  in  his  bull.  At  first  he  supposed 
the  animal  meant  to  make  fight,  and  set  upon  him  with  its 
tremendous  jaws  ;  but  it  seemed  that  caprice  or  alarm  di- 
rected the  movement ;  for,  after  coming  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  boat,  the  creature  turned  and  commenced 
sculling  away  to  windward,  with  wide  and  nervous  sweeps 
of  its  formidable  flukes.  It  is  by  this  process  that  all  the 
fish  of  this  genus  force  their  way  through  the  water,  their 
tails  being  admirably  adapted  to  the  purpose.  As  the  men 
had  showed  the  utmost  activity  in  hauling  in  upon  the 
line,  by  the  time  the  whale  went  off  to  windward  again 
they  had  got  the  boat  up  within  about  four  hundred  feet 
of  him. 

Now  commenced  a  tow,  dead  to  windward,  it  being 
known  that  a  fish,  when  struck,  seldom  runs  at  first  in  any 
other  direction.  The  rate  at  which  the  whale  moved  was 
not  at  the  height  of  his  speed,  though  it  exceeded  six  knots. 
Occasionally,  this  rate  wras  lessened,  and  in  several  in- 
stances his  speed  was  reduced  to  less  than  half  of  that  just 
mentioned.  Whenever  one  of  the  lulls  occurred,  the  men 

*  We  suppose  this  word  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Dutch  "  schnle," 
which,  we  take  it,  means  the  same  thing. 


144  THE    .9AVJ    I./O.YS. 

would  haul  upon  the  line,  gradually  getting  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  fish,  until  they  were  within  fifty  feet  of  his 
tremendous  flukes.  Here,  a  turn  was  taken  with  the  line, 
and  an  opportunity  to  use  the  lance  was  waited  for. 

Whalers  say  that  a  forty-barrel  bull  of  the  spermaceti 
sort  is  much  the  most  dangerous  to  deal  with  of  all  the 
animals  of  this  species.  The  larger  bulls  are  infinitely  the 
most  powerful,  and  drive  these  half-grown  creatures  away 
in  herds  by  themselves,  that  are  called  "pads,"  a  circum- 
stance that  probably  renders  the  young  bull  discontented 
and  fierce.  The  last  is  not  only  more  active  than  the 
larger  animal,  but  is  much  more  disposed  to  make  fight, 
commonly  giving  his  captors  the  greatest  trouble.  This 
may  be  one  of  the  reasons  why  Roswell  Gardiner  now 
found  himself  towing  at  a  reasonable  rate,  so  close  upon 
the  flukes  of  a  hundred-barrel  whale.  Still,  there  was  that 
in  the  movements  of  this  animal,  that  induced  our  hero  to 
be  exceedingly  wary.  He  was  now  two  leagues  from  the 
schooners,  and  half  that  distance  from  the  other  boats, 
neither  of  which-  had  as  yet  fastened  to  a  fish.  This  latter 
circumstance  was  imputed  to  the  difficulty  the  different 
officers  had  in  making  their  selections, — cows,  of  the  sper 
maceti  breed,  when  they  give  suck,  being  commonly  light, 
and  yielding,  comparatively,  very  small  quantities  of  head- 
matter  and  oil.  In  selecting  the  bull,  Roswell  had  shown 
his  judgment,  the  male  animal  commonly  returning  to  its 
conquerors  twice  the  profit  that  is  derived  from  the  female. 

The  whale  to  which  Roswell  was  fast,  continued  sculling 
away  to  windward  for  quite  two  hours,  causing  the  men  to 
entirely  lose  sight  of  the  other  boats,  and  bringing  the 
topsails  of  the  schooners  themselves  down  to  the  water's 
edge.  Fortunately,  it  was  not  yet  noon,  and  there  were  no 
immediate  apprehensions  from  the  darkness  ;  nor  did  the 
bull  appear  to  be  much  alarmed,  though  the  boat  was  tow- 
ing so  close  in  the  rear.  At  first,  or  before  the  irons  were 
thrown,  the  utmost  care  had  been  taken  not  to  make  a 
noise  ;  but  the  instant  the  crew  were  "  fast,"  whispers  were 
changed  into  loud  "calls,  and  orders  were  passed  in  shouts, 
rather  than  in  verbal  commands.  The  wildest  excitement 
prevailed  among  the  men,  strangely  blended  with  a  cool 
dexterity  ;  but  it  was  very  apparent  that  a  high  sporting 
fever  was  raging  among  them.  Gardiner  himself  was 
much  the  coolest  man  in  his  own  boat,  as  became  his  sta- 
tion and  very  responsible  duties. 

Stimson,  the  oldest  and  the  best  seaman  in  the  schooner, 


THE   SKA    LfO.VS.  145 

— he  who  had  admonished  his  young  commander  on  the 
subject  of  the  gratitude  due  to  the  Deity — acted  as  the 
master's  boat-steerer,  having  first  performed  the  duty  of 
harpooner.  It  was  to  him  that  Gardiner  now  addressed 
the  remarks  he  made,  after  having  been  fastened  to  his 
whale  fully  two  hours. 

"  This  fellow  is  likely  to  give  us  a  long  drag,"  said  the 
master,  as  he  stood  balancing  himself  on  the  clumsy  cleats 
in  the  bows  of  the  boat,  using  his  lance  as  an  adept  in  sal- 
tation poises  his  pole  on  the  wire,  the  water  curling  fairly 
above  the  gunwale  forward,  with  the  rapid  movement  of 
the  boat ;  "  I  would  haul  up  alongside,  and  give  him  the 
lance,  did  I  not  distrust  them  flukes.  I  believe  he  knows 
we  are  here." 

"That  he  does — that  does  he,  Captain  Gar'ner.  It's  al- 
ways best  to  be  moderate  and  wait  your  time,  sir.  There's 
a  jerk  about  that  chap's  flukes  that  I  don't  like  myself,  and 
it's  best  to  see  what  he  would  be  at,  before  we  haul  up  any 
nearer.  Don't  you  see,  sir,  that  every  minute  or  two  he 
strikes  down,  instead  of  sculling  off  handsomely  and  with 
a  wide  sweep,  as  becomes  a  whale  ?" 

"  That  is  just  the  motion  I  distrust,  Stephen,  and  I  shall 
wait  a  bit  to  see  what  he  would  be  at.  I  hope  those  ship- 
keepers  will  be  busy,  and  work  the  schooners  well  up  to 
windward  before  it  gets  to  be  dark.  Our  man  is  asleep 
half  his  time,  and  is  apt  to  let  the  vessel  fall  off  a  point  or 
two." 

"  Mr.  Hazard  gave  him  caution  to  keep  a  bright  look- 
out, sir,  and  I  think  he'll  be  apt  to — look  out,  sir ! — look 
out !  " 

This  warning  was  well-timed  ;  for,  just  at  that  instant, 
the  whale  ceased  sculling,  and  lifting  its  enormous  tail 
high  in  the  air,  it  struck  five  or  six  blows  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  that  made  a  noise  which  might  have  been  heard 
half  a  league,  besides  filling  the  atmosphere  immediately 
around  him  with  spray.  As  the  tail  first  appeared  in  the 
air,  line  was  permitted  to  run  out  of  the  boat,  increasing 
the  distance  between  its  bows  and  the  flukes  to  quite  a 
hundred  feet.  Nothing  could  better  show  the  hardy  char- 
acters of  the  whalers  than  the  picture  then  presented  by 
Roswell  Gardiner  and  his  companions.  In  the  midst  of 
the  Atlantic,  leagues  from  their  vessel,  and  no  other  boat 
in  sight,  there  they  sat  patiently  waiting  the  moment  when 
the  giant  of  the  deep  should  abate  in  his  speed,  or  in  his 
antics,  to  enable  them  to  approach  and  complete  their 


146  THK    SKA    LIOXS. 

capture.  Most  of  the  men  sat  with  their  arms  crossed,  and 
bodies  half  turned,  regarding  the  scene,  while  the  two  of- 
ficers, the  master  and  boat-steerers,  if  the  latter  could 
properly  be  thus  designated,  watched  each  evolution  with 
a  keenness  of  vigilance  that  let  nothing  like  a  sign  or  a 
symptom  escape  them. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things,  the  whale  still  threshing 
the  sea  with  his  flukes,  when  a  cry  among  his  men  induced 
Roswell  for  a  moment  to  look  aside.  There  came  Daggett 
fast  to  a  small  bull,  which  was  running  directly  in  the 
wind's  eye  with  great  speed,  dragging  the  boat  after  him, 
which  was  towing  astern  at  a  distance  of  something  like 
two  hundred  fathoms.  At  first,  Roswell  thought  he  should 
be  compelled  to  cut  from  his  whale,  so  directly  toward 
his  own  boat  did  the  other  animal  direct  his  course.  But, 
intimidated,  most  probably,  by  the  tremendous  blows  with 
which  the  larger  bull  continued  to  belabor  the  ocean,  the 
smaller  animal  sheered  away  in  time  to  avoid  a  collision, 
though  he  now  began  to  circle  the  spot  where  his  dreaded 
monarch  lay.  This  change  of  course  gave  rise  to  a  new 
source  of  apprehension.  If  the  smaller  bull  should  con- 
tinue to  encircle  the  larger,  there  was  great  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  line  of  Daggett  might  get  entangled  with 
the  boat  of  Gardiner,  and  produce  a  collision  that  might 
prove  fatal  to  all  there.  In  order  to  be  ready  to  meet 
this  danger,  Roswell  ordered  his  crew  to  be  on  the  look- 
out, and  to  have  their  knives  in  a  state  for  immediate  use. 
It  was  not  known  what  might  have  been  the  consequence 
of  this  circular  movement  as  respects  the  two  boats  ;  for, 
before  they  could  come  together,  Daggett's  line  actually 
passed  into  the  mouth  of  Gardiner's  whale,  and  drawing 
up  tight  into  the  angle  of  his  jaws,  set  the  monster  in 
motion  with  a  momentum  and  power  that  caused  the  iron 
to  draw  from  the  smaller  whale,  which  by  this  time  had 
more  than  half  encircled  the  animal.  So  rapid  was  the 
rate  of  running  now,  that.  Roswell  was  obliged  to  let  out 
line,  his  whale  sounding  to  a  prodigious  depth.  Daggett 
did  the  same,  unwilling  to  cut  as  long  as  he  could  hold  on 
to  his  line. 

At  the  expiration  of  five  minutes  the  large  bull  came 
up  again  for  breath,  with  both  lines  still  fast  to  him  ;  the 
one  in  the  regular  way,  or  attached  to  the  harpoon,  and 
the  other  jammed  in  the  jaws  of  the  animal  by  means  of 
the  harpoon  and  staff,  which  formed  a  sort  of  toggle  at 
the  angle  of  his  enormous  mouth.  In  consequence  of 


THE   SEA    LIOXS.  147 

feeling  this  unusual  tenant,  the  fish  compressed  its  jaws 
together,  thus  rendering  the  fastening  so  much  the  more 
secure.  As  both  boats  had  let  run  line  freely  while  the 
whale  was  sounding,  they  now  found  themselves  near  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  astern  of  him,  towing  along,  side  by  side, 
and  not  fifty  feet  asunder.  If  the  spirit  of  rivalry  had 
been  aroused  among  the  crew  of  these  two  boats  before, 
it  was  now  excited  to  a  degree  that  menaced  acts  of  hos- 
tility. 

"You  know,  of  course,  Captain  Daggett,  that  this  is  my 
whale,"  said  Gardiner.  "  I  was  fast  to  him  regularly,  and 
was  only  waiting  for  him  to  become  a  little  quiet  to  lance 
him,  when  your  whale  crossed  his  course,  fouled  your  line, 
and  has  got.  you  fast  in  an  unaccountable  way,  but  not 
according  to  whaling  law." 

"  I  don't  know  that.  I  fastened  to  a  whale,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  and  am  fast  to  a  whale  now.  It  must  be  proved 
that  I  have  no  right  to  the  creatur'  before  I  give  him  up." 

Gardiner  understood  the  sort  of  man  with  whom  he  had 
to  deal  too  well  to  waste  words  in  idle  remonstrances. 
Resolved  to  maintain  his  just  rights  at  every  hazard,  he 
ordered  his  men  to  haul  in  upon  the  line,  the  movement 
of  the  whale  becoming  so  slow  as  to  admit  of  this  measure. 
Daggett's  crew  did  the  same,  and  a  warm  contest  existed 
between  the  two  boats,  as  to  who  should  now  first  close 
with  the  fish  and  kill  it.  This  was  not  a  moment  for  pru- 
dence and  caution.  It  was  "  haul  in — haul  in,  boys,"  in 
both  boats,  without  any  regard  to  the  danger  of  approach- 
ing the  whale.  A  very  few  minutes  sufficed  to  bring  the 
parties  quite  in  a  line  with  the  flukes,  Gardiner's  boat  com- 
ing up  on  the  larboard  or  left-hand  side  of  the  animal, 
where  its  iron  was  fast,  and  Daggett's  on  the  opposite,  its 
line  leading  out  of  the  jaws  of  the  fish  in  that  direction. 
The  two  masters  stood  erect  on  their  respective  clumsy 
cleats,  eachpoisinghis  lance,  waitingonly  to  get  near  enough 
to  strike.  The  men  were  now  at  the  oars,  and  without 
pausing  for  anything,  both  crews  sprung  to  their  ashen  in- 
struments, and  drove  the  boats  headlong  upon  the  fish. 
Daggett,  perhaps,  was  the  coolest  and  ruost  calculating  at 
that  moment,  but  Roswell  was  the  most  nervous  and 
the  boldest.  The  boat  of  the  last  actually  hit  the  side 
of  the  whale,  as  its  young  commander  drove  his  lance 
through  the  blubber,  into  the  vitals  of  the  fish.  At  the 
same  instant  Daggett  threw  his  lance  with  consummate 
skill,  and  went  to  the  quick,  It  was  now  "  stern  all- !  "for 


life,  each  boat  backing  off  from  the  danger  as  fast  as  hands 
could  urge.  The  sea  was  in  a  foam,  the  fish  going  into 
his  "  flurry  "  almost  as  soon  as  struck,  and  both  crews  were 
delighted  to  see  the  red  of  the  blood  mingling  its  deep 
hues  with  the  white  of  the  troubled  water.  Once  or  twice 
the  animal  spouted,  but  it  was  a  fluid  dyed  in  his  gore. 
In  ten  minutes  it  turned  up  and  was  dead. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

"  God  save  you,  sir  !  " 

"And  you,  sir  !  you  are  welcome." 

"  Travel  you  far  on,  or  are  you  at  the  furthest  ?" 

"  Sir,  at  the  furthest  for  a  week  or  two." — SHAKESPEARE. 

GARDINER  and  Daggett  met,  face  to  face,  on  the  carcass 
of  the  whale.  Each  struck  his  lance  into  the  blubber, 
steadying  himself  by  its  handle  ;  and  each  eyed  the  other 
in  a  way  that  betokened  feelings  awakened  by  a  keen  de- 
sire to  defend  his  rights.  It  is  a  fault  of  American  char- 
acter— a  fruit  of  the  institutions,  beyond  a  doubt — that 
renders  men  unusually  indisposed  to  give  up.  This  stub- 
bornness of  temperament,  that  so  many  mistake  for  a  love 
of  liberty  and  independence,  is  productive  of  much  good, 
when  the  parties  happen  to  be  right,  and  of  quite  as  much 
evil,  when  they  happen  to  be  wrong.  It  is  ever  the  wisest, 
as,  indeed,  it  is  the  noblest  course,  to  defer  to  that  which 
is  just,  with  a  perfect  reliance  on  its  being  the  course 
pointed  out  by  the  finger  of  infallible  wisdom  and  truth. 
He  who  does  this  need"  feel  no  concern  for  his  dignity,  or 
for  his  success  ;  being  certain  that  it  is  intended  that  right 
shall  prevail  in  the  end,  as  prevail  it  will  and  does.  But 
both  our  shipmasters  were  too  much  excited  to  feel  the 
force  of  these  truths  ;  and  there  they  stood,  sternly  regard-, 
ing  each  other,  as  if  it  were  their  purpose  to  commence 
a  new  struggle  for  the  possession  of  the  leviathan  of  the 
deep. 

"Captain  Daggett,"  said  Roswell  sharply,  "you  are  too 
old  a  whaler  not  to  know  whaling  law.  My  irons  were 
fast  in  this  fish  ;  I  never  have  been  loose  from  it  since  it 
was  first  struck,  and  my  lance  killed  it.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, sir,  I  am  surprised  that  any  man,  who  knows 
the  usages  among  whalers,  should  have  stuck  by  the  creat- 
ure as  you  have  done." 


THE   SEA    LIO.VS. 


149 


"It's  in  my  natur',  Garner,"  was  the  answer.  "I  stuck 
by  you  when  you  was  dismasted  under  Hatteras,  and  I 
stick  by  everything  that  I  undertake.  This  is  what  I  call 
Vineyard  natur'  ;  and  I'm  not  about  to  discredit  my  native 
country." 

"  This  is  idle  talk,"  returned  Roswell,  casting  a  severe 
glance  at  the  men  in  the  Vineyard  boat,  among  whom  a 
common  smile  arose,  as  if  they  highly  approved  of  the  re- 
ply of  their  own  officer.  "  You  very  well  know  that  Vine- 
yard law  cannot  settle- such  a  question,  but  American  law. 
Were  you  man  enough  to  take  this  whale  from  me,  as  I 
trust  you  are  not,  on  our  return  home  you  could  be,  and 
would  be,  made  to  pay  smartly  for  the  act.  Uncle  Sam 
has  a  long  arm,  with  which  he  sometimes  reaches  round 
the  whole  earth.  Before  you  proceed  any  further  in  this 
matter,  it  may  be  well  to  remember  that." 

Daggett  reflected  ;  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  he  cooled 
off  from  the  excitement  created  by  his  late  exertions,  he 
fully  recognized  the  justice  of  the  other's  remarks,  and  the 
injustice  of  his  own  claims.  Still,  it  seemed  to  him  un- 
American,  un-Vineyard,  if  the  reader  please,  to  "  give  up;" 
and  he  clung  to  his  error  with  as  much  pertinacity  as  if  he 
had  been  right. 

"  If  you  are  fast,  I  am  fast  too.  I'm  not  so  certain  of 
your  law.  When  a  man  puts  an  iron  into  a  whale,  com- 
monly it  is  his  fish,  if  he  can  get  him,  and  kill  him.  But 
there  is  a* law  above  all  whalers'  law,  and  that  is  the  law  of 
Divine  Providence.  Providence  has  fastened  us  to  this 
crittur',  as  if  on  purpose  to  give  us  a  right  in  it  ;  and  I'm 
by  no  means  so  sure  States'  law  won't  uphold  that  doctrine. 
Then,  I  lost  my  own  whale  by  means  of  this,  and  am  en- 
titled to  some  compensation  for  such  a  loss." 

"  You  lost  your  own  whale  because  he  led  round  the 
head  of  mine,  and  not  only  drew  his  own  iron,  but  came 
nigh  causing  me  to  cut.  If  any  one  is  entitled  to  damage 
for  such  an  act,  it  is  I,  who  have  been  put  to  extra  trouble 
in  getting  my  fish." 

"  I  do  believe  it  was  my  lance  that  did  the  job  for  the 
fellow  !  I  darted,  and  you  struck  ;  in  that  way  I  got  the 
start  of  you,  and  may  claim  to  have  made  the  crittur'  spout 
the  first  blood.  But,  hearkee,  Gar'ner — there's  my  hand— 
we've  been  friends  so  far,  and  I  want  to  hold  out  friends. 
I  will  make  you  a  proposal,  therefore.  Join  stocks  from 
this  moment,  and  whale,  and  seal,  and  do  all  things  else  in 
common.  When  we  make  a  final  stowage  for  the  return 


I5o  THE    SEA    Z/CM-.S-. 

passage,  we  can  make  a  final  division,  and  each  man  take 
his  share  of  the  common  adventure." 

To  do  Roswell  justice,  he  saw  through  the  artifice  of  this 
proposition,  the  instant  it  was  uttered.  It  had  the  effect, 
notwithstanding,  a  good  deal  to  mollify  his  feelings,  since 
it  induced  him  to  believe  that  Daggett  was  manoeuvring  to 
get  at  his  great  secret,  rather  than  to  assail  his  rights. 

"'You  are  part  owner  of  your  schooner,  Captain  Dag- 
gett, '  our  hero  answered,  "while  I  have  no  other  interest 
in  mine  than  my  lay,  as  her  master.  You  may  have  author- 
ity to  make  such  a  bargain,  but  I  have  none.  It  is  my 
duty  to  fill  the  craft  as  fast  and  as  full  as  I  can,  and  carry 
her  back  safely  to  Deacon  Pratt  ;  but,  I  dare  say,  your 
Vineyard  people  will  let  you  cruise  about  the  earth  at  your 
pleasure,  trusting  to  Providence  for  a  profit.  I  cannot 
accept  your  offer." 

u  This  is  answering  like  a  man,  Gar'ner,  and  I  like  you 
all  the  better  for  it.  Forty  or  fifty  barrels  of  ile  sha'n't 
break  friendship  between  us.  I  helped  you  into  port  at 
Beaufort,  and  gave  up  the  salvage  ;  and  now  I'll  help  tow 
your  whale  alongside,  and  see  you  fairly  through  this  busi- 
ness too.  Perhaps  I  shall  have  all  the  better  luck  for 
being  a  little  generous." 

There  was  prudence,  as  well  as  art,  in  this  decision  of 
Daggett's.  Notwithstanding  his  ingenious  pretensions  to 
a  claim  in  the  whale,  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  no  law 
would  sustain  it  ;  and  that,  in  addition  to  the  c*hances  of 
being  beaten  on  the  spot,  which  were  at  least  equal,  he 
would  certainly  be  beaten  in  the  courts  at  home,  should  he 
really  attempt  to  carry  out  his  declared  design.  Then,  he 
really  deferred  to  the  expectation  that  his  future  good  fort- 
une might  be  influenced  by  his  present  forbearance. 
Superstition  forms  a  material  part  of  a  sailor's  nature,  if, 
indeed,  it  do  not  that  of  every  man  engaged  in  hazardous 
and  uncertain  adventures.  How  far  his  hopes  were  justified 
in  this  last  respect,  will  appear  in  the  contents  of  a  com- 
munication that  Deacon  Pratt  received  from  the  master  of 
his  schooner,  and  to  which  we  will  now  refer,  as  the  clearest 
and  briefest  mode  of  continuing  the  narrative. 

The  Sea  Lion  left  Oyster  Pond  late  in  September.  It 
was  the  third  day  of  March  in  the  succeeding  year,  that 
Mary  was  standing  at  the  window,  gazing  with  melancholy 
interest  at  that  point  in  the  adjacent  waters  where  last  she 
had  seen,  nearly  six  months  before,  the  vessel  of  Roswell 
disappear  behind  the  woods  of  the  island  that  bears  his 


THI-:  SEA  i.ioxs.  151 

family  name.  There  had  been  a  long  easterly  gale,  but 
the  weather  had  changed  ;  the  south  wind  blew  softly,  and 
all  the  indications  of  an  early  spring  were  visible.  For 
the  first  time  in  three  months,  she  had  raised  the  sash  of 
that  window  ;  and  the  air  that  entered  was  bland,  and 
savored  of  the  approaching  season. 

"  I  dare  say,  uncle  " — the  deacon  was  writing  near  a 
very  low  wood-fire,  which  was  scarcely  more  than  embers 
• — "  I  dare  say,  uncle,"  said  the  sweet  voice  of  Mary,  which 
was  a  little  tremulous  with  feeling,  "that  the  ocean  is 
calm  enough  to-day.  It  is  very  silly  in  us  to  tremble, 
when  there  "is  a  storm,  for  those  who  must  now  be  so  many, 
many  thousand  miles  away.  What- is  the  distance  between 
the  antarctic  seas  and  Oyster  Pond,  I  wonder?" 

"You  ought  to  be  able  to  calculate  that  yourself,  gal,  or 
wh-at  is  the  use  to  pay  for  your  schooling  ?  " 

"  I  should  not  know  how  to  set  about  it,  uncle,"  returned 
the  gentle  Mary,  "though  I  should  be  very  glad  to  know." 

"  How  many  miles  are  there  in  a  degree  of  latitude, 
child?  You  know  that,  I  believe." 

"More  than  sixty-nine,  sir." 

"Well,  in  what  latitude  is  Oyster  Pond  ?" 

"  I  have  heard  Roswell  say  that  we  were  a  little  higher, 
as  he  calls  it,  than  forty-one." 

"  Well,  41  times  69  "—figuring  as  he  spoke — "  make  2,829  J 
say  we  are  3,000  miles  from  the  equator,  the  nearest  way  we 
can  get  there.  Then  the  antarctic  circle  commences  in 
23°  3°'  south,  which  deducted  from  90  degrees,  leave  just 
66°  30'  between  the  equator  and  the  nearest  spot  within 
the  sea  you  have  mentioned.  Now  66°  30'  give  about 
4,589  statute  miles  more,  in  a  straight  line,  allowing  only 
69  to  a  degree.  The  two  sums,  added  together,  make  7,589 
miles,  or  rather  more.  But  the  road  is  not  straight  by  any 
means,  as  shipmasters  tell  me  ;  and  I  suppose  Gar'ner 
must  have  gone,  at  the  very  least,  8,000  miles  to  reach  his 
latitude,  to  say  nothing' of  a  considerable  distance  of  longi- 
tude to  travel  over,  to  the  southward  of  Cape  Horn." 

'"  It  is  a  terrible  distance  to  have  a  friend  from  us  !  "  ejac- 
ulated Mary,  though  in  a  low,  dejected  tone. 

"It  is  a  terrible  distance  for  a  man  to  trust  his  property 
away  from  him,  gal  ;  and  I  do  not  sleep  a-nights  for  think- 
ing of  it,  when  I  remember  where  my  own  schooner  may 
be  all  this  time  !  " 

11  Ah,  here  is  Baiting  Joe,  and  with  a  letter  in  his  hand, 
uncle,  I  do  declare  !" 


152  TJIK    A7-;.-/    l.!0.\S. 

It  might  be  a  secret  hope  that  impelled  Mary,  for  awar 
she  bounded  like  a  young  fawn,  running  to  meet  the  old 
fisherman  at  the  door.  No  sooner  did  her  eyes  fall  on  the 
superscription,  than  the  large  package  was  pressed  to  her 
heart,  and  she  seemed,  for  an  instant,  lost  in  thanksgiving. 
That  no  one  might  unnecessarily  be  a  witness  of  what 
passed  between  her  uncle  and  herself,  Joe  was  directed  to 
the  kitchen,  where  a  good  meal,  a  glass  of  rum  and  water, 
and  the  quarter  of  a  dollar  that  Mary  gave  him,  as  she 
showed  the  way,  satisfied  him  with  the  results  of  his  trouble. 

"  Here  it  is,  uncle,"  cried  the  nearly  breathless  girl,  re- 
entering  the  "  keeping-room,"  and  unconsciously  holding 
the  letter  still  pressed  to  her  heart, — "  a  letter — a  letter 
from  Roswell,  in  his  own  precious  hand." 

A  flood  of  tears  gave  some  relief  to  feelings  that  had  so 
long  been  pent,  and  eased  a  heart  that  had  been  compressed 
nearly  to  breaking.  At  any  other  time,  and  at  this  un* 
equivocal  evidence  of  the  hold  the  young  man  had  on  the 
affections  of  his  niece,  Deacon  Pratt  would  have  remon- 
strated with  her  on  the  folly  of  refusing  to  become  "  Ros- 
well Gar'ner's  "  wife  ;  but  the  sight  of  the  letter  drove  all 
other  thoughts  from  his  head,  concentrating  his  whole  be- 
ing in  the  fate  of  the  schooner. 

'*  Look,  and  see  if  it  has  the  antarctic  post-mark  on  it, 
Mary,"  said  the  deacon,  in  a  tremulous  voice. 

This  request  was  not  made  so  much  in  ignorance  as  in 
trepidation.  The  deacon  very  well  knew  that  the  islands 
the  Sea  Lion  was  to  visit  were  uninhabited,  and  were  des- 
titute of  post-offices  ;  but  his  ideas  were  confused,  and 
apprehension  rendered  him  silly. 

"  Uncle,"  exclaimed  the  niece,  wiping  the  tears  from  a 
face  that  was  now  rosy  with  blushes  at  her  own  weakness, 
"surely,  Roswell  can  find  no  post-office  where  he  is  !  " 

"  But  the  letter  must  have  some  post-mark,  child.  Bait- 
ing Joe  has  not  brought  it  himself  into  the  country." 

"It  is  post-marked  'New  York,'  sir,  and  nothing  else, 
Yes,  here  is  '  Forwarded  by  Cane,  Spriggs,  &  Button, 
Rio  de  Janeiro.'  It  must  have  been  put  into  a  post-office 
there." 

"  Rio  ! — Here  is  more  salvage,  gal — more  salvage  com- 
ing to  afflict  me  !  " 

"  But  you  had  no  salvage  to  pay,  uncle,  on  the  other 
occasion  ;  perhaps  there  will  be  none  to  pay  on  this.  Had 
I  not  better  open  the  letter  at  once,  and  see  what  has  hap- 
pened ?  " 


Tin-:    SEA    LIOXS.  153 

"  Yes,  open  it,  child,"  answered  the  deacon,  in  a  voice 
so  feeble  as  to  be  scarcely  audible — "  open  it  at  once,  as 
you  say,  and  let  me  know  my  fate.  Anything  is  better 
than  this  torment  !  " 

Mary  did  not  wait  for  a  second  permission,  but  instantly 
broke  the  seal.  It  might  have  been  the  result  of  educa- 
tion, or  there  may  be  such  a  thing  as  female  instinct  in 
these  matters  ;  but  certain  it  is,  that  the  girl  turned  toward 
the  window,  as  she  tore  the  paper  asunder,  and  slipped  the 
letter  that  bore  her  own  name  into  a  fold  of  her  dress,  so 
Dexterously,  that  one  far  more  keen-sighted  than  her  un- 
;le  would  not  have  detected  the  act.  No  sooner  was  her 
v>wn  letter  thus  secured,  than  the  niece  offered  the  princi- 
oal  epistle  to  her  uncle. 

"  Read  it  yourself,  Mary,"  said  the  last,  in  his  querulous 
tones.  "  My  eyes  are  so  dim,  that  I  could  not  see  to  read  it." 

"'Rio  de  Janeiro,  Province  of  Brazil,  South  America, 
NTov.  i4th,  1819,'  "  commenced  the  niece. 

"  Rio  de  Janeiro!  "  interrupted  the  uncle.  "  Why,  that 
;s  round  Cape  Horn,  isn't  it,  Mary  ?" 

"  Certainly  not,  sir.  Brazil  is  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Andes,  and  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  its  capital.  The  king  of 
Portugal  lives  there  now,  and  has  lived  there  as  long  as  I 
can  remember." 

11  Yes,  yes  ;  I  had  forgotten.  The  Brazil  Banks,  where 
our  whalers  go,  are  in  the  Atlantic.  But  what  can  have 
eaken  Gar'ner  into  Rio,  unless  it  be  to  spend  more  money  !  " 

"  By  reading  the  letter,  sir,  we  shall  soon  know.  I  see 
there  is  something  about  spermaceti  oil  here." 

"  He  ?  And  spalm  ile,  do  you  say  !  "  exclaimed  the 
deacon,  brightening  up  at  once — "  Read  on,  Mary,  my 
good  gal — read  the  letter  as  fast  as  you  can— read  it  at  a 
trot." 

"  'Deacon  Israel  Pratt — Dear  sir,'"  continued  Mary,  in 
obedience  to  this  command,  "  '  the  two  schooners  sailed 
from  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  as  stated  already,  per  mail, 
in  a  letter  written  at  that  port,  and  which  has  doubtless 
come  to  hand.  We  had  fine  weather,  and  a  tolerable  run 
of  it,  until  we  reached  the  calm  latitudes,  where  we  were 
detained  by  the  usual  changes  for  about  a  week.  On  the 
1 8th  Oct.  the  pleasant  cry  of  '  there  she  spouts  '  was  heard 
aboard  here,  and  we  found  ourselves  in  the  neighborhood 
of  whales.  Both  schooners  lowered  their  boats,  and  I  was 
soon  fast  to  a  fine  bull,  who  gave  us  a  long  tow  before  the 
lance  was  put  into  him,  and  he  was  made  to  spout  blood. 


I54  TJIK    SI'.  A     L10\S. 

Captain  Daggett  set  up  some  claims  to  this  fish,  in  conse« 
quence  of  his  line's  getting  foul  of  the  creature's  jaws,  but 
he  changed  his  mind  in  good  season,  and  clapped  on  to 
help  tow  the  whale  down  to  the  vessel.  His  irons  drew 
from  a  young  bull,  and  a  good  deal  of  dissatisfaction  ex- 
isted among  the  other  crew,  until,  fortunately,  the  school 
of  young  bulls  came  round  quite  near  us,  when  Captain 
Daggett  and  his  people  succeeded  in  securing  no  less  than 
three  of  the  fish,  and  Mr.  Hazard  got  a  very  fine  one  for  us. 

"  '  I  am  happy  to  say  that  we  had  very  pleasant  weather 
to  cut  in,  and  secured  every  gallon  of  the  oil  of  both  our 
whales,  as  did  Captain  Daggett  all  of  his.  Our  largest 
bull  made  one  hundred  and  nineteen  barrels,  of  which 
forty-three  barrels  was  head-matter.  I  never  saw  better 
case  and  junk  in  a  whale  in  my  life.  The  smallest  bull 
turned  out  well,  too,  making  fifty-eight  barrels,  of  which 
twenty-one  was  head.  Daggett  got  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  barrels  from  his  three  fish,  a  very  fair  propor- 
tion of  head,  though  not  as  large  as  our  own.  Having  this 
oil  on  board,  we  came  in  here  after  a  pleasant  run  ;  and  I 
have  shipped,  as  per  invoice  inclosed,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  barrels  of  spermaceti  oil,  viz.,  sixty-four  bar- 
rels of  head,  and  rest  in  body-oil,  to  your  order,  care  of 
Fish  &  Grinnell,  New  York,  by  the  brig  Jason,  Captain 
Williams,  who  will  sail  for  home  about  the  2oth  proximo, 
and  to  whom  I  trust  this  letter — 

"  Stop,  Mary,  my  dear — this  news  is  overpowering — it  is 
almost  too  good  to  be  true,"  interrupted  the  deacon,  nearly 
as  much  unmanned  by  this  intelligence  of  his  good  fortune 
as  he  had  previously  been  by  his  apprehensions.  "  Yes,  it. 
does  seem  too  good  to  be  true  ;  read  it  again,  child  ;  yes, 
read  every  syllable  of  it  again  ! " 

Mary  complied,  delighted  enough  to  hear  all  she  could 
of  Roswell's  success. 

"Why,  uncle,"  said  the  deeply-interested  girl,  "all  this 
oil  is  spermaceti !  It  is  worth  a  great  deal  more  than  so 
much  of  that  which  comes  of  the  right  whale." 

"  More  !  Ay,  nearly  as  three  for  one.  Hunt  me  up  the 
last  Spectator,  girl — hunt  me  up  the  last  Spectator,  and  let 
me  see  at  once  at  what  they  quote  spalm." 

Mary  soon  found  the  journal,  and  handed  it  to  her  uncle. 

"Yes,  here  it  is,  and  quoted  $1.12^  per  gallon,  as  I  live! 
That's  nine  shillings  a  gallon,  Mary — just  calculate  on  that 
bit  of  paper — thirty  times  one  Jumdrcd  and  seventy-seven, 
Mary  ;  how  much  is  that,  child  ?" 


THE  SJ-:A  i JONS.  155 

"I  make  it  5,310,  uncle — yes,  that  is  right.  But  what 
are  the  30  times  for,  sir  ? " 

"  Gallons,  gal,  gallons.  Each  barrel  has  30  gallons  in  it, 
if  not  more.  There  ought  to  be  32  by  rights,  hut  this  is  a 
cheating  age.  Now  multiply  5,310  by  9,  and  see  what  that 
comes  to." 

"Just  47,790,  sir,  as  near  as  I  can  get  it." 

"Yes,  that's  the  shillings.  Now  divide  47,790  by  8,  my 
dear.  Be  actyve,  Mary,  be  actyve." 

"  It  leaves  5,973,  with  a  remainder  of  6,  sir.  I  believe  I'm 
right." 

"  I  dare  say  you  are,  child  ;  yes,  I  dare  say  you  are.  This 
is  the  dollars.  A  body  may  call  them  $6,000,  as  the  barrels 
will  a  little  overrun  the  30  gallons.  My  share  of  this  will 
be  two-thirds,  and  that  will  net  the  handsome  sum  of,  say 
$4,000  !  " 

The  deacon  rubbed  his  hands  with  delight,  and  having 
found  his  voice  again,  his  niece  was  astonished  at  hearing 
him  utter  what  he  had  to  say,  with  a  sort  of  glee  that 
sounded  in  her  ears  as  very  unnatural,  coming  from  him. 
So  it  was,  however,  and  she  dutifully  endeavored  not  to 
think  of  it. 

11  Four  thousand  dollars,  Mary,  will  quite  cover  the  first 
cost  of  the  schooner  ;  that  is,  without  including  outfit  and 
spare  rigging,  of  which  her  master  took  about  twice  as 
much  as  was  necessary.  He's  a  capital  fellow,  is  that 
young  Gar'ner,  and  will  make  an  excellent  husband,  as 
I've  always  told  you,  child.  A  little  wasteful,  perhaps, 
but  an  excellent  youth  at  the  bottom.  I  dare  say  he  lost 
his  spars  off  Cape  Hatteras  in  trying  to  outsail  that  Dag- 
gett  ;  but  I  overlook  all  that  now.  He's  a  capital  youth  to 
work  upon  a  whale  or  a  sea-elephant !  There  isn't  his 
equal,  as  I'll  engage,  in  all  Ameriky,  if  you'll  only  let  him 
know  where  to  find  the  creatur's.  I  knew  his  character 
before  I  engaged  him  ;  for  no  man  but  a  real  skinner  shall 
ever  command  a  craft  of  mine." 

"  Roswell  is  a  good  fellow,"  answered  Mary,  with  em- 
phasis, the  tears  filling  her  eyes  as  she  listened  to  these 
eulogiums  of  her  uncle  011  the  youth  she  loved  with  all  oi 
a  woman's  tenderness,  at  the  very  moment  she  scrupled  to 
place  her  happiness  on  one  whose  "  God  was  not  her  God." 
"  No  one  knows  him  better  than  I,  uncle,  and  no  one  re» 
spects  him  more.  But  had  I  not  better  read  the  rest  of 
his  letter  ? — there  is  a  good  deal  more  of  it." 

''•'  Go   on,  child,  go  on — but  read  the  part  over   again 


156  777 A    S&  '    LIQ&S. 

where  he  speaks  of  the  quan  ity  of  the  ile  he  has  shipped 
to  Fish  &  Grinnell." 

Mary  did  as  requested,  when  she  proceeded  to  read 
aloud  the  rest  of  the  communication. 

"I  have  been  much  at  a  loss  how  to  act  in  regard  to 
Captain  Daggett,"  said  Roswel',  in  his  letter.  "He  stood 
by  me  so  manfully  and  generously  off  Cape  Hatteras,  that 
I  did  not  like  to  part  company  in-  the  night,  or  in  a  squall, 
which  would  have  seemed  ungrateful,  as  well  as  wearing  a 
sort  of  runaway  look.  I  am  afrau'  he  has  some  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  our  islands,  thorgh  I  doubt  whether  he 
has  their  latitude  and  longitude  exai  \ly.  Something  there 
is  of  this  nature  on  board  the  other  schooner,  her  people 
often  dropping  hints  toxliy  officers  and  men,  when  they 
have  been  gamming.  I  have  sometimes  fancied  Daggett 
sticks  so  close  to -us,  that  he  may  get  the  advantage  of  our 
reckoning  to  help  him  to  what  he  wants  t^  find.  He  is  no 
great  navigator  anywhere,  running  more  by  signs  and  cur- 
rents, in  my  judgment,  than  by  the  use  of  his  instruments. 
Still,  he  could  find  his  way  to  any  part  of  the  world." 

"  Stop  there,  Mary  ;  stop  a  little,  and  let  m^  have  time 
to  consider.  Isn't  it  awful,  child  ?  " 

The  niece  changed  color,  and  seemed  reallj  frightened, 
so  catching  wras  the  deacon's  distress,  though  she  scarce 
knew  what  was  the  matter. 

"What  is  awful,  uncle  ?  "  at  length  she  askea  'inxious  to 
know  the  worst. 

"This  covetousness  in  them  Vineyarders  !  I  consider  it 
both  awful  and  wicked.  I  must  get  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle 
to  preach  against  the  sin  of  covetousness  ;  it  does  gain  so 
much  ground  in  Ameriky  !  The  whole  Church  si  ould  lift 
its  voice  against  it,  or  it  will  shortly  lift  its  voice  against 
the  Church.  To  think  of  them  Daggetts  fitting  out  a 
schooner  to  follow  my  craft  about  the  'arth  in  this  u  xheard- 
of  manner  ;  just  as  if  she  was  a  pilot-boat,  and  young 
Gar'ner  a  pilot  !  I  do  hope  the  fellows  will  make  a  wrack 
of  it,  among  the  ice  of  the  antarctic  seas  !  That  woi  \d  be 
a  fit  punishment  for  their  impudence  and  covetousness." 

"  I  suppose,  sir,  they  think  that  they  have  the  same  right 
to  sail  on  the  ocean  that  others  have.  Seals  and  whrles 
are  the  gifts  of  God,  and  one  person  has  no  more  righi  to 
them  than  another." 

"  You  forget,  Mary,  that  one  man  may  have  a  secret  thi  t 
another  doesn't  know.  In  that  case  he  ought  not  to  po 
prying  about  like  an  old  woman  in  a  village  neighborhood 


77 fK    SKA    1JO.YS.  157 

Read  on,  child,  read  on,  and  let  me  know  the  worst  at 
once." 

"  I  shall  sail  to-morrow,  having  finished  all  my  business 
here,  and  hope  to  be  off  Cape  Horn  in  twenty  days,  if  not 
sooner.  In  what  manner  I  am  to  get  rid  of  Daggett,  I  do 
not  yet  know.  He  outsails  me  a  little  on  all  tacks,  unless 
it  be  in  very  heavy  weather,  when  I  have  a  trifling  advan- 
tage over  him.  It  will  be  in  my  power  to  quit  him  any 
dark  night  ;  but  if  I  let  him  go  ahead,  and  he  should  really 
have  any  right  notions  about  the  position  of  the  islands, 
he  might  get  there  first,  and  make  havoc  among  the  seals." 

"Awful,  awful!"  interrupted  the  deacon,  again;  "that 
would  be  the  worst  of  all !  I  won't  allow  it  ;  I  forbid  it — 
it  shall  not  be  !  " 

"  Alas !  uncle,  poor  Roswell  is  too  far  from  us  now  to 
hear  these  words.  No  doubt  the  matter  is  long  since  de- 
cided, and  he  has  acted  according  to  the  best  of  his  judg- 
ment." 

"  It  is  terrible  to  have  one's  property  so  far  away  !  Gov- 
ernment ought  to  have  steamboats,  or  packets  of  some 
sort,  running  between  New  York  and  Cape  Horn,  to  carry 
orders  back  and  forth.  But  we  shall  never  have  things 
right,  Mary,  so  long  as  the  democrats  are  uppermost." 

By  this  remark,  which  savors  very  strongly  of  a  species 
of  censure  that  is  much  in  fashion  in  the  coteries  of  that 
Great  Emporium,  which  it  is  the  taste  and  pleasure  of  its 
people  to  term  a  commercial  emporium,  especially  among 
elderly  ladies,  the  reader  will  at  once  perceive  that  the 
deacon  was  a  federalist,  which  was  somewhat  of  a  novelty 
in  Suffolk  thirty  years  since.  Had  he  lived  down  to  our 
own  times,  the  old  man  would  probably  have  made  all  the 
gyrations  in  politics  that  have  distinguished  the  school  to 
which  he  would  have  belonged,  and,  without  his  own 
knowledge,  most  probably,  would  have  been  as  near  an 
example  of  perpetual  motion  as  the  world  will  ever  see, 
through  his  devotion  to  what  are  now  called  "  whig  prin- 
ciples." We  are  no  great  politician,  but  time  has  given  us 
the  means  of  comparing  ;  and  we  often  smile  when  we 
hear  the  disciples  of  Hamilton,  and  of  Adams,  and  of  all 
that  high-toned  school,  declaiming  against  the  use  of  the 
veto,  and  talking  of  the  "  one  man  power,"  and  of  Congress 
leading  the  government !  The  deacon  was  very  apt  to  throw 
the  opprobrium  of  even  a  bad  season  on  the  administration, 
and  the  reader  has  seen  what  he  thought  of  the  subject  of 
running  packets  between  New  York  and  Cape  Horn. 


i58  THE   SEA    LIOXS. 

"There  ought  to  be  a  large  navy,  Mary — a  monstrous 
navy,  so  that  "the  vessels  might  be  kept  carrying  letters 
about,  and  serving  the  public.  But  we  shall  never  have 
things  right  until  Rufus  King,  or  some  man  like  him,  gets 
in.  If  Gar' ner  lets  that  Daggett  get  the  start  of  him,  he 
never  need  come  home  again.  The  islands  are  as  much 
mine  as  if  I  had  bought  them  ;  and  I'm  not  sure  an  action 
wouldn't  lie  for  seals  taken  on  them  without  my  consent. 
Yes,  yes  ;  we  want  a  monstrous  navy  to  convoy  sealers,  and 
carry  letters  about,  and  keep  some  folks  at  home,  while  it 
lets  other  folks  go  about  their  lawful  business." 

"  Of  what  islands  are  you  speaking,  uncle  ?  Surely  the 
sealing  islands,  where' Roswell  has  gone,  are  public  and 
uninhabited,  and  no  one  has  a  better  right  there  than 
another ! " 

The  deacon  perceived  that  he  had  gone  too  far  in  his 
tribulation,  and  began  to  have  a  faint  notion  that  he  was 
making  a  fool  of  himself.  He  asked  his  niece,  in  a  very 
faint  voice,  therefore,  to  hand  him  the  letter,  the  remainder 
of  which  he  would  endeavor  to  read  himself.  Although 
every  word  that  Roswell  Gardiner  wrote  was  very  precious 
lo  Mary,  the  gentle  girl  had  a  still  unopened  epistle  to  her- 
self to  peruse,  and  glad  enough  was  she  to  make  the  ex- 
change. Handing  the  deacon  his  letter,  therefore,  she  with- 
drew at  once  to  her  private  room,  in  order  to  read  her  own. 

"Dearest  Mary,"  said  Roswell  Gardiner,  in  this  epistle, 
"your  uncle  will  tell  you  what  has  brought  us  into  this 
port,  and  all  things  connected  with  the  schooner.  I  have 
sent  home  more  than  $4,000  worth  of  oil,  and  I  hope  my 
owner  will  forgive  the  accident  off  Currituck,  on  account 
of  this  run  of  good  luck.  In  my  opinion,  we  shall  yet 
make  a  voyage,  and  that  part  of  my  fortune  will  be  secure. 
Would  that  I  could  feel  as  sure  of  finding  you  more  dis- 
posed to  be  kind  to  me  on  my  return  !  I  read  in  your 
Bible  every  day,  Mary,  and  I  often  pray  to  God  to  en- 
lighten my  mind,  if  my  views  have  been  wrong.  As  yet,  I 
cannot  flatter  myself  with  any  change,  for  my  old  opinions 
appear  rather  to  be  more  firmly  rooted  than  they  were 
before  I  sailed."  Here  poor  Mary  heaved  a  heavy  sigh, 
and  wiped  the  tears  from  her  eyes.  She  was  pained  to  a 
degree  she  could  hardly  believe  possible,  though  she  did 
full  credit  to  Roswell's  frankness.  Like  all  devout  per- 
sons, her  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  sacred  writ  was  strong ; 
and  she  so  much  the  more  lamented  her  suitor's  continued 
blindness,  because  it  remained  after  light  had  shone  upon 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  159 

it.  "Still,  Mary,"  the  letter  added,  "  as  I  have  every 
human  inducement  to  endeavor  to  be  right,  I  shall  not 
throw  aside  the  book,  by  any  means.  In  that  I  fully 
believe  ;  our  difference  being  in  what  the  volume  teaches. 
Pray  for  me,  sweetest  girl — but  I  know  you  do,  and  will 
continue  to  do,  as  long  as  I  am  absent." 

"Yes,  indeed,  Roswell,"  murmured  Mary — "as  long  as 
you  and  I  live  ! " 

"  Next  to  this  one  great  concern  of  my  life,  comes  that 
which  this  man  Daggett  gives  me,"  the  letter  went  on  .to 
say.  "  I  hardly  know  what  to  do  under  all  the  circum- 
stances. Keep  in  his  company  much  longer  I  cannot, 
without  violating  .my  duty  to  the  deacon.  Yet  it  is  not 
easy,  in  any  sense,  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  has  stood  by  me 
so  manfully  on  all  occasions,  and  seems  so  much  disposed 
to  make  good-fellowship  of  the  voyage,  that,  did  it  depend 
on  myself  only,  I  should  at  once  make  a  bargain  with  him 
to  seal  in  company  and  to  divide  the  spoils.  But  this  is 
now  impossible,  and  I  must  quit  him  in  some  way  or  other. 
He  outsails  me  in  most  weathers,  and  it  is  a  thing  easier 
said  than  done.  What  will  make  it  more  difficult  is  the 
growing  shortness  of  the  nights.  The  days  lengthen  fast 
now,  and  as  we  go  south  they  will  become  so  much  longer 
that,  by  the  time  when  it  will  be  indispensable  to  separate, 
it  will  be  nearly  all  day.  The  thing  must  be  done,  how- 
ever, and  I  trust  to  luck  to  be  able  to  do  it  as  it  ought  to 
be  effected. 

"And  now,  dearest,  dearest  Mary "  But  why  should 

we  lift  the  veil  from  the  feelings  of  this  young  man,  who 
concluded  his  letter  by  pouring  out  his  whole  heart  in  a 
few  sincere  and  manly  sentences.  Mary  wept  over  them 
most  of  that  day,  perusing  and  rcperusing  them,  until  her 
eyes  would  scarce  perform  their  proper  office. 

A  few  days  later  the  deacon  was  made  a  very  happy  man 
by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Fish  and  Grinnell,  notify- 
ing him  of  the  arrival  of  his  oil,  accompanied  by  a  most 
gratifying  account  of  the  state  of  the  market,  and  asking 
for  instructions.  The  oil  was  disposed  of,  and  the  deacon 
pocketed  his  portion  of  the  proceeds  as  soon  as  possible  ; 
eagerly  looking  for  a  new  and  profitable  investment  for  the 
avails.  Great  was  the  reputation  Roswell  Gardiner  made 
by  this  capture  of  the  two  spermaceti  whales,  and  by  send- 
ing the  proceeds  to  so  good  a  market.  In  commerce,  as  in 
war,  success  is  all  in  all,  though  in  both  success  is  nearly 
as  often  the  result  of  unforeseen  circumstances  as  of  cal- 


160  THE    SEA    LIOXS. 

dilation  and  wisdom.  It  is  true,  there  i^  a  sort  of  trade, 
and  a  sort  of  war,  in  which  prudence  and  care  may  effect 
a  great  deal,  yet  are  both  often  outstripped  by  the  random 
exertions  and  adventures  of  these  who  calculate  almost  as 
wildly  as  they  act.  Audacity,  as  the  French  term  it,  is  a 
great  quality  in  war,  and  often  achieves  more  than  the 
most  calculated  wisdom — nay,  it  becomes  wisdom  in  that 
sort  of  struggle  ;  and  we  are  far  from  being  sure  that  au- 
dacity is  not  sometimes  as  potent  in  trade.  At  all  events, 
it  was  esteemed  a  bold,  as  well  as  a  prosperous  exploit,  for 
a  little  schooner  like  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  to  take 
a  hundred-barrel  whale,  and  to  send  home  its  "ile,"  as  the 
deacon  always  pronounced  the  word,  in  common  with  most 
others  in  old  Suffolk. 

Long  and  anxious  months,  with  one  exception,  succeed- 
ed this  bright  spot  of  sunshine  in  Mary  Pratt's  solicitude 
in  behalf  of  the  absent  Roswell.  She  knew  there  was  but 
little  chance  of  hearing  from  him  again  until  he  returned 
north.  The  exception  was  a  short  letter  that  the  deacon 
received,  dated  two  weeks  later  than  that  written  from  Rio, 
in  latitude  forty-one,  or  just  as  far  south  of  the  equator  as 
Oyster  Pond  was  north  of  it,  and  nearly  fourteen  hundred 
miles  to  the  southward  of  Rio.  This  letter  was  written  in 
great  haste,  to  send  home  by  a  Pacific  trader  who  was  ac- 
cidentally met  nearer  the  coast  than  was  usual  for  such 
vessels  to  be.  It  stated  that  all  was  well  ;  that  the  schoon- 
er of  Daggett  was  still  in  company;  and  that  Gardiner 
intended  to  get  "shut"  of  her,  as  the  deacon  expressed  it, 
on  the  very  first  occasion. 

After  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  the  third  written  by  Ros- 
well Gardiner  since  he  left  home,  a  long  and  blank  inter- 
val of  silence  succeeded.  Then  it  was  that  months  passed 
awray  in  an  anxious  and  dark  uncertainty.  Spring  followed 
winter,  summer  succeeded  to  spring,  and  autumn  came  to 
reap  the  fruits  of  all  the  previous  seasons,  without  bringing 
any  further  tidings  of  the  adventurers.  Then  winter  made 
its  second  appearance  since  the  Sea  Lion  had  sailed,  fill, 
ing  the  minds  of  the  mariners' friends  with  sad  forebodings 
as  they  listened  to  the  meanings  of  the  gales  that  accom- 
panied that  bleak  and  stormy  quarter  of  the  year.  Deep 
and  painful  were  the  anticipations  of  the  deacon,  in  whom 
failing  health  and  a  near  approach  to  the  "  last  of  earth," 
came  to  increase  the  gloom.  As  for  Mary,  youth  and 
health  sustained  her  ;  but  her  very  soul  was  heavy,  as  she 
pondered  on  so  long  and  uncertain  an  absence. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  161 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

"  Safely  in  harbor 

Is  the  king's  ship  ;  in  the  deep  nook,  where  once 
Thou  calledst  me  up  at  midnight  to  fetch  dew 
From  the  still  vex'd  Bermoothes,  there  she's  hid." — 

THE  letter  of  Roswell  Gardiner  last  received,  bore  the 
date  of  December  loth,  1819,  or  just  a  fortnight  after  he 
had  sailed  from  Rio  de  Janeiro.  We  shall  next  present 
the  schooner  of  Deacon  Pratt  to  the  reader  on  the  i8th 
of  that  month,  or  three  weeks  and  one  day  after  she  had 
sailed  from  the  capital  of  Brazil.  Early  in  the  morning 
of  the  day  last  mentioned,  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond 
was  visible  standing  to  the  northward,  with  the  wind 
light,  but  freshening,  from  the  westward,  and  in  smooth 
water.  Land  was  not  only  in  sight,  but  was  quite  near, 
less  than  a  league  distant.  Toward  this  land  the  head  of 
the  schooner  had  been  laid,  and  she  was  approaching  it  at 
the  rate  of  some  four  or  five  knots.  The  land  was  broken, 
high,  of  a  most  sterile  aspect,  where  it  was  actually  to 
be  seen,  and  nearly  all  covered  with  a  light  but  melting 
snow,  though  the  season  was  advanced  to  the  middle  of 
the  first  month  in  summer.  The  weather  was  not  very 
cold,  however,  and  there  was  a  feeling  about  it  that  prom- 
ised it  would  become  still  milder.  The  aspect  of  the 
neighboring  land,  so  barren,  rugged,  and  inhospitable, 
chilled  the  feelings,  and  gave  to  the  scene  a  sombre  hue, 
which  the  weather  itself  might  not  have  imparted.  Di- 
rectly ahead  of  the  schooner  rose  a  sort  of  pyramid  of 
broken  rocks,  which,  occupying  a  small  island,  stood  iso- 
lated in  a  measure,  and  some  distance  in  advance  of  other 
and  equally  rugged  ranges  of  mountains,  which  belonged 
also  to  islands  detached  from  the  mainland  thousands  of 
years  before,  under  some  vrolent  convulsions  of  nature. 

It  was  quite  apparent  that  all  on  board  the  schooner  re- 
garded that  ragged  pyramid  with  lively  interest.  Most  of 
the  crew  were  collected  on  the  forecastle,  including  the 
officers,  and  all  eyes  were  fastened  on  the  ragged  pyramid 
which  they  were  diagonally  approaching.  The  principal 
spokesman  was  Stimson,  the  oldest  mariner  on  board,  and 
one  who  had  oftener  visited  those  seas  than  any  other  of 
the  crew. 


162  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  You  know  the  spot,  do  you,  Stephen  ? "  demanded  Ros- 
well  Gardiner,  with  interest. 

"Yes,  sir,  there's  no  mistake.  That's  the  Horn.  Eleven 
times  have  I  doubled  it,  and  this  is  the  third  time  that  I've 
been  so  close  in  as  to  get  a  fair  sight  of  it.  Once  I  went 
inside,  as  I've  told  you,  sir." 

"I  have  doubled  it  six  times  myself,"  said  Gardiner, 
"but  never  saw  it  before.  Most  navigators  give  it  a  wide 
berth.  'Tis  said  to  be  the  stormiest  spot  on  the  known 
earth  ! " 

"That's  a  mistake,  you  may  depend  on't,  sir.  The  sow- 
westers  blow  great  guns  hereabouts,  it  is  true  enough; 
and  when  they  do,  sich  a  sea  comes  tumbling  in  on  that 
rock  as  man  never  seed  anywhere  else,  perhaps  ;  but, 
on  the  whull,  I'd  rather  be  close  in  here,  than  two  hun- 
dred miles  further  to  the  southward.  With  the  wind  at 
sow-west  and  heavy,  a  better  slant  might  be  made  from 
the  southern  position  ;  but  here  I  know  where  I  am, 
and  I'd  go  in  and  anchor,  and  wait  for  the  gale  to  blow 
itself  out." 

"  Talking  of  seas,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  observed  Hazard, 
"  don't  you  think,  sir,  we  begin  to  feel  the  swell  of  the 
Pacific  ?  Smooth  as  the  surface  of  the  water  is,  here  is  a 
ground-swell  rolling  in  that  must  be  twelve  or  fifteen  feet 
in  height." 

"  There's  no  doubt  of  that.  We  have  felt  the  swell  of 
the  Pacific  these  two  hours  ;  no  man  can  mistake  that. 
The  Atlantic  has  no  such  waves.  This  is  an  ocean  in 
reality,  and  this  is  its  stormiest  part.  The  wind  freshens 
and  hauls,  and  I'm  afraid  we  are  about  to  be  caught  close 
in  here  with  a  regular  sow-west  gale." 

"  Let  it  come,  sir,  let  it  come,"  put  in  Stimson,  again  ; 
"  if  it  does,  we've  only  tp  run  in  and  anchor.  I  can  stand 
pilot,  and  I  promise  to  carry  the  schooner  where  twenty 
sow-westers  will  do  her  no  harm.  What  I've  seen  done 
once,  I  know  can  be  done  again.  The  time  will  come  when 
the  Horn  will  be  a  reg'lar  harbor." 

Roswell  left  the  forecastle  and  walked  aft,  pondering  on 
what  had  just  been  said.  His  situation  was  delicate,  and 
demanded  decision  as  well  as  prudence.  The  manner  in 
which  Daggett  had  stuck  by  him  ever  since  the  two  ves- 
sels took  their  departure  from  Block  Island,  is  known  to 
the  reader.  The  Sea  Lions  had  sailed  from  Rio  in  com- 
pany, and  they -had  actually  made  Statcn  Land  together, 
the  day  preceding  that  on  which  we  now  bring  the  Oyster 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  163 

Pond  craft  once  more  upon  the  scene,  and  had  closed  so 
near  as  to  admit  of  a  conversation  between  the  two  mas- 
ters. It  would  seem  that  Daggett  was  exceedingly  averse 
to  passing  through  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire.  An  uncle  of 
his  had  been  wrecked  there,  and  had  reported  the  passage 
as  the  most  dangerous  one  he  had  ever  encountered.  It 
has  its  difficulties,  no  doubt,  in  certain  states  of  the  wind 
and  tide  ;  but  Roswell  had  received  good  accounts  of  the 
place  from  Stimson,  who  had  been  through  several  times. 
The  wind  was  rather  scant  to  go  through,  and  the  weather 
threatened  to  be  thick.  As  Daggett  urged  his  reasons  for 
keeping  off  and  passing  outside  of  Staten  Land,  a  circuit 
of  considerable  extent,  besides  bringing  a  vessel  far  to  lee- 
ward with  the  prevalent  winds  of  that  region,  which 
usually  blow  from  northwest  round  to  southwest,  Roswell 
was  reflecting  on  the  opportunity  the  circumstances  af- 
forded of  giving  his  consort  the  slip.  After  discussing  the 
matter  for  some  time,  he  desired  Daggett  to  lead  on  and 
he  would  follow.  This  was  done,  though  neither  schooner 
was  kept  off  until  Roswell  got  a  good  view  of  Cape  St. 
Diego,  on  Tierra  del  Fuego,  thereby  enabling  him  to  judge 
of  the  positions  of  the  principal  landmarks.  Without  com- 
mitting himself  by  any  promise,  therefore,  he  told  Daggett 
to  lead  on,  and  for  some  time  he  followed,  the  course  be- 
ing one  that  did  not  take  him  much  put  of  the  way.  The 
weather  was  misty,  and  at  times  the  wind  blew  in  squalls. 
The  last  increased  as  the  schooners  drew  nearer  to  Staten 
Land.  Daggett,  being  about  half  a  mile  ahead,  felt  the 
full  power  of  one  particular  squall  that  came  out  of  the 
ravines  with  greater  force  than  common,  and  he  kept  away 
to  increase  his  distance  from  the  land.  At  the  same  time, 
the  mist  shut  in  the  vessels  from  each  other.  It  was  %also 
past  sunset,  and  a  dark  and  dreary  night  was  approaching. 
This  latter  fact  had  been  one  of  'Daggett's  arguments  for 
going  outside.  Profiting  by  all  these  circumstances,  Ros- 
well tacked,  and  stood  over  toward  Tierra  del  Fuego. 
He  knew  from  the  smoothness  of  the  water  that  an  ebb- 
tide wras  running,  and  trusted  to  its  force  to  carry  him 
through  the  straits.  He  saw  no  more  of  the  Sea  Lion  of 
the  Vineyard.  She  continued  shut  in  by  the  mist  until 
night  closed  around  both  vessels.  When  he  got  about 
mid-channel,  Roswell  tacked  again.  By  this  time  the  cur- 
rent had  sucked  him  fairly  into  the  passage,  and  no  sooner 
did  he  go  about  than  his  movement  to  the  southward  was 
very  rapid.  The  squalls  gave  some  trouble,  but  on  the 


164  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

whole,  he  did  very  well.  Next  morning  he  was  off  Cape 
Horn,  as  described.  By  this  expression,  it  is  generally  un- 
derstood that  a  vessel  is  somewhere  near  the  longitude  of 
that  world-renowned  cape,  but  not  necessarily  in  sight  of 
it.  Few  navigators  actually  see  the  extremity  of  the 
American  continent,  though  they  double  the  cape,  it  being 
usually  deemed  the  safest  to  pass  well  to  the  southward. 
Such  was  Daggett's  position  ;  who,  in  consequence  of  hav- 
ing gone  outside  of  Staten  Land,  was  now  necessarily  a 
long  distance  to  leeward,  and  who  could  not  hope  to  beat 
up  abreast  of  the  Hermits,  even  did  the  wind  and  sea  favor 
him,  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours.  A  great  advantage 
was  obtained  by  coming  through  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire, 
and  Roswell  felt  very  certain  that  he  should  not  see  his 
late  consort  again  that  day,  even  did  he  heave-to  for  him. 
But  our  hero  had  no  idea  of  doing  anything  of  the  sort. 
Having  shaken  off  his  leech,  he  had  no  wish  to  suffer  it 
to  fasten  to  him  again.  It  was  solely  with  the  intention 
of  making  sure  of  this  object  that  he  thought  of  making  a 
harbor. 

In  order  that  the  reader  may  better  understand  those 
incidents  of  our  narrative  which  we  are  about  to  relate,  it 
may  be  well  to  say  a  word  of  the  geographical  features  oi 
the  region  to  which  he  has  been  transported,  in  fiction,  if 
not  in  fact.  At  the  southern  extremity  of  the  American 
continent  is  a  cluster  of  islands,  which  are  dark,  sterile, 
rocky,  and  most  of  the  year  covered  with  snow.  Ever- 
greens relieve  the  aspect  of  sterility,  in  places  that  are  a 
little  sheltered,  and  there  is  a  meagre  vegetation,  in  spots, 
that  serves  to  sustain  animal  life.  The  first  strait  which 
separates  this  cluster  of  islands  from  the  main,  is  that  of  Ma- 
gellan, through  which  vessels  occasionally  pass,  in  prefer- 
ence to  going  farther  south.  Then  comes  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
which  is  much  the  largest  of  all  the  islands.  To  the  south- 
ward of.Tierra  del  Fuego  lies  a  cluster  of  many  small  isl- 
ands, which  bear  different  names;  though  the  group  farthest 
south  of  all,  and  which  it  is  usual  to  consider  as  the  south- 
ern ter/ni  nation  of  our  noble  continent,  but  which  is  not  on 
a  continent  at  all,  is  known  by  the  appropriate  appellation 
of  the  Hermits.  If  solitude,  and  desolation,  and  want,  and  a 
contemplation  of  some  of  the  sublimest  features  of  this  earth, 
can  render  a  spot  fit  for  a  hermitage,  these  islands  are  very 
judiciously  named.  The  one  that  is  farthest  south  contains 
the  cape  itself,  which  is  marked  by  the  ragged  pyramid  of 
rock  already  mentioned  ;  placed  there  by  nature,  a  never* 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  165 

tiring  sentinel  of  the  war  of  the  elements.  Behind  th*i3 
cluster  of  the  Hermits  it  was  that  Stimson  advised  his  offi- 
cer to  take  refuge  against  the  approaching  gale,  of  which 
the  signs  were  now  becoming  obvious  and  certain.  Ros- 
vvell's  motive,  however,  for  listening  to  such  advice,  was 
less  to  find  a  shelter  for  his  schooner* than  to  get  rid  of 
Daggett.  For  the  gale  he  cared  but  little,  since  he  was  a 
long  way  from  the  ice,  and  could  stretch  off  the  land  to  the 
southward  into  a  waste  of  waters  that  seems  interminable. 
There  are  islands  to  the  southward  of  Cape  Horn,  and  a 
good  many  of  them  too,  though  none  very  near.  It  is  now 
known,  also,  by  means  of  the  toils  and  courage  of  various 
seamen,  including  those  of  the  persevering  and  laborious 
Wilkes,  ever  the  most  industrious  and  the  least  rewarded  of 
all  the  navigators  who  have  ever  wrorked  for  the  human 
race  in  this  dangerous  and  exhausting  occupation,  that  a 
continent  is  there  also  ;  but,  at  the  period  of  which  we  are 
writing,  the  existence  of  the  Shetlands  and  Palmer's  Land 
was  the  extent  of  the  later  discoveries  in  that  part  of  the 
ocean.  After  pacing  the  quarter-deck  a  few  minutes, 
when  he  quitted  the  forecastle  as  mentioned,  Roswell 
Gardiner  again  went  forward  among  the  men. 

"  You  are  quite  sure  that  this  high  peak  is  the  Horn. 
Stimson  ?"  he  observed,  inquiringly. 

"  Sartain  of  it,  sir.  There's  no  mistaking  sich  a  place, 
which,  once  seen,  is  never  forgotten." 

"  It  agrees  with  the  charts  and  our  reckoning,  and  I  may 
say  it  agrees  with  our. eyes  also.  Here  is  the  Pacific  Ocean 
plain  enough,  Mr.  Hazard." 

"  So  I  think,  sir.  We  are  at  the  end  of  Ameriky,  if  it  has 
an  end  anywhere.  This  heavy  long  swell  is  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, though  I  never  was  in  close  enough  to  see  the  land, 
hereabouts,  before." 

"  It  is  fortunate  we  have  one  trusty  hand  on  board  who 
can  stand  pilot.  Stimson,  I  intend  to  go  in  and  anchor, 
and  I  shall  trust  to  you-  to  carry  me  into  a  sung  berth." 

"  I'll  do  it,  Captain  Gar'ner,  if  the  weather  will  permit 
it/'  returned  the  seaman,  with  an  unpretending  sort  of 
confidence  that  spoke  well  for  his  ability. 

Preparations  were  now  commenced  in  earnest,  to  come 
to.  It  was  time  that  some  steady  course  should  be  adopted, 
as  the  wind  was  getting  up,  and  the  schooner  was  rapidly 
approaching  the  land.  In  half  an  hour  the  Sea  Lion  was 
bending  to  a  little  gale,  with  her  canvas  reduced  to  close- 
reefed  mainsail  and  foresail,  and  the  bonnet  off  her  jib. 


166  THE    SF.A    LION'S. 

The  sea  was  fast  getting  up,  though  it  came  in  long,  and 
mountain-like.  Roswell  dreaded  the  mist.  Could  he  pass 
through  the  narrow  channels  that  Stimson.had  described 
to  him,  with  a  clear  sky,  one  half  of  his  causes  of  anxiety 
would  be  removed.  But  the  wind  was  not  a  clear  one,  and 
he  felt  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost. 

It  required  great  nerve  to  approach  a  coast  like  that  of 
Cape  Horn  in  such  weather.  As  the  schooner  got  nearer 
to  the  real  cape,  the  sight  of  the  seas  tumbling  in  and 
breaking  on  its  ragged  rock,  and  the  hollow  roaring  sound 
they  made,  actually  became  terrific.  To  add  to  the  awe 
inspired  in  the  breast  of  even  the  most  callous-minded 
man  on  board,  came  a  doubt  whether  the  schooner  could 
weather  a  certain  point  of  rock,  the  western  extremity  of 
the  island,  after  she  had  got  so  far  into  a  bight  as  to 
render  wearing  questionable,  if  not  impossible.  Every  one 
now  looked  grave  and  anxious.  Should  the  schooner  go 
ashore  in  such  a  place,  a  single  minute  would  suffice  to 
break  her  to  pieces,  and  not  a  soul  could  expect  to  be 
saved.  Roswell  was  exceedingly  anxious,  though  he  re- 
mained cool. 

"  The  tides  and  eddies  about  these  rocks,  and  in  so  high 
a  latitude,  sweep  a  vessel  like  chips,"  he  said  to  his  chief 
mate.  "  We  have  been  set  in  here  by  an  eddy,  and  a  ter- 
rible place  it  is." 

"All  depends  on  our  gear's  holding  on,  sir,"  was  the 
answer,  "  with  a  little  on  Providence.  Just  watch  the  point 
ahead,  Captain  Gar'ner ;  though  we  are  not  actually  to 
leeward  of  it,  see  with  what  a  drift  we  have  drawn  upon 
it !  The  manner  in  which  these  seas  roll  in  from  the  sow- 
west  is  terrific]  No  craft  can  go  to  windward  against 
them." 

This  remark  of  Hazard's  was  very  just.  The  seas  that 
came  down  upon  the  cape  resembled  a  rolling  prairie  in 
their  outline.  A  single  wave  would  extend  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  trough  to  trough,  and  as  it  passed  beneath  the 
schooner,  lifting  her  high  in  the  air,  it  really  seemed  as  if 
the  glancing  water  would  sweep  her  away  in  its  force. 
But  human  art  had  found  the  means  to  counteract  even  this 
imposing  display  of  the  power  of  nature.  The  little 
schooner  rode  over  the  billows  like  a  duck,  and  when  she 
sank  between  two  of  them,  it  was  merely  to  rise  agcin  on 
a  new  summit,  and  breast  the  gale  gallantly.  It  WL,-  the 
current  that  menaced  the  greatest  danger  ;  for  thrt,  ni:seen 
except  in  its  fruits,  was  clearly  setting  the  lutle  crttft  to 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  167 

leeward,  and  bodily  toward  the  rocks.  By  this  time  our 
adventurers  were  so  near  to  the  land  that  they  almost  gave 
up  hope  itself.  Cape  Hatteras,  and  its  much-talked-of 
danger,  seemed  a  phice  of  refuge  compared  to  that  in 
which  our  navigators  now  found  themselves.  Could  the 
deepest  bellowings  of  ten  thousand  bulls  be  united  in  a 
common  roar,  the  noise  would  not  have  equalled  that  of 
the  hollow  sound  which  issued  from  a  sea  as  it  went  into 
some  cavern  of  the  rocks.  Then,  the  spray  filled  the  air 
like  driving  rain,  and  there  were  minutes  when  the  cape, 
though  so  frightfully  near,  was  hid  from  view  by  the 
vapor. 

At  this  precise  moment,  the  Sea  Lion  was  less  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  windward  of  the  point  she  was  strug- 
gling to  weather,  and  toward  which  she  was  driving  under 
a  treble  impetus  ;  that  of  the  wind,  acting  on  her  sails,  and 
pressing  her  ahead  at  the  rate  of  fully  five  knots,  for  the 
craft  was  kept  a  rap  full  ;  that  of  the  eddy,  or  current,  and 
that  of  the  rolling  waters.  No  man  spoke,  for  each  person 
felt  that  the  crisis  was  one  in  which  silence  was  a  sort  of 
homage  to  the  Deity.  Some  prayed  privately,  and  all 
gazed  on  the  low  rocky  point  that  it  was  indispensable  to 
pass,  to  avoid  destruction.  There  was  one  favorable  cir- 
cumstance ;  the  water  was  known  to  be  deep,  quite  close 
to  the  iron-bound  coast,  and  it  was  seldom  that  any  danger 
existed  that  it  was  not  visible  to  the  eye.  This  Rosweli 
knew  from  Stimson's  accounts,  as  well  as  from  those  of 
other  mariners,  and  he  saw  that  the  fact  was  of  the  last 
importance  to  him.  Should  he  be  able  to  weather  the 
point  ahead,  that  which  terminated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
passage  that  led  within  the  Hermits,  it  was  now  certain  it 
could  be  done  only  by  going  fearfully  near  the  rocks. 

Rosweli  Gardiner  took  his  station  between  the  knight- 
heads,  beckoning  to  Stimson  to  come  near  him.  At  the 
same  time,  Hazard  himself  went  to  the  helm. 

"  Do  you  remember  this  place  ? "  asked  the  young  mas- 
ter of  the  old  seaman. 

"  This  is  the  spot,  sir ;  and  if  we  can  round  the  rocky 
point  ahead,  I  wrill  take  you  to  a  safe  anchorage.  Our 
drift  is  awful,  or  we  are  in  an  eddy  tide  here,  sir  ! " 

"It  is  the  eddy,"  answered  Rosweli,  calmly,  ''though 
our  drift  is  not  trifling.  This  is  getting  frightfully  near  to 
that  point !  " 

"  Hold  on,  sir— it's  our  only  chance  ; — hold  on,  and  we 
may  rub  and  go.* 


168  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  If  we  rub,  we  are  lost;  that  is  certain,  enough.  Should 
we  get  by  this  first  point,  there  is  another  a  short  distance 
beyond  it,  which  must  certainly  fetch  us  up,  I  fear.  See — 
it  opens  more,  as  we  draw  ahead." 

Stimson  saw  the  new  danger,  and  fully  appreciated  it. 
He  did  net  speak,  however  ;  for,  to  own  the  truth,  he  now 
abandoned  all  hope,  and,  being  a  piously-inclined  person, 
he  was  privately  addressing  himself  to  God.  Every  man 
on  board  was  fully  aware  of  the  character  of  this  new 
danger,  and  all  seemed  to  forget  that  of  the  nearest  point 
of  rock,  toward  which  they  were  now  wading  with  por- 
tentous speed.  That  point  might  be  passed  ;  there  was  a 
little  hope  there  ;  but  as  to  the  point  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
beyond,  with  the  leeward  set  of  the  schooner,  the  most  ig- 
norant hand  on  board  saw  how  unlikely  it  was  that  they 
should  get  by  it. 

An  imposing  silence  prevailed  in  the  schooner,  as  she 
came  abreast  of  the  first  rock.  It  was  about  fifty  fathoms 
under  the  lee  bow,  and,  as  to  that  spot,  all  depended  on  the 
distance  outward  that  the  dangers  thrust  themselves.  This 
it  was  impossible  to  see  amid  the  chaos  of  waters  produced 
by  the  collision  between  the  waves  and  the  land.  Roswell 
fastened  his  eyes  on  objects  ahead,  to  note  the  rate  of  his 
leeward  set,  and,  with  a  seaman's  quickness,  he  noted  the 
first  change. 

"  She  feels  the  under-tow,  Stephen,"  he  said,  in  a  voice 
so  compressed  as  to  seem  to  come  out  of  the  depths  of  his 
chest,  "  and  is  breasted  up  to  windward  !  " 

"  What  means  that  sudden  luff,  sir  ?  Mr.  Hazard  must 
keep  a  good  full,  or  we  shall  have  no  chance." 

Gardiner  looked  aft,  and  saw  that  the  mate  was  bearing 
the  helm  well  up,  as  if  he  met  with  much  resistance.  The 
truth  then  flashed  upon  him,  and  he  shouted  out — 

"  All's  well,  boys  !  God  be  praised,  we  have  caught  the 
ebb-tide,  under  our  lee  bow !  " 

These  few  words  explained  the  reason  of  the  change. 
Instead  of  setting  to  leeward,  the  schooner  was  now  meet- 
ing a  powerful  tide  of  some  four  or  five  knots,  which 
hawsed  her  up  to  windward  with  irresistible  force.  As  if 
conscious  of  the  danger  she  was  in,  the  tight  little  craft  re- 
ceded from  the  rocks  as  she  shot  ahead,  and  rounded  the 
second  point,  which,  a  minute  before,  had  appeared  to  be 
placed  there  purposely  to  destroy  her.  It  was  handsomely 
doubled,  at  the  safe  distance  of  a  hundred  fathoms.  Ros- 
well believed  he  might  now  beat  his  schooner  off  the  land 


THE   SEA    LI'JXS.  169 

far  enough  to  double  the  cape  altogether,  could  he  but 
keep  her  in  that  current.  It  doubtless  expended  itself, 
however,  a  short  distance  in  the  offing,  as  its  waters  dif- 
fused themselves  on  the  breast  of  the  ocean  ;  and  it  was 
this  diffusion  of  the  element  that  produced  the  eddy  which 
had  proved  so  nearly  fatal. 

In  ten  minutes  after  striking  the  tide,  the  schooner 
opened  the  passage  fairly,  and  was  kept  away  to  enter  it. 
Notwithstanding  it  blew  so  heavily,  the  rate  of  sailing,  by 
the  land,  did  not  exceed  five  knots.  This  was  owing  to  the 
great  strength  of  the  tide,  which  sometimes  rises  and  falls 
thirty  feet,  in  high  latitudes  and  narrow  waters.  Stimson 
now  showed  he  was  a  man  to  be  relied  on.  Conning  the 
craft  intelligently,  he  took  her  in  behind  the  island  on 
which  the  cape  stands,  luffed  her  up  into  a  tiny  cove,  and 
made  a  cast  of  the  lead.  There  were  fifty  fathoms  of  water, 
with  a  bottom  of  mud.  With  the  certainty  that  there  was 
enough  of  the  element  to  keep  him  clear  of  the  ground  at 
low  water,  and  that  his  anchors  would  hold,  Roswell  made 
a  flying  moor,  and  veered  out  enough  cable  to  render  his 
vessel  secure. 

-  Here,  then,  was  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond,  that  craft 
vvhich  the  reader  had  seen  lying  at  Deacon  Pratt's  wharf, 
only  three  short  months  before,  safely  anchored  in  a  nook 
of  the  rocks  behind  Cape  Horn.  No  navigator  but  a  sealer 
•vvould  have  dreamed  of  carrying  his  vessel  into  such  a 
place,  but  it  is  a  part  of  their  calling  to  poke  about  in 
channels  and  passages  where  no  one  else  has  ever  been. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  Stimson  had  learned  to  know  where 
to  find  his  present  anchorage.  The  berth  of  the  schooner 
was  perfectly  snug,  and  entirely  land-locked.  The  tre- 
mendous swell  that  was  rolling  in  on  the  outside,  caused 
the  waters  to  rise  and  fall  a  little  within  the  passage,  but 
there  was  no  strain  upon  the  cables  in  consequence. 
Neither  did  the  rapid  tides  affect  the  craft,  which  lay  in  an 
eddy  that  merely  kept  her  steady.  The  gale  came  howling 
over  the  Hermits,  but  was  so  much  broken  by  the  rocks  as 
to 'do  little  more  than  whistle  through  the  cordage  and 
spars  aloft. 

Three  days,  and  as  many  nights,  did  the  gale  from  the 
south-west  continue.  The  fourth  day  there  was  a  change, 
the  wind  coming  from  the  eastward.  Roswell  would  now 
have  gone  out,  had  it  not  been  for  the  apprehension  cf 
falling  in  with  Daggett  again.  Having  at  length  gotten 
rid  of  that  pertinacious  companion,  it  would  have  been  an 


170  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

act  of  great  weakness  to  throw  himself  blindly  in  his  way 
once  more.  It  was  possible  that  Daggett  might  not  sup- 
pose he  had  been  left  intentionally,  in  which  case  he  would 
be  very  apt  to  look  for  his  lost  consort  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  cape.  As  for  the  gale,  it  might,  or  it  might  not,  have 
blown  him  to  leeward.  A  good  deal  would  depend  on  the 
currents,  and  his  distance  to  the  southward.  Near  the  land, 
Gardiner  believed  the  currents  favored  a  vessel  doubling 
it,  going  west ;  and  if  Daggett  was  also  aware  of  this  fact, 
it  might  induce  him  to  keep  as  near  the  spot  as  possible. 

Time  was  very  precious  to  our  sealers,  the  season  being 
so  short  in  the  high  latitudes.  Still,  they  were  a  little  in  ad- 
vance of  their  calculations,  having  got  off  the  Horn  fully 
ten  days  sooner  than  they  had  hoped  to  be  there.  Nearly 
the  whole  summer  was  before  them,  and  there  was  the 
possibility  of  their  even  being  too  soon  for  the  loosening 
of  the  ice  farther  south.  The  wind  was  the  strongest  in- 
ducement to  go  out,  for  the  point  to  which  our  adventurers 
were  bound  lay  a  considerable  distance  to  the  westward, 
and  fair  breezes  were  not  to  be  neglected.  Under  all  the 
circumstances,  however,  it  was  decided  to  remain  within 
the  passage  one  day  longer,  and  this  so  much  the  more, 
because  Hazard  had  discovered  some  signs  of  sea-elephants 
frequenting  an  island  at  no  great  distance.  The  boats 
were  lowered  accordingly,  and  the  mate  went  in  one  di- 
rection, while  the  master  pulled  up  to  the  rocks,  and 
landed  on  the  Hermit,  or  the  island  which  should  bear 
that  name  par  excellence,  being  that  in  which  the  group 
terminates. 

Taking  Stimson  with  him,  to  carry  a  glass,  and  armed 
with  an  old  lance  as  a  pike-pole,  to  aid  his  efforts,  Ros- 
well  Gardiner  now  commenced  the  ascent  of  the  pyramid 
already  mentioned.  It  was  ragged,  and  offered  a  thousand 
obstacles,  but  none  that  vigor  and  resolution  could  not 
overcome.  After  a  few  minutes  of  violent  exertion,  and 
by  helping  each  other  in  difficult  places,  both  Roswell  and 
Stimson  succeecfed  in  placing  themselves  on  the  summit 
of  the  elevation,  which  was  an  irregular  peak.  The  height 
was  considerable,  and  gave  an  extended  view  of  the  ad- 
jacent islands,  as  well  as  of  the  gloomy  and  menacing 
ocean  to  the  southward.  The  earth,  probably,  does  not 
contain  a  more  remarkable  sentinel  than  this  pyramid  on 
which  our  hero  had  now  taken  his  station.  There  it  stood, 
actually  the  Ultima  Thule  of  this  vast  continent,  or,  what 
was  much  the  same,  so  closely  united  to  it  as  to  seem  a 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  171 

part  of  our  own  moiety  of  the  globe,  looking  out  on  the 
broad  expanse  of  waters.  The  eye  saw,  to  the  right,  the 
Pacific  ;  in  front  was  the  Southern,  or  Antarctic  Ocean  ; 
and  to  the  left  was  the  great  Atlantic.  For  several  minutes, 
both  Roswell  and  Stephen  sat  mute,  gazing  on  this  grand 
spectacle.  By  turning  their  faces  north,  they  beheld  the 
highlands  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  of  which  many  of  the 
highest  peaks  were  covered  with  snow.  The  pyramid  on 
which  they  were,  however,  was  no  longer  white  with  the 
congealed  rain,  but  stood,  stern  and  imposing,  in  its  native 
brown.  The  outlines  of  all  the  rocks,  and  the  shores  of 
the  different  islands,  had  an  appearance  of  volcanic  origin, 
though  the  rocks  themselves  told  a  somewhat  different 
story.  The  last  were  principally  of  trap  formation.  Cape 
pigeons,  gulls,  petrels,  and  albatross  were  wheeling  about 
in  the  air,  while  the  rollers  that  still  came  in  on  this  noble 
sea-wall  were  really  terrific.  Distant  thunder  wants  the 
hollow,  bellowing  sound  that  these  waves  made  when 
brought  in  contact  with  the  shores.  Roswell  fancied  that 
it  was  like  a  groan  of  the  mighty  Pacific,  at  finding  its 
progress  suddenly  checked.  The  spray  continued  to  fly, 
and,  much  of  the  time,  the  air  below  his  elevated  seat  was 
filled  with  vapor. 

As  soon  as  our  young  master  had  taken  in  the  grandest  feat- 
ures of  this  magnificent  view,  his  eyes  sought  the  Sea  Lion 
of  Martha's  Vineyard.  There  she  was,  sure  enough,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  only  a  couple  of  leagues,  and  apparently  standing 
directly  for  the  Cape.  Could  it  be  possible  that  Daggett 
suspected  his  manoeuvre,  and  was  coming  in  search  of 
him,  at  the  precise  spot  in  which  he  had  taken  shelter  ? 
As  respects  the  vessel,  there  was  no  question  as  to  her 
character.  From  the  elevation  at  which  he  was  placed, 
Roswell,  aided  by  the  glass,  had  no  difficulty  in  making 
her  out,  and  in  recognizing  her  rig,  form,  and  character. 
Stimson  also  examined  her,  and  knew  her  to  be  the 
schooner.  On  that  vast  and  desolate  sea  she  rqsembled 
a  speck,  but  the  art  of  man  had  enabled  those  she  held  to 
guide  her  safely  through  the  tempest,  and  bring  her  up  to 
her  goal,  in  a  time  that  really  seemed  miraculous  for  the 
circumstances. 

"  If  we  had  thought  of  it,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  Ste- 
phen, "we  might  have  brought  up  an  ensign,  and  set  it  on 
these  rocks,  by  way  of  letting  the  Vineyarders  know  where 
we  are  to  be  found.  But  we  can  always  go  out  and  meet 
them,  should  this  wind  stand." 


1 72  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"Which  is  just  what  I  have  no  intention  of  doing,  Ste« 
phen.  I  came  in  here  on  purpose  to  get  rid  of  that 
schooner." 

"You  surprise  me,  sir!  A  consort  is  no  bad  thing,  when 
a  craft  is  a  sealin'  in  a  high  latitude.  The  ice  makes  such 
ticklish  times,  that,  for  me,  I'm  always  glad  to  know  there 
is  such  a  chance  for  taking  a  fellow  off,  should  there  hap- 
pen to  be  a  wrack." 

"  All  that  is  very  true,  but  there  are  reasons  which  may 
tell  against  it.  I  have  heard  of  some  islands  where  seals 
abound,  and  a  consort  is  not  quite  so  necessary  to  take 
them,  as  when  one  is  wrecked." 

"That  alters  the  case,  Captain  Gar'ner.  Nobody  is 
obliged  to  tell  of  his  sealing  station.  I  was  aboard  one  of 
the  very  first  craft  that  found  out  that  the  South  Shetlands 
was  a  famous  place  for  seals,  and  no  one  among  us  thought 
it  necessary  to  tell  it  to  the  world.  Some  men  are  weak 
enough  to  put  sich  discoveries  in  the  newspapers  ;  but,  for 
my  part,  I  think  it  quite  enough  to  put  them  in  the  log." 

"That  schooner  must  have  the  current  with  her,  she 
comes  down  so  fast.  She'll  be  abreast  of  the  Horn  in  half 
an  hour  longer,  Stephen.  We  will  wait,  and  see  what  she 
would  be  at." 

Gardiner's  prediction  was  true.  In  half  an  hour  the  Sea 
Lion  of  Holmes'  Hole  glided  past  the  rocky  pyramid  of 
the  Horn,  distant  from  it  less  than  a  mile.  Had  it  been 
the  object  of  her  commander  to  pass  into  the  Pacific,  he 
might  have  done  so  with  great  apparent  ease.  Even  with 
a  southwest  wind,  that  which  blows  fully  half  the  time  in 
those  seas,  it  would  have  been  in  his  power  to  lay  past  the 
islands,  and  soon  get  before  it.  A  northeast  course,  with  a 
little  offing,  will  clear  the  islands,  and  when  a  vessel  gets 
as  far  north  as  the  main  land,  it  would  take  her  off  the  coast. 

But  Daggett  had  no  intention  of  doing  anything  of  the 
sort.  He  was  looking  for  his  consort,  which  he  had  hoped 
to  find  .somewhere  near  the  cape.  Disappointed  in  this 
expectation,  after  standing  far  enough  west  to  make  cer- 
tain nothing  was  in  sight  in  that  quarter,  he  hauled  up  on 
an  easy  bowline,  and  stood  to  the  southward.  Roswell  was 
right  glad  to  see  this,  inasmuch  as  it  denoted  ignorance  of 
the  position  of  the  islands  he  sought.  They  lay  much 
farther  to  the  westward  ;  and  no  sooner  was  he  sure  of  the 
course  steered  by  the  other  schooner,  than  he  hastened 
down  to  the  boat,  in  order  to  get  his  own  vessel  under  way, 
to  profit  by  the  breeze. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  173 

Two  hours  later  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  glanced 
through  the  passage  which  led  into  the  ocean,  on  an  ebb- 
tide. By  tiiat  time,  the  other  vessel  had  disappeared  in 
the  southern  board  ;  and  Gardiner  came  out  upon  the  open 
waters  again,  boldly,  and  certain  of  his  course.  All  sail 
was  set,  and  the  little  craft  slipped  away  from  the  land  with 
the  ease  of  an  aquatic  bird  that  is  plying  its  web-feet.  Stud- 
ding-sails were  set,  and  the  pyramid  of  the  Horn  soon  began 
to  lower  in  the  distance,  as  the  schooner  receded.  When 
night  closed  over  the  rolling  waters,  it  was  no  longer  visi- 
ble, the  vessel  having  fairly  entered  the  Antarctic  Ocean, 
if  anything  north  of  the  circle  can  properly  so  be  termed. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

*'  All  gone !  'tis  ours  the  goodly  land 

Look  round — the  heritage  behold  ! 
Go  forth — upon  the  mountain  stand  ; 
Then,  if  you  can,  be  cold." — SPRAGUE. 

IT  was  an  enterprising  and  manly  thing  for  a  little  ves- 
sel like  the  Sea  Lion  to  steer  with  an  undeviating  course 
into  the  mysterious  depths  of  the  antarctic  circle — mys- 
terious, far  more  in  that  day,  than  at  the  present  hour. 
But  the  American  sealer  rarely  hesitates.  He  has  very 
little  science,  few  charts,  and  those  oftener  old  than  new, 
knows  little  of  what  is  going  on  among  the  savans  of  the 
earth,  though  his  ear  is  ever  open  to  the  lore  of  men  like 
himself,  and  he  has  his  mind  stored  with  pictures  of  islands 
and  continents  that  would  seem  to  have  been  formed  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  race  of 
animals  it  is  his  business  to  pursue  and  to  capture.  Cape 
Horn  and  its  vicinity  have  so, long  been  frequented  by  this 
class  of  men,  that  they  are  at  home  among  their  islands, 
rocks,  currents,  and  sterility  ;  but  to  the  southward  of  the 
Horn  itself,  all  seemed  a  waste.  At  the  time  of  which  we 
are  writing,  much  less  was  known  of  the  antarctic  regions 
than  is  known  to-day  ;  and  even  now  our  knowledge  is  lim- 
ited to  a  few  dreary  outlines,  in  which  barrenness  and  ice 
compete  for  the  mastery.  Wilkes,  and  his  competitors, 
have  told  us  that  a  vast  frozen  continent  exists  in  that 
quarter  of  the  globe ;  but  even  their  daring  and  persever- 
ance have  not  been  able  to  determine  more  than  the  gen- 
eral fact. 


I74  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

We  should  be  giving  an  exaggerated  and  false  idea  of 
Roswell  Gardiner's  character,  did  we  say  that  'he  steered 
into  that  great  void  of  the  southern  ocean  in  a  total  indif- 
ference to  his  destination  and  objects.  Very  much  the  re- 
verse was  his  state  of  mind,  as  he  saw  the  highland  of  the 
cape  sink,  as  it  might  be  foot  by  foot,  into  the  ocean,  and 
then  lost  sight  of  it  altogether.  Although  the  weather 
was  fine  for  the  region,  it  was  dark  and  menacing.  Such, 
indeed,  is  usually  the  case  in  that  portion  of  this  globe, 
which  appears  to  be  the  favorite  region  of  the  storms. 
Although  the  wind  was  no  more  than  a  good  breeze,  and 
the  ocean  was  but  little  disturbed,  there  were  those  symp- 
toms in  the  atmosphere  and  in  the  long  ground-swells  that 
came  rolling  in  from  the  southwest,  that  taught  the  mari- 
ner the  cold  lessons  of  caution.  We  believe  that  heavier 
gales  of  wind  at  sea  are  encountered  in  the  warm  than  in 
the  cold  months  ;  but  there  is  something  so  genial  in  the 
air  of  the  ocean  during  summer,  and  something  so  chilling 
and  repulsive  in  the  rival  season,  that  most  of  us  fancy 
that  the  currents  of  air  correspond  in  strength  with  the 
fall  of  the  mercury.  Roswell  knew  better  than  this,  it  is 
true  ;  but  he  also  fully  understood  where  he  was,  and  what 
he  was  about.  As  a  sealer,  he  had  several  times  penetrated 
as  far  south  as  the  Ne  Plus  Ultra  of  Cook  ;  but  it  had  ever 
before  been  in  subordinate  situations.  This  was  the  first 
time  in  which  he  had  had  the  responsibility  of  command 
thrown  on  himself,  and  it  was  no  more  than  natural  that 
he  should  feel  the  weight  of  this  new  burden.  So  long  as 
the  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard  was  in  sight,  she  had  pre- 
sented a  centre  of  interest  and  concern.  To  get  rid  of  her 
had  been  his  first  care,  and  almost  absorbing  object ;  but, 
now  that  she  seemed  to  be  finally  thrown  out  of  his  wake, 
there  remained  the  momentous  and  closely  approaching 
difficulties  of  the  main  adventure  directly  before  his  eyes, 
Roswell,  therefore,  was  thoughtful  and  grave,  his  counte- 
nance offering  no  bad  reflection  of  the  sober  features  of 
the  atmosphere  and  the  ocean. 

Although  the  season  was  that  of  summer,  and  the  weath- 
er was  such  as  is  deemed  propitious  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Cape  Horn,  a  feeling  of  uncertainty  prevailed  over  every 
other  sensation.  To  the  southward  a  cold  mistiness  veiled 
the  view,  and  every  mile  the  schooner  advanced  appeared 
like  penetrating  deeper  and  deeper  into  regions  that  nature 
had  hitherto  withheld  from  the  investigation  of  the  mari- 
ner. Ice,  and  its  dangers,  were  known  to  exist  a  few  de* 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


175 


grees  farther  in  that  direction  ;  but  islands  also  had  been 
discovered,  and  turned  to  good  account  by  the  enterprise 
of  the  sealers. 

It  was  truly  a  great  thing  for  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster 
Pond  to  have  thrown  off  her  namesake  of  the  Vineyard.  It 
is  true  both  vessels  were  still  in  the  same  sea,  with  a  possi- 
bility of  again  meeting  ;  but  Roswell  Gardiner  was  steer- 
ing onward  toward  a  haven  designated  in  degrees  and 
minutes,  while  the  other  craft  was  most  probably  left  to 
wander  in  uncertainty  in  that  remote  and  stormy  ocean. 
Our  hero  thought  there  was  now  very  little  likelihood  of 
his  again  falling  in  with  his  late  consort,  and  this  so  much 
the  more,  because  the  islands  he  sought  were  not  laid  down 
in  the  vicinity  of  any  other  known  land,  and  were  conse- 
quently out  of  the  usual  track  of  the  sealers.  This  last  cir- 
cumstance was  fully  appreciated  by  our  young  navigator, 
and  gave  him  confidence  of  possessing  its  treasures  to 
himself,  could  he  only  find  the  place  where  nature  had  hid 
them. 

When  the  sun  went  down  in  that  vast  waste  of  water 
which  lies  to  the  southward  of  this  continent,  the  little  Sea 
Lion  had  fairly  lost  sight  of  land,  and  was  riding  over  the 
long  southwestern  ground-swell  like  a  gull  that  holds  its 
way  steadily  toward  its  nest.  For  many  hours  her  course 
had  not  varied  half  a  point,  being  as  near  as  possible  to 
south-southwest,  which  kept  her  a  little  off  the  wind.  No 
sooner,  however,  did  night  come  to  shut  in  the  view,  than 
Roswell  Gardiner  went  aft  to  the  man  at  the  helm,  and 
ordered  him  to  steer  to  the  southward,  as  near  as  the  breeze 
would  conveniently  allow.  This  was  a  material  change  in 
the  direction  of  the  vessel,  and,  should  the  present  breeze 
stand,  would  probably  place  her,  by  the  return  of  light,  a 
good  distance  to  the  eastward  of  the  point  she  \vould  other- 
wise have  reached.  Hitherto  it  had  been  Roswell's  aim  to 
drop  his  consort ;  but,  now  it  was  dark,  and  so  much  time 
had  already  passed  and  been  improved  since  the  other 
schooner  was  last  seen,  he  believed  he  might  venture  to 
steer  in  the  precise  direction  he  desired  to  go.  The  season 
is  so  short  in  those  seas,  that  every  hour  is  precious, 
and  no  more  variation  from  a  real  object  could  be  per- 
mitted than  circumstances  imperiously  required.  It  was 
now  generally  understood  that  the  craft  was  making  the 
best  of  her  way  toward  her  destined  sealing-ground. 

Independently  of  the  discoveries  of  the  regular  explorers., 
a  great  deal  of  information  has  been  obtained  from  the 


j;6  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

sealers  themselves,  within  the  present  century,  touching 
the  antarctic  seas.  It  is  thought  that  many  a  headland,  and 
'various  islands,  that  have  contributed  their  shares  in  pro- 
curing the  accolades  for  different  European  navigators,  were 
known  to  the  adventurers  from  Stonington  and  other  by- 
ports  of  this  country,  long  before  science  ever  laid  its  eyes 
upon  them,  or  monarchs  their  swords  on  the  shoulders  of 
their  secondary  discoverers. 

That  divers  islands  existed  in  this  quarter  of  the  ocean 
was  a  fact  recognized  in  geography  long  before  the  Sea 
Lion  was  thought  of;  probably  before  her  young  master 
was  actually  born  ;  but  the  knowledge  generally  possessed 
on  the  subject  was  meagre  and  unsatisfactory.  In  particu- 
lar cases,  nevertheless,  this  remark  would  not  apply,  there 
being  at  that  moment  on  board  our  little  schooner  several 
manners  who  had  often  visited  the  South  Shetlands,  New 
Georgia,  Palmer's  Land,  and  other  known  places  in  those 
seas.  Not  one  of  them  all,  however,  had  ever  heard  of 
any  island  directly  south  &i  the  present  position  of  the 
schooner. 

No  material  change  occurred  during  the  night,  or  in  the 
course  of  the  succeeding  day,  the  little  Sea  Lion  indus- 
triously holding  her  way  toward  the  south  pole  \  making 
very  regularly  her  six  knots  each  hour.  By  the  time  she 
was  thirty  six  hours  from  the  Horn,  Gardiner  believed  him- 
self to  be  fully  three  degrees  to  the  southward  of  it,  and 
consequently  some  distance  within  the  parallel  of  sixty  de- 
grees south.  Palmer's  Land,  with  its  neighboring  islands, 
would  have  been  near,  had  not  the  original  course  carried 
the  schooner  so  far  to  the  westward.  As  it  was,  no  one 
could  say  what  lay  before  them. 

The  third  day  out  the  wind  hauled,  and  it  blew  heavily 
from  the  northeast.  This  gave  the  adventurers  a  great 
run.  The  blink  of  ice  was  shortly  seen,  and  soon  after  ice 
itself,  drifting  about  in  bergs.  The  floating  hills  were 
grand  objects  to  the  eye,  rolling  and  wallowing  in  the 
seas  ;  but  they  were  much  worn  and  melted  by  the  wash 
of  the  ocean,  and  comparatively  of  greatly  diminished  size. 
It  was  now  absolutely  necessary  to  lose  most  of  the  hours 
of  darkness,  it  being  much  too  dangerous  to  run  in  the 
night.  The  great  barrier  of  ice  was  known  to  be  close  at 
hand  ;  and  Cook's  "Ne  Plus  Ultra,"  at  that  time  the  great 
boundary  of  antarctic  navigation,  was  near  the  parallel  of 
latitude  to  which  the  schooner  had  reached.  The  weather, 
however,  continued  very  favorable,  and  after  the  blow 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  177 

from  the?  northeast  the  wind  came  from  the  south,  chill, 
and  attended  with  flurries  of  snow,  but  sufficiently  steady 
and  not  so  fresh  as  to  compel  our  adventurers  to  carry 
very  rhort  sail.  The  smoothness  of  .the  water  would  of 
itself  have  announced  the  vicinity  of  ice  :  not  only  did 
Gardiner's  calculations  tell  him  as  much  as  this,  but  his 
eyes  confirmed  their  results.  In  the  course  of  the  fifth 
day  out,  on  several  occasions  when  the  weather  cleared  a 
little,  glimpses  were  had  of  the  ice  in  long  mountainous 
walls,  resembling  many  of  the  ridges  of  the  Alps,  though 
moving  heavily  under  the  heaving  and  setting  of  the  rest- 
less waters.  Dense  fogs  from  time  to  time  clouded  the 
whole  view,  and  the  schooner  was  compelled  more  than 
once  that  day  to  heave-to,  in  order  to  avoid  running  on 
the  sunken  masses  of  ice,  or  fields,  of  which  many  of  vast 
size  now  began  to  make  their  appearance. 

Notwithstanding  the  dangers  that  surrounded  our  ad- 
venturers, they  were  none  of  them  so  insensible  to  the 
sublime  powers  of  nature  as  to  withhold  their  admiration 
from  the  many  glorious  objects  which  that  lone  and  wild 
scene  presented.  The  icebergs  were  of  all  the  hues  of  the 
rainbow,  as  the  sunlight  gilded  their  summits  or  sides,  or 
they  were  left  shaded  by  the  interposition  of  dark  and 
murky  clouds.  There  were  instances  when  certain  of  the 
huge  frozen  masses  even  appeared  to  be  quite  black,  in 
particular  positions  and  under  peculiar  lights,  while  others 
at  the  same  instant  were  gorgeous  in  their  gleams  of  em- 
erald and  gold  ! 

The  aquatic  birds  also  had  now  become  numerous  again. 
Penguins  were  swimming  about,  filling  the  air  with  their 
discordant  cries,  while  there  was  literally  no  end  of  the 
cape-pigeons  and  petrels.  Albatrosses,  too,  helped  to 
make  up  the  picture  of  animated  nature,  while  whales 
were  .often  heard  blovying  in  the  adjacent  waters.  Gardi- 
ner saw  many  signs  of  the  proximity  of  land,  and  began 
to  hope  he  should  yet  actually  discover  the  islands  laid 
down  on  his  chart,  as  their  position  had  been  given  by 
Daggett. 

In  that  high  latitude  a  degree  of  longitude  is  necessa- 
rily much  shorter  than  when  nearer  to  the  middle  of  our 
orb.  On  the  equator  a  degree  of  longitude  measures,  as 
is  kndwn  to  most  boarding-school  young  ladies,  just  sixty 
geographical,  or  sixty-nine  and  a  half  English  statute 
miles.  But,  as  is  not  known  to  most  boarding-school 
young  ladies,  or  is  understood  by  very  few  of  them  in- 
la 


178  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

deed,  even  when  known,  in  the  sixty-second  degree  of  lat< 
itude,  a  degree  of  longitude  measures  but  little  more  than 
thirty-two  of  those  very  miles.  The  solution  of  this  seem- 
ing contradiction  is  so  very  simple  that  it  may  assist  a  cer- 
tain class  of  our  readers  if  we  explain  it,  by  telling  them 
that  it  arises  solely  from  the  fact  that  these  degrees  .of 
longitude,  which  are  placed  sixty  geographical  miles  asun- 
der at  the  centre  or  middle  of  the  earth,  converge  toward 
the  poles,  where  they  all  meet  in  a  point.  According  to 
the  best  observations  Roswell  Gardiner  could  obtain,  he 
was  just  one  of  these  short  degrees  of  longitude,  or  two- 
and-thirty  miles,  to  the  westward  of  the  parallel  where  he 
wished  to  be,  when  the  wind  came  from  the  southward. 
The  change  was  favorable,  as  it  emboldened  him  to  run 
nearer  than  he  otherwise  might  have  felt  disposed  to  do, 
to  the  great  barrier  of  ice  which  now  formed  a  sort  of 
weather-shore.  Fortunately,  the  loose  bergs  and  sunken 
masses  had  drifted  off  so  far  to  the  northward,  that  once 
within  them  the  schooner  had  pretty  plain  sailing ;  and 
Roswell,  to  lose  none  of  the  precious  time  of  the  season, 
ventured  to  run,  though  under  very  short  canvas,  the 
whole  of  the  short  night  that  succeeded.  It  is  a  great 
assistance  to  the  navigation  of  those  seas  that,  during  the 
summer  months,  there  is  scarcely  any  night  at  all,  giving 
the  adventurer  sufficient  light  by  which  to  thread  his  way 
among  the  difficulties  of  his  pathless  journey. 

When  the  sun  reappeared,  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth 
day  after  he  had  left  the  Horn,  Roswell  Gardiner  believed 
himself  to  be  far  enough  west  for  his  purposes.  It  now 
remained  to  get  a  whole  degree  farther  to  the  south,  which 
was  a  vast  distance  in  those  seas  and  in  that  direction,  and 
would  carry  him  a  long  way  to  the  southward  of  the  "  Ne 
Plus  Ultra."  If  there  was  any  truth  in  Daggett,  however, 
that  manner  had  been  there  ;  and  the  instructions  of  the 
owner  rendered  it  incumbent  on  our  young  man  to  attempt 
to  follow  him.  More  than  once,  that  morning,  did  our 
hero  regret  he  had  not  entered  into  terms  with  the  Vine- 
yard men,  that  the  effort  might  have  been  made  in  com- 
pany. There  was  something  so  portentous  in  a  lone 
vessel's  venturing  within  the  ice,  in  so  remote  a  region, 
that,  to  say  the  truth,  Roswell  hesitated.  But  pride  of 
profession,  ambition,  love  of  Mary,  dread  of  the  deacon, 
native  resolution,  and  the  hardihood  produced  by  experi- 
ence in  dangers  often  encountered  and  escaped,  nerved 
him  to  the  undertaking.  It  must  be  attempted,  or  the 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  179 

Voyage  would  be  lost ;  and  our  young  mariner  now  set 
about  his  task  with  a  stern  determination  to  achieve  it. 

By  this  time  the  schooner  had  luffed  up  within  a  cable's 
length  of  the  ice,  along  the  margin  of  which  she  was  run- 
ning under  easy  sail.  Gardiner  believed  himself  to  be 
quite  as  far  to  the  westward  as  was  necessary,  and  his  pres- 
ent object  was  to  find  an  opening,  by  means  of  which  he 
could  enter  among  the  floating  chaos  that  was  spread,  far 
and  wide,  to  windward.'  As  the  breeze  was  driving  the 
drifting  masses  to  the  northward,  they  became  loosened 
and  more  separated  every  moment  ;  and  glad  enough  was 
Gardiner  to  discover,  at  length,  a  clear  spot  that  seemed 
to  favor  his  views.  Without  an  -instant's  delay,  the  sheets 
were  flattened  in,  a  pull  was  taken  on  the  braces,  and  away 
went  the  little  Sea  Lion  into  a  passage  that  had  a  hundred- 
fold more  real  causes  of  terror  than  the  Scylla  and  Char- 
ybdis  of  old. 

One  effect  of  the  vicinity  of  ice,  in  extensive  fields,  is  to 
produce  comparatively  still  water.  It  must  blow  a  gale, 
and  that  over  a  considerable  extent  of  open  sea,  to  produce 
much  commotion  among  the  fields  and  bergs,  though  that 
heaving  and  setting,  which  has-  been  likened  to  the  respira- 
tion of  some  monster,  and  which  seamen  call*the  "  ground- 
swell,"  is  never  entirely  wanting  among  the  waters  of  an 
ocean.  On  the  present  occasion  our  adventurers  were 
favored  in  this  respect,  their  craft  gliding  forward  unim- 
peded by  anything  like  opposing  billows.  At  the  end  of 
four  hours,  the  schooner,  tacking  and  wearing  when  neces- 
sary, had  worked  her  way  to  the  southward  and  westward, 
according  to  her  master's  reckoning,  some  five-arid-twenty 
miles.  It  was  then  noon,  and  the  atmosphere  being  un- 
usually clear,  though  never  without  fog,  Gardiner  went 
aloft,  to  take  a  look  for  himself  at  the  condition  of  things 
around  him. 

To  the  northward,  and  along  the  very  passage  by  which 
the  vessel  had  sailed,  the  ice  was  closing,  and  it  was  far 
easier  to  go  on  than  to  return.  To  the  eastward,  and 
toward  the  southeast  in  particular,  however,  did  Roswell 
Gardiner  turn  his  longing  eyes.  Somewhere  in  that  quar- 
ter of  the  ocean,  and  distant  now  less  than  ten  leagues,  did 
he  expect  to  find  the  islands  of  which  he  was  in  quest,  if 
indeed  they  had  any  existence  at  all.  In  that  direction 
there  were  many  passages  open  among  the  ice,  the  latter 
being  generally  higher  than  in  the  particular  place  to 
which  the  vessel  had  reached.  Once  or  twice,  Roswell 


i8o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

mistook  the  summits  of  some  of  these  bergs  for  real  moun. 
tains,  when,  owing  to  the  manner  in  which  the  light  fell 
upon  them,  or  rather  did  not  fall  upon  them  directly,  they 
appeared  dark  and  earthy.  Each  time,  however,  the  sun's 
rays  soon  came  to  undeceive  him  ;  and  that  which  had  so 
lately  been  black  and  frowning,  was,  as  by  the  touch  of 
magic,  suddenly  illuminated,  and  became  bright  and  gor- 
geous, throwing  out  its  emerald  hues,  or  perhaps  a  virgin 
white,  that  filled  the  beholder  with  delight,  even  amid  the 
terrors  and  dangers  by  which,  in  very  truth,  he  was  sur- 
rounded. The  glorious  Alps  themselves,  those  wonders 
of  the  earth,  could  scarcely  compete  in  scenery  with  the 
views  that  nature  lavished,  in  that  remote  sea,  on  a  seem- 
ing void.  But  the  might  and  honor  of  God  were  there,  as 
well  as  beneath  the  equator. 

For  one  whole  hour  did  Roswell  Gardiner  remain  in 
the  cross-trees,  having  hailed  the  deck,  and  caused  the 
schooner's  head  to  be  turned  to  the  southeast,  pressing 
her  through  the  openings  as  near  the  wind  as  she  could 
go.  The  atmosphere  was  never  without  fog,  though  the 
vapor  drifted  about,  leaving  large  vacancies  that  were 
totally  clear.  One  spot,  in  particular,  seemed  to  be  a 
favorite  restiwg-place  for  these  low  clouds,  which  just 
there  appeared  to  light  upon  the  face  of  the  ocean  itself. 
A  wide  field  of  ice,  or,  it  were  better  to  say,  a  broad  belt 
of  bergs,  lay  between  this  stationary  cloud  and  the  schooner, 
though  the  existence  of  the  vapor  early  caught  Roswell's 
attention  ;  and  during  the  hour  he  was  aloft,  conning  the 
craft  through  a  very  intricate  and  ticklish  channel,  not  a 
minute  passed  that  the  young  man  did  not  turn  a  look  to- 
ward that  veiled  spot.  He  was  in  the  act  of  placing  a 
foot  on  the  ratlin  below  him,  to  descend  to  the  deck,  when 
he  half-unconsciously  turned  to  take  a  last  glance  at  this 
distant  and  seemingly  immovable  object.  Just  then,  the 
vapor,  which  had  kept  rolling  and  moving,  like  a  fluid  in 
ebullition,  while  it  still  clung  together,  suddenly  opened, 
and  the  bald  head  of  a  real  mountain,  a  thousand  feet  high, 
came  unexpectedly  into  the  view !  There  could  be  no  mis- 
take  ;  all  was  too  plain  to  admit  of  a  doubt.  There,  be- 
yond all  question,  was  land  ;  and  it  was  doubtless  the  most 
western  of  the  islands  described  by  the  dying  seaman. 
Everything  corroborated  this  conclusion.  The  latitude  and 
longitude  were  right,  or  nearly  so,  and  the  other  circum- 
stances went  to  confirm  the  conjecture,  or  conclusion. 
Daggett  had  said  that  one  island,  high,  mountainous,  rag 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  181 

ged,  and  bleak,  but  of  some  size,  lay  the  most  westerly  in 
the  group,  while  several  others  were  within  a  few  miles  of 
it.  The  last  were  lower,  much  smaller,  and  little  more 
than  naked  rocks.  One  of  these  last,  however,  he  insisted 
on  it,  was  a  volcano  in  activity,  and  that  at  intervals  it 
emitted  flames  as  well  as  a  fierce  heat.  By  his  account, 
however,  the  party  to  which  he  belonged  had  never  actu- 
ally visited  that  volcanic  caldron,  being  satisfied  with  ad- 
miring its  terrors  from  a  distance. 

As  to  the  existence  of  the  land,  Roswell  got  several 
pretty  distinct  and  certain  views,  leaving  no  doubt  of  its 
character  and  position.  There  is  a  theory  which  tells  us 
that  the  orb  of  day  is  surrounded  by  a  luminous  vapor,  the 
source  of  heat  and  light,  and  that  this  vapor,  being  in  con- 
stant motion,  occasionally  leaves  the  mass  of  the  planet 
itself  to  be  seen,  forming  what  it  is  usual  to  term  the 
"spots  on  the  sun."  Resembling  this  theory,  the  fogs  of 
the  antarctic  seas  rolled  about  the  mountain  now  seen, 
withdrawing  the  curtain  at  times,  and.  permitting  a  view 
of  the  striking  and  majestic  object  within.  Well  did  that 
lone  and  nearly  barren  mass  of  earth  and  rock  merit  these 
appellations !  The  elevation  has  already  been  given  ;  and 
a  rock  that  is  nearly  perpendicular,  rising  out  of  the  ocean 
for  a  thousand  feet,  is  ever  imposing  and  grand.  This  was 
rendered  so  much  the  more  so  by  its  loneliness,  its  stable 
and  stern  position  amid  floating  and  moving  mountains  of 
ice,  its  brown  sides  and  bold  summit,  the  latter  then  re- 
cently wh'itened  with  a  fall  of  pure  snow,  and  its  frowning 
and  fixed  aspect  amid  a  scene  that  might  otherwise  be 
said  to  be  ever  in  motion. 

Roswell  Gardiner's  heart  beat  with  delight  when  assured 
of  success  in  discovering  this,  the  first  great  goal  of  his 
destination.  To  reach  it  was  now  his  all-absorbing  desire. 
By  this  time  the  wind  had  got  round  to  the  southwest,  and 
was  blowing  quite  fresh,  bringing  him  well  to  windward  of 
the  mountain,  but  causing  the  icebergs  to  drift  in  toward 
the  land,  and  placing  an  impassable  barrier  along  its  west- 
ern shore.  Our  young  man,  however,  remembered  that 
Daggett  had  given  the  anchorage  as  on  the  northeastern 
side  of  the  island,  where,  according  to  his  statements,  a 
little  haven  would  be  found,  in  which  a  dozen  craft  might 
lie  in  security.  To  this  quarter  of  the  island  Gardiner 
consequently  endeavored  to  get. 

There  was  no  opening  to  the  northward,  but  a  pretty 
food  channel  was  before  the  schooner  to  the  southward  of 


182  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

the  group.  In  this  direction,  then,  the  Sea  Lion  was 
steered,  and  by  eight  bells  (four  in  the  afternoon)  the 
southern  point  of  the  largest  island  was  doubled.  The 
rest  of  the  group  were  made,  and  to  the  infinite  delight  of 
all  on  board  her,  abundance  of  clear  water  was  found  be- 
tween the  main  island  and  its  smaller  neighbors.  The 
bergs  had  grounded,  apparently,  as  they  drew  near  the 
group,  leaving  this  large  bay  entirely  free  from  ice,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  small  masses  that  were  floating 
through  it.  These  bodies,  whether  field  or  berg,  were 
easily  avoided  ;  and  away  the  schooner  went,  with  flowing 
sheets,  into  the  large  basin  formed  by  the  different  mem- 
bers of  the  group.  To  render  "  assurance  doubly  sure," 
as  to  the  information  of  Daggett,  the  smoke  of  a  volcano 
arose  from  a  rock  to  the  eastward,  that  appeared  to  be 
some  three  or  four  miles  in  circumference,  and  which  stood 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  great  basin,  or  some  four  leagues 
from  Sealer's  Land,  as  Daggett  had  at  once  named  the 
principal  island.  This  was,  in  fact,  about  the  breadth  of 
the  main  basin,  which  had  two  principal  passages  into  it, 
the  one  from  the  south  and  the  other  from  the  northeast. 
Once  within  the  islands,  and  reasonably  clear  of  all  ice, 
it  was  an  easy  thing  for  the  schooner  to  run  across  the 
basin,  or  great  bay,  and  reach  the  northeastern  extremity 
of  Sealer's  Land.  As  the  light  would  continue  some  hours 
longer,  there  being  very  little  night  in  that  high  latitude 
in  December,  the  month  that  corresponds  to  our  June, 
Roswell  caused  a  boat  to  be  lowered  and  manned,  when  he 
pulled  at  once  toward  the  spot  where  it  struck  him  the 
haven  must  be  found,  if  there  were  any  such  place  at  all. 
Everything  turned  out  as  it  had  been  described  by  Dag- 
gett, and  great  was  our  young  man's  satisfaction  when  he 
rowed  into  a  cove  that  was  little  more  than  two  hundred 
yards  in  diameter,  and  which  was  so  completely  land- 
locked as  not  to  feel  the  influence  of  any  sea  outside.  In 
general,  the  great  difficulty  is  to  land  on  any  of  the  antarc- 
tic rocks,  the  breakers  and  surf  opposing  it ;  but  in  this 
spot  the  smallest  boat  could  be  laid  with  its  bow  on  a  beach 
of  shingle,  without  the  slightest  risk  of  its  being  injured. 
The  lead  also  announced  good  anchorage  in  about  eight 
fathoms  of  water.  In  a  word,  this  little  haven  was  one  of 
those  small  basins  that  so  often  occur  in  mountainous 
islands,  where  fragments  of  rock  appear  to  have  fallen  from 
the  principal  mass  as  it  was  forced  upward  out  of  the  oceanj 
as  if  purposely  intended  to  meet  the  wants  of  mariners. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  183 

Nor  was  the  outer  bay,  or  the  large  basin  formed  by  the  en- 
tire group,  by  any  means  devoid  of  advantages  to  the  navi- 
gator. From  north  to  south  this  outer  bay  was  at  least 
six  leagues  in  length,  while  its  breadth  could  not  much 
have  fallen  short  of  four.  Of  course  it  was  much  more 
exposed  to  the  winds  and  waves  than  the  little  harbor 
proper,  though  Roswell  was  struck  with  the  great  advan- 
tages it  offered  in  several  essential  particulars.  It  was 
almost  clear  of  ice,  while  so  much  was  floating  about  out- 
side of  the  circle  of  islands  ;  thus  leaving  a  free  navigation 
in  it  for  even  the  smallest  boat.  This  was  mainly  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  largest  island  had  two  long  crescent- 
shaped  capes,  the  one  at  its  northeastern  and  the  other  at 
its  southeastern  extremity,  giving  to  its  whole  eastern  side 
the  shape  of  a  new  moon.  The  harbor  just  described  was 
to  the  southward  of,  or  within,  the  northeastern  cape, 
which  our  young  master  at  once  named  Cape  Hazard,  in 
honor  of  his  chief  mate's  vigilance  ;  tkat  officer  having 
been  the  first  to  point  out  the  facilities  probably  offered 
by  the  formation  of  the  land  for  an  anchorage.  • 

Though  rocky  and  broken,  it  was  by  no  means  difficult 
to  ascend  the  rugged  banks  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
harbor,  and  Gardiner  went  up  it,  attended  by  Stimson, 
who  of  late  had  much  attached  himself  to  the  person  of  his 
commander.  The  height  of  this  barrier  above  the  waves 
of  the  ocean  was  but  a  little  less  than  a  hundred  feet,  and 
when  the  summit  was  reached,  a  common  exclamation  of 
surprise,  not  to  say  delight,  broke  from  the  lips  of  both. 
Hitherto  not  a  seal  of  any  sort  had  been  seen,  and  Gar- 
diner had  felt  some  misgivings  touching  the  benefits  that 
were  to  be  derived  from  so  much  hardship,  exposure,  and 
enterprise.  All  doubts,  however,  vanished,  the  instant  he 
got  a  sight  of  the  northern  shore  of  the  island.  This  shore, 
a  reach  of  several  miles  in  extent,  was  fairly  alive  with  the 
monsters  of  which  he  wras  in  search.  They  lay  in  thou- 
sands on  the  low  rocks  that  lined  that  entire  side  of  the 
island,  basking  in  the  sun  of  the  antarctic  seas.  There 
they  were,  sure  enough !  Sea  lions,  sea  elephants,  huge, 
clumsy,  fierce-looking  and  revolting  creatures,  belonging 
properly  to  neither  sea  nor  land.  These  animals  were 
constantly  going  and  coming  in  crowds,  some  waddling  to 
the  margin  of  the  rocks  and  tumbling  into  the  ocean  in 
search  of  food,  while  others  scrambled  out  of  the  water, 
and  got  upon  shelves  and  other  convenient  places  to  repose 
and  enjoy  the  light  of  day.  There  was  very  little  con 


1 84  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

tention  or  fighting  among  these  revolting-looking  creatures, 
though  nearly  every  known  species  of  the  larger  seals  was 
among  them. 

"There  is  famous  picking  for  us,  master  Stephen,"  said 
Roswell  to  his  companion,  fairly  rubbing  his  hands  in 
delight.  "  One  month's  smart  work  will  fill  the  schooner, 
and  we  can  be  off  before  the  equinox.  Does  it  not  seem 
to  you  that  yonder  are  the  bones  of  sea  lions,  or  of  seals  of 
some  sort,  lying  hereaway,  as  if  men  had  been  at  work  on 
the  creatures  ? " 

"  No  doubt  on't  at  all,  Captain  Gar'ner ;  as  much  out  of 
the  way  as  this  island  is — and  I  never  heard  of  the  place 
afore,  old  a  sealer  as  I  am — but,  as  much  out  of  the  way  as 
it  is,  we  are  not  the  first  to  find  it.  Somebody  has  been 
here,  and  that  within  a  year  or  two  ;  and  he  has  picked  up 
a  cargo,  too,  depend  on't." 

As  all  this  merely  corresponded  with  Daggett's  account 
of  the  place,  Roswell  felt  no  surprise  ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
saw  in  it  a  confirmation  of  all  that  Daggett  had  stated,  and 
as  furnishing  so  much  the  more  reason  to  hope  for  a  suc- 
cessful termination  to  the  voyage  in  all  its  parts.  While 
on  the  rocks,  Roswell  took  such  a  survey  of  the  localities 
as  might  enable  him  to  issue  his  orders  hereafter  with  dis- 
cretion and  intelligence.  The  schooner  was  already  mak- 
ing short  tacks  to  get  close  in  with  the  island,  in  obedience 
to  a  signal  to  that  effect  ;  and  the  second  mate  had  pulled 
out  to  the  entrance  of  the  little  haven,  with  a  view  to  act 
as  pilot.  Before  the  captain  had  descended  from  the  sum- 
mit of  the  northern  barrier,  the  vessel  came  in  under  her 
jib,  the  wind  being  nearly  aft,  and  she  dropped  two  anchors 
in  suitable  spots,  making  another  flying  moor  of  it. 

General  joy  now  illuminated  every  face.  It  was,  in  it- 
self, a  great  point  gained  to  get  the  schooner  into  a  per- 
fectly safe  haven,  where  her  people  could  take  their  natural 
rest  at  night,  or  during  their  watches  below,  without  feel- 
ing any  apprehension  of  being  crushed  in  the  ice  ;  but 
here  was  not  only  security,  but  the  source  of  that  wealth 
of  which  they  were  inquest,  and  which  had  induced  them 
all  to  encounter  so  many  privations  and  so  much  danger. 
The  crew  landed  to  a  man,  each  individual  ascending  to 
the  summit  of  the  barrier,  to  feast  his  eyes  on  the  spectacle 
that  lay  spread  in  such  affluent  abundance  along  the  low 
rocks  of  the  northern  side  of  the  island. 

As  there  were  yet  several  hours  of  light  remaining, 
Roswell,  still  attended  by  Stimson,  each  armed  with  a 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  185 

sealing-spear  or  lance,  not  only  as  a  weapon  of  defence, 
but  as  a  leaping-staff,  set  out  to  climb  as  high  up  the  cen- 
tral acclivity  of  the  island  as  circumstances  would  allow 
him  to  go.  He  was  deceived  in  the  distances,  however, 
and  soon  found  that  an  entire  day  would  be  necessary  to 
achieve  such  an  enterprise,  could  it  be  performed  at  all ; 
but  he  did  succeed  in  reaching  a  low  spur  of  the  central 
mountain  that  commanded  a  wide  and  noble  view  of  all 
that  lay  to  the  north  and  east  of  it.  From  this  height, 
which  must  have  been  a  few  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  ocean,  our  adventurers  got  a  still  better  view 
of  the  whole  north  coast,  or  of  what  might  have  been 
called  .the  sealing  quarter  of  the  island.  They  also  got  a 
tolerably  accurate  idea  of  the  general  formation  of  that 
lone  fragment  of  rock  and  earth,  as  well  as  of  the  islets 
and  islands  that  lay  in  its  vicinity.  The  outline  of  the 
first  was  that  of  a  rude,  and  of  course  an  irregular  triangle, 
the  three  principal  points  of  which  were  the  two  low  capes 
already  mentioned,  and  a  third  that  lay  to  the  northward 
and  westward.  The  whole  of  the  western  or  southwestern 
shore  seemed  to  be  a  nearly  perpendicular  wall  of  rock, 
that,  in  the  main,  rose  some  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
above  the  ocean.  Against  this  side  of  the  island,  in  par- 
ticular, the  waves  of  the  ocean  were  sullenly  beating,  while 
the  ice  drove  up  "  home,"  as  sailors  express  it ;  showing 
a  vast  depth  of  water.  On  the  two  other  sides  it  was  dif- 
ferent. The  winds  prevailed  most  from  the  southwest, 
which  rendered  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  island  its 
weather  wall  ;  while  the  two  other,  sides  of  the  triangle 
were  more  favored  by  position.  The  north  side,  of  course, 
lay  most  exposed  to  the  sun,  everything  of  this  nature 
being  reversed  in  the  southern  hemisphere  from  what  we 
have  it  in  the  northern  ;  while  the  eastern,  or  northeastern 
side,  to  be  precisely  accurate,  was  protected  by  the  group 
of  islands  that  lay  in  its  front.  Such  was  the  general 
character  of  Sealer's  Land,  so  far  as  the  hurried  observa- 
tions of  its  present  master  enabled  him  to  ascertain.  The 
near  approach  of  night  induced  him  now  to  hasten  to  get 
off  of  the  somewhat  dangerous  acclivities  to  which  he  had 
climbed,  and  to  rejoin  his  people  and  his  schooner. 


186  THE   SEA    LIONS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"Ye  dart  upon  the  deep,  and  straight  is  heard 

A  wilder  roar  ;  and  men  grow  pale,  and  pray  : 
Ye  fling  its  waters  round  you,  as  a  bird 

Flings  o'er  his  shivering  plumes  the  fountain's  spray. 
See  !  to  the  breaking  mast  the  sailor  clings  ! 
Ye  scoop  the  ocean  to  its  briny  springs, 
And  take  the  mountain  billows  on  your  wings, 
And  pile  the  wreck  of  navies  round  the  bay." 

— BRYANT'S  WINDS. 

No  unnecessary  delay  was  permitted  to  interfere  with 
the  one  great  purpose  of  the  sealers.  The  season  was  so 
short,  and  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  entering  among 
and  of  quitting  the  ice  were  so  very  serious,  that  every 
soul  belonging  to  the  schooner  felt  the  importance  of 
activity  and  industry.  The  very  day  that  succeeded  the 
vessel's  arrival,  not  only  was  great  progress  made  in  the 
preliminary  arrangements,  but  a  goodly  number  of  fur- 
seals,  of  excellent  quality,  were  actually  killed  and  se- 
cured. Two  noble  sea  elephants  were  also  lanced,  animals 
that  measured  near  thirty  feet  in  length,  each  of  which 
yielded  a  very  ample  return  for  the  risk  and  trouble  of 
taking  it,  in  oil.  The  skins  of  the  fur  seals,  however, 
were  Roswell's  principal  object ;  and  glad  enough  was  he 
to  find  the  creature  that  pays  this  tribute  to  the  wants  and 
luxuries  of  man,  in  numbers  sufficient  to  promise  him  a 
speedy  return  to  the  northward.  While  the  slaughter,  and 
skinning,  and  curing,  and  trying  out,  were  all  in  active  oper- 
ation, our  young  man  paid  some  attention  to  certain  minor 
arrangements,  which  had  a  direct  bearing  on  the  comforts 
of  his  people,  as  well  as  the  getting  in  of  cargo. 

An  old  storehouse,  of  respectable  size,  had  stood  on  the 
deacon's  wharf,  while  the  schooner  was  fitting  out,  but  it 
had  been  taken  to  pieces,  in  order  to  make  room  for  a 
more  eligible  substitute.  The  materials  of  this  building 
Roswell  Gardiner  had  persuaded  his  owner  to  send  on 
board,  and  they  had  all  been  received  and  stowed  away,  a 
part  below  and  a  part  on  deck,  as  a  provison  for  the  pos- 
sible wants  of  the  people.  As  it  was  necessary  to  clear 
the  decks  and  break  out  the  hold,  all  these  materials,  con- 
sisting principally  of  the  timbers  of  the  frame,  the  siding, 
and  a  quantity  of  planks  and  boards,  were  now  floated 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  187 

ashore  in  the  cove,  and  hauled  up  on  the  rocks.  Roswell 
took  a  leisure  moment  to  select  a  place  for  the  site  of  his 
building,  which  he  intended  to  erect  at  once,  in  order  to 
save  the  time  that  would  otherwise  be  lost  in  pulling  be- 
tween the  schooner  and  the  shore. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  find  the  sort  of  spot  that  was 
desirable  for  the  dwelling.  That  chosen  by  Gardiner  was 
a  shelf  of  rock  of  sufficient  extent,  that  lay  perfectly  ex- 
posed to  the  north  and  northeast,  or  to  the  sunny  side  of 
the  island,  while  it  was  sheltered  from  the  south  and  south- 
west by  masses  of  rock,  that  formed  a  complete  protection 
against  the  colder  winds  of  the  region.  These  walls  of 
stone,  however,  were  not  sufficiently  near  to  permit  any 
snows  they  might  collect  to  impend  over  the  building,  but 
enough  space  was  left  between  them  and  the  house,  to 
admit  of  a  capacious  yard,  in  which  might  be  placed  any 
articles  that  were  necessary  to  the  ordinary  work,  or  to  the 
wants  of  the  sealers. 

Had  it  been  advisable  to  set  all  hands  at  the  business  of 
slaughtering,  Roswell  Gardiner  certainly  would  not  have 
lost  the  time  he  did,  in  the  erection  of  his  house.  But 
our  master  was  a  judicious  and  wary  commander  at  his 
calling.  The  seals  were  now  perfectly  tame,  and  nothing 
was  easier  than  to  kill  them  in  scores.  The  great  diffi- 
culty was  in  removing  the  spoils  across  the  rocks,  as  it  was 
sometimes  necessary  to  do  so  for  a  distance  of  several 
miles.  Means  were  found,  in  the  end,  to  use  the  boats  on 
this  service,  though  even  then,  at  midsummer,  the  northern 
shore  of  the  island  was  frequently  so  closely  beset  by  the 
ice  as  completely  to  block  up  the  passage.  This,  too,  oc- 
curred at  times  when  the  larger  bay  was  nearly  free,  and 
the  cove,  which  went  by  the  name  of  the  "  Deacon's 
Bight"  among  the  men,  was  entirely  so.  In  order  to  pre- 
vent a  premature  panic  among  the  victims  of  this  intended 
foray,  then,  Gardiner  allowed  no  one  to  go  out  to  "kill" 
but  the  experienced  hands,  and  no  more  to  be  slain  each 
day  than  could  be  skinned  or  cut  up  at  that  particular 
time.  In  consequence  of  this  prudent  caution,  the  work 
soon  got  into  a  regular  train  ;  and  it  was  early  found  that 
more  was  done  in  this  mode,  than  could  have  been  effected 
by  a  less  guarded  assault  on  the  seals. 

As  for  the  materials  of  the  building,  they  were  hauled  up 
the  rocks  without  much  difficulty.  The  frame  was  of  some 
size,  as  is  the  case  generally  with  most  old  constructions  in 
America  ;  but  being  of  pine,  thoroughly  seasoned,  the  sills 


1 88  THE   SEA    L1OXS. 

and  plates  were  not  so  heavy  but  that  they  might  be  readily 
enough  handled  by  the  non-sealing  portion  of  the  crew. 
Robert  Smith,  the  landsman,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and 
it  fell  to  his  lot  to  put  together  again  the  materials  of  the 
old  warehouse.  Had  there  not  been  such  a  mechanic 
among  the  crew,  however,  a  dozen  Americans  could,  at  any 
time,  construct  a  house,  the  "  rough  and  ready  "  habits  of 
the  people  usually  teaching  them,  in  a  rude  way,  a  good 
deal  of  a  great  many  other  arts,  besides  this  of  the  carpen- 
ter. Mott  had  served  a  part  of  his  time  with  a  blacksmith, 
and  he  now  set  up  his  forge.  When  the  frame  was  ready, 
all  hands  assembled  to'  assist  in  raising  it ;  and,  by  the  end 
of  the  first  week,  the  building  was  actually  inclosed,  the 
labor  amounting  to  no  more  than  putting  each  portion  in 
its  place  and  securing  it  there,  the  saw  being  scarcely  used 
during  the  whole  process.  This  building  had  two  apart- 
ments, one  of  which  Gardiner  appropriated  to  the  uses  of 
a  sitting-room,  and  the  other  to  that  of  a  dormitory.  Rough 
bunks  were  constructed,  and  the  mattresses  of  the  men 
were  all  brought  ashore  and  put  in  the  house.  It  was  in- 
tended that  everybody  should  sleep  in  the  building,  as  it 
would  save  a  great  deal  of  going  to  and  fro,  as  well  as  a 
great  deal  of  time.  The  cargo  was  to  be  collected  on  a 
shelf  of  rock,  that  lay  about  twenty  feet  below  that  on  which 
the  building  stood  ;  by  following  which,  it  was  possible  to 
turn  the  highest  point  of  the  pass,  that  which  formed  the 
southern  protection  of  the  building,  and  come  out  on  the 
side  of  the  cove  at  another  shelf,  that  was  not  more  than 
fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  vessel's  decks.  Down  this 
last  declivity,  Roswell  proposed  to  lower  his  casks  by  means 
of  a  projecting  derrick,  the  rock  being  sufficiently  precipi- 
tous to  admit  of  this  arrangement,  while  his  spare  spars 
furnished  him  with  the  necessary  means.  Thus  was  every 
preparation  made  with  judgment  and  foresight. 

In  this  manner  did  the  first  ten  days  pass,  every  man 
and  boy  being  as  busy  as  bees.  To  own  the  truth,  no  at- 
tention was  paid  to  the  Sabbath,  which  would  seem  to  have 
been  left  behind  them  by  the  people,  among  the  descend- 
ants of  those  Puritans  who  were  so  rigid  in  their  observance 
of  that  festival.  At  the  end  of  the  time  just  mentioned,  a 
great  deal  had  been  done.  The  house,  such  as  it  was,  was 
completed.  To  be  sure,  it  was  nothing  but  an  old  store- 
house revamped,  but  it  was  found  to  be  of  infinite  service, 
and  greatly  did  all  hands  felicitate  themselves  at  having 
brought  its  materials  along  with  them.  Even  those  who 


77/7:    SEA    LfO.VS.  189 

had  most  complained  of  the  labor  of  getting  the  timbers 
on  board,  had  the  most  often  cursed  them  for  being  in  the 
way  during  the  passage,  and  had  continued  the  loudest  to 
deride  the  idea  of  "sealers  turning  .carpenters,"  were 
shortly  willing  to  allow  that  the  possession  of  this  dwell- 
ing was  of  the  greatest  value  to  them,  an'd  that,  so  far  from 
the  extra  work's  causing  them  to  fall  behind  in  their  main 
operations,  the  comfort  they  found,  in  having  a  home  like 
this  to  go  to,  after  a  long  day's  toil,  refreshed  them  to  a 
degree  which  enabled  every  man  to  return  to  his  labor 
with  a  zeal  and  an  energy  that  might  otherwise  have  been 
wanting.  Although  it  was  in  the  warmest  season  of  the 
year,  and  the  nights  could  scarcely  be  called  nights  at  all, 
yet  the  sun  never  got  very  low  without  leaving  a  chilliness 
in  the  air  that  would  have  rendered  sleeping  without  a 
cover  and  a  protection  from  the  winds  not  only  excessively 
uncomfortable,  but  somewhat  dangerous.  Indeed,  it  was 
often  found  necessary  to  light  a  lire  in  the  old  warehouse. 
This  was  done  by  means  of  a  capacious  box-stove,  that  was 
almost  as  old  as  the  building  itself,  and  which  had  also 
been  brought  along  as  an  article  of  great  necessity  in  that 
climate.  Fuel  could  not  be  wanting,  so  long  as  the 
"scraps  "from  the  try-works  abounded,  and  there  were 
many  more  of  these  than  were  needed  to  "  try  out "  the 
sea  elephant  oil.  The  schooner,  however,  had  a  very  ample 
supply  of  wood  to  burn,  that  being  an  article  which  abound- 
%ed  on  Shelter  Island,  and  which  the  deacon  had  consented 
to  lay  in,  in  some  abundance.  Gardiner  got  this  concession 
out  of  the  miserly  temperament  of  the  old  man,  by  per- 
suading him  that  a  sealer  could  not  work  to  any  advantage 
unless  he  had  the  means  of  occasionally  warming  himself. 
The  miserly  propensities  of  the  deacon  were  not  so  en- 
grossing that  he  did  not  comprehend  the  wisdom  of  making 
sufficient  outlay  to  secure  the  execution  of  his  main  object ; 
and  among  other  things  of  this  nature,  the  schooner  had 
sailed  with  a  very  large  supply  of  wood,  as  has  just  been 
stated.  Wood  and  onions,  indeed,  were  more  abundant 
in  her  than  any  other  stores. 

The  arrangements  described  were  completed  by  the  end 
of  the  first  fortnight,  during  which  period  the  business  of 
sealing  was  also  carried  on  with  great  industry  and  suc- 
cess. So  very  tame  were  the  victims,  and  so  totally  uncon- 
scious of  the  danger  they  incurred  from  the  presence  of 
man,  that  the  crew  moved  round  among  them,  seemingly 
but  very  little  observed,  and  not  at  all  molested.  The 


1 9o 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


utmost  care  was  taken  to  give  no  unnecessary  alarm  ;  and 
when  an  animal  was  lanced,  it  was  done  in  such  a  quiet 
way  as  to  produce  as  little  commotion  as  possible.  By  the 
end  of  the  time  named,  however,  the  sealing  had  got  so 
advanced  as  to  require  the  aid  of  all  hands  in  securing  the 
spoils.  To  work,  t'hen,  everybody  went,  with  a  hearty  good- 
will;  and  the  shelf  of  rock  just  below  the  house  was  soon 
well  garnished  writh  casks  and  skins.  Had  the  labor  been 
limited  to  the  mere  killing,  and  skinning,  and  curing,  and 
barrelling  of  oil,  it  would  have  been  comparatively  quite 
light ;  but  the  necessity  of  transporting  the  fruits  of  all 
this  skill  and  luck  considerable  distances,  in  some  cases 
several  miles,  and  this  over  broken  rocks,  formed  the  great 
obstacle  to  immediate  success.  It  was  the  opinion  of  Ros- 
well  Gardiner,  that  he  could  have  filled  his  schooner  in  a 
month,  were  it  possible  to  place  her  directly  alongside  of 
the  rocks  frequented  by  the  seals,  and  prevent  all  this  toil 
in  transporting.  This,  however,  was  impossible,  the  waves 
and  the  ice  rendering  it  certain  destruction  to  lay  a  craft 
anywhere  along  the  northern  shore  of  the  island.  The 
boats  might  be,  and  occasionally  they  were  used,  bringing 
loads  of  skin  and  oil  round  the  cape,  quite  into  the  cove. 
These  little  cargoes  were  immediately  transferred  to  the 
hold  of  the  schooner,  a  ground  tier  of  large  casks  having 
been  left  in  her  purposely  to  receive  the  oil,  which  was 
emptied  into  them  by  means  of  a  hose.  By  the  end  of  the 
third  week,  this  ground  tier  was  filled,  and  the  craft  be- 
came stiff,  and  was  in  good  ballast  trim,  although  the  spare 
water  was  now  entirely  pumped  out  of  her. 

All  this  time  the  weather  was  very  fair  for  so  high  a 
latitude,  and  every  way  propitious.  The  twenty-third  day 
after  the  schooner  got  in,  Roswell  was  standing  on  a  spur 
of  the  hill,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  house,  overlook- 
ing the  long  reach  of  rocky  coast  over  wrhich  the  "  sea- 
elephants,"  and  "lions,"  and  "dogs,"  and  "  bears,"  were 
waddling  in  as  much  seeming  security  as  the  hour  when  be 
first  saw  them.  The  sun  was  just  rising,  and  the  seals 
were  clambering  up  out  of  the  water  to  enjoy  its  warm 
rays,  as  they  placed  themselves  in  positions  favorable  to 
such  a  purpose. 

"  That  is  a  pleasant  sight  to  a  true  sealer,  Captain  Gar'- 
ner,"  observed  Stimson,  who  as  usual  had  kept  near  his 
officer,  "  and  one  that  I  can  say  I  never  before  sa\v  equalled. 
I've  been  in  this  business  now  some  five-and-twenty  years, 
and  never  before  have  1  met  with  so  safe  a  harbor  for  a 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  19! 

craft,  and  so  large  herds  that  have  not  been  stirred  up  and 
got  to  be  skeary." 

"  We  have  certainly  been  very  fortunate  thus  far,  Stephen, 
and  I  am  now  in  hopes  we  may  fill  up  and  be  off  in  good 
season  to  get  clear  of  the  ice,"  returned  Roswell.  "  Our 
luck  has  been  surprising,  all  things  considered." 

"You  call  it  luck,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  but  in  my  creed? 
there  is  truer  and  a  better  word  for  it,  sir." 

uAy,  I  know  well  enough  what  you  mean,  Stephen; 
though  I  cannot  fancy  that  Providence  cares  much  whether 
we  shall  take  a  hundred  seals  to-day,  or  none  at  all." 

*'  Such  is  not  my  idee,  sir  ;  and  I'm  not  ashamed  to  own  it. 
In  my  humble  way  of  thinking,  Captain  Gar'ner,  the  finger 
of  Divine  Providence  is  in  all  that  comes  to  pass  ;  if  not 
straight  ahead  like,  as  a  body  would  receive  a  fall,  still,  by 
sartain  laws  that  bring  about  everything  that  is  to  happen, 
just  as  it  does  happen.  I  believe' now,  sir,  that  Providence 
does  not  intend  we  shall  take  any  seals  at  all  to-day,  sir.'* 

"  Why  not,  Stimson  ?  It  is  the  very  finest  day  we  have 
had  since  we  have  been  on  the  island." 

"  That's  true  enough  ;  and  it  is  this  glorious  sunny  day, 
glorious  and  sunny  for  sich  a  high  latitude,  that  makes  me 
feel  and  think  that  this  day  was  not  intended  for  work, 
You  probably  forget  it  is  the  Sabbath,  Captain  Gar'ner  !  " 

"  Sure  enough  ;  I  had  forgotten  that,  Stephen  ;  but  we 
sealers  seldom  lie  by  for  such  a  reason." 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  us  sealers,  then,  sir.  This  is  my 
seventeenth  v'y'ge  into  these  seas,  sir,  and  I  will,  say  that 
more  of  them  have  been  made  with  officers  and  crews  that 
did  not  keep  the  Sabbath,  than  with  officers  and  crews  that 
did.  Still,  I  have  obsarved  one  thing,  sir,  that  the  man 
who  takes  his  rest  one  day  in  seven,  and  freshens  his  mind, 
as  it  might  be,  with  thinking  of  other  matters  than  his 
every-day  consarns,  comes  to  his  task  with  so  much  better 
will,  when  he  does  set  about  it,  as  to  turn  off  greater  profit 
than  if  he  worked  night  and  day,  Sundays  and  all." 

Roswell  Gardiner  had  no  great  reverence  for  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath,  and  this  more  because  it  was  so  called,  than 
for  any  sufficient  reason  in  itself.  Pride  of  reason  rendered 
him  jealous  of  everything  like  a  concession  to  the  faith  of 
those  who  believed  in  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  he  was  very  apt 
to  dissent  from  all  admission  that  had  even  the  most  remote 
bearing  on  its  truth.  Still,  as  a  kind-hearted  commander, 
as  well  as  a  judicious  reasoner  on  the  economy  of  his  fel- 
low-creatures, he  fully  felt  the  policy  of  granting  relax- 


192  THE   SEA    LIOXS. 

ation  to  labor.  Nor  was  lie  indisposed  to  believe  in  tie 
care  of  a. Divine  Providence,  or  in  its  justice,  though  less 
believing  in  this  respect  than  the  illiterate  but  earnest- 
minded  seaman  who  stood  at  his  side.  He  knew  very  well 
that  "all  work,  and  no  play,  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy  ;"  and 
he  understood  well  enough  that  it  was  good  fora  man,  at 
stated  seasons,  to  raise  his  mind  from  the  cares  and  busi- 
ness of  this  world,  to  muse  on  those  of  the  world  that  is  to 
come.  Though  inclined  to  Deism,  Roswell  worshipped  in 
his  heart  the  Creator  of  all  he  saw  and  understood,  as  well 
as  much  that  he  could  neither  scan  nor  comprehend. 

"  This  is  not  the  seaman's  usual  way  of  thinking,"  re- 
turned our  hero,  after  regarding  his  companion  for  a  mo- 
ment, a  little  intently.  "  With  us,  there  is  very  little  Sab- 
bath in  blue  water." 

V  Too  little,  sir  ;  much  too  little.  Depend  on't,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  God  is  on  the  face  of  the  waters  as  well  as  on  the 
hill-tops.  His  Spirit  is  everywhere  ;  and  it  must  grieve  it 
to  see  human  beings,  that  have  been  created  in  his  image, 
so  bent  on  gain  as  to  set  apart  no  time  even  for  rest  ;  much 
less  for  his  worship  and  praise  !  " 

"  I  am  not  certain  you  are  wrong,  Stimson,  and  I  feel 
much  more  sure  that  you  are  right  as  a  political  economist 
than  in  your  religion.  There  should  be  seasons  of  rest  and 
reflection — yet  I  greatly  dislike  losing  a  day  as  fine  as  this." 

"  '  The  better  the  day,  the  better  the  deed,'  sir.  No  time 
is  lost  to  him  who  stops  in  his  work  to  think  a  little  of  his 
God.  Our  crew  is  used  to  having  a  Sabbath  ;  and  though 
we  work  on  lays,  there  is  not-  a  hand  aboard  us,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  who  would  not  be  glad  to  hear  the  word  pass 
among  'em  which  should  say  this  is  the  Lord's  day,  and 
you've  to  knock  off  your  labor." 

"As  I  believe  you  understand  the  people,  Stephen,  and 
we  have  had  a  busy  time  of  it  since  we  got  in,  I'll  take  you 
at  your  word,  and  give  the  order.  Go  and  tell  Mr.  Hazard 
there'll  be  no  duty  carried  on  to-day  beyond  what  is  indis- 
pensable. It  is  Sunday,  and  we'll  make  it  a  day  of  rest." 

Truth  compels  us  to  say  that  Roswell  was  quite  as  much 
influenced  in  giving  this  order,  by  recollecting  the  pleas- 
ure it  would  give  Mary,  as  by  any  higher  consideration. 

Glad  enough  was  Stimson  to  hear  this  order,  and  away 
he  hastened  to  find  the  mate,  that  it  might  at  once  be  com- 
municated to  the  men.  Although  this  well-disposed  sea- 
man a  little  overrated  the  motives  of  a  portion  of  the  crew  at 
least,  he  was  right  enough  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 


THE   SEA    L1O.YS.  193 

would  receive  the  new  regulation.  Rest  and  relaxation 
had  become,  in  a  measure,  necessary  to  them  ;  and  leisure 
was  also  needed  to  enable  the  people  to  clean  themselves  ; 
the  business  in  which  they  had  been  engaged  being  one 
that  accumulates  oily  substances,  and  requiring  occasional 
purifications  of  the  body  in  order  to  preserve  the  health. 
The  scurvy,  that  great  curse  of  long  voyages,  is  as  much, 
owing  to  neglect  of  cleanliness  as  to  diet. 

No  sooner  was  it  known  that  this  day  was  to  be  treated 
as  the  Sabbath,  than  soap,  razors,  scissors,  and  all  the 
usual  appliances  of  the  sailor's  toilet,  were  drawn  out  of 
bags  and  chests,  and  paraded  about  on  the  rocks.  An. 
hour  passed  in  scrubbing,  shaving,  cutting  hair,  holding 
garments  up  to  the  light  to  look  for  holes  and  ascertain 
their  condition,  and  rummaging  among  "properties,"  as 
the  player  would  term  the  different  wardrobes  that  were 
thus  brought  into  view.  The  mates  came  out  of  the  melee 
"  shaven  and  shorn,"  as  well  as  neatly  attired  ;  and  there 
was  not  a  man  on  the  island  who  did  not  look  like  a  dif- 
ferent being  from  what  he  had  appeared  an  hour  before, 
in  consequence,  of  this  pause  in  the  regular  business  of 
sealing,  and  the  promised  holiday.  A  strict  order  was 
given  that  no  one  should  go  among  the  seals,  as  it  was 
feared  that  some  indiscretion  or  other  might  have  a  ten- 
dency to  create  an  alarm.  In  all  other  respects  the  island 
was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  men,  if  anything  could 
be  made  of  such  a  lone  spot,  a  speck  on  the  surface  of 
the  antarctic  seas,  and  nearly  encircled  by  mountains  of 
floating  ice. 

As  for  Roswell  himself,  after  reading  a  chapter  or  two 
in  Mary  Pratt's  Bible,  he  determined  to  make  another  ef- 
fort to  ascend  to  the  summit  of  the  sterile  rocks  which 
capped  the  pile  that  rose  vertically  in  the  centre  of  the 
island.  The  day  was  nearly  all  before  him  ;  and,  summon- 
ing Stimson  as  a  companion,  for  he  had  taken  a  great  fancy 
to  this  man,  away  he  went,  young,  active,  and  full  of  buoy- 
ancy. Almost  at  the  same  instant,  Hazard,  the  chief  mate, 
pulled  out  of  the  cove  in  one  of  the  whale-boats,  manned 
by  volunteers,  and  provided  with  sails,  with  an  intention 
to  cross  the  Great  Bay,  and  get  a  nearer  view  of  the  vol- 
canic hill,  out  of  which  smoke  was  constantly  pouring,  and 
occasionally  flames.  The  second  mate  and  one  or  two  of 
the  hands  remained  near  the  house,  to  keep  a  lookout  on 
the  vessel  and  other  property. 

The  season  had  now  advanced  to  the  first  day  of  Jan- 


1 94  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

uary,  a  month  that  in  the  southern  hemisphere  corresponds 
with  our  own  July.  As  Rosvvell  picked  his  way  among 
the  broken  rocks  that  covered  the  ascent  to  what  might 
be  termed  the  table-land  of  the  island,  if  indeed  any  por- 
tion of  so  ragged  a  bit  of  this  earth  could  properly  be  so 
named,  his  thoughts  recurred  to  this  question  of  the  sea- 
son, and  to  the  probability  of  his  getting  a  cargo  before  it 
would  be  absolutely  necessary  to  go  to  the  northward. 
On  the  whole,  he  fancied  his  chances  good  ;  and  such  he 
found  to  be  Stimson's  opinion,  when  this  experienced 
sealer  was  questioned  on  the  subject. 

"We've  begun  right  in  all  respects  but  one,  Captain 
Gar'ner,"  said  Stephen,  as  he  closed  his  remarks  on  the 
subject;  "and  even  in  that  matter  in  which  we  made  a 
small  mistake  at  the  outset,  we  are  improving,  and  I  hope 
will  come  out  right  in  the  end.  I  said  a  small  mistake, 
but  in  this  I'm  wrong,  as  it  was  a  great  mistake." 

"And  what  was  it,  Stephen  ?  Make  no  bones  of  telling 
me  of  any  blunder  I  may  have  committed,  according  to 
your  views  of  duty.  You  are  so  much  older  than  myself, 
that  I'll  stand  it." 

"Why,  sir,  it's  not  in  seamanship,  or  in  sealing  ;  if  it  was, 
I'd  hold  my  tongue  ;  but  it's  in  not  keeping  the  Lord's 
day  from  the  hour  when  we  lifted  our  anchor  in  that  bay 
that  bears  the  name  of  your  family,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  and 
which  ought  to  be,  and  I  make  no  doubt  />,  dear  to  you  on 
that  account,  if  for  no  other  reason.  I  rather  think,  from 
what  they  tell  me,  that  the  old  Lord  Gar'ner  of  all  had 
much  preaching  of  the  word,  and  much  praying  to  the 
Lord  in  the  old  times,  when  he  lived  there." 

"There  never  was  any  Lord  Gardiner  among  us,"  re- 
turned Roswell  modestly,  "though  it  was  a  fashion  among 
the  eastenders  to  give  that  title  to  the  owner  of  the  island. 
My  ancestor  who  first  got  the  place  was  Lyon  Gardiner, 
an  engineer  in  the  service  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut/' 

"Well,  whether  he  was  a  lion  or  a  lamb,  I'll  answer  for 
it  the  Lord  was  not  forgotten  on  that  island,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  and  he  shouldn't  be  on  this.  No  man  ever  lost 
anything  in  this  world,  or  in  that  which  is  to  come  a'ter  it, 
by  remembering  once  in  seven  days  to  call  on  his  Creator 
to  help  him  on  in  his  path.  I've  heard  it  said,  sir,  that 
you're  a  little  partic'lar  like  in  your  ideas  of  religion,  and 
that  you  do  not  altogether  hold  to  the  doctrines  that  are 
preached  up  and  down  the  land." 

Roswell  felt  his   cheeks  warm   at  this   remark,  and   he 


THE    SKA    LIONS.  195 

thought  of  Mary,  arid  of  her  meek  reliance  on  that  Saviour 
whom,  in  the  pride  of  his  youth,  strength,  and,  as  he 
fancied,  of  his  reason  also,  he  doubted  about,  as  being  the 
Son  of  God.  The  picture  thus  presented  to  his  mind  had 
its  pleasant  and  its  unpleasant  features.  Strange  as  it 
may  seem,  it  is  certain  that  the  young  man  would  have 
loved,  would  have  respected  Mary  less  than  he  now  did, 
could  he  imagine  that  she  entertained  the  same  notions  on 
this  very  subject  as  those  he  entertained  'himself !  Few 
men  relish  infidelity  in  a  woman,  whose  proper  sphere 
would  seem  to  be  in  believing  and  in  worshipping,  and 
not  in  cavilling,  or  in  splitting  straws  on  matters  of  faith. 
Perhaps  it  is  that  we  are  apt  to  associate  laxity  of  morals 
with  laxity  of  belief,  and  have  a  general  distaste  for  releasing 
the  other  sex  from  any,  even  the  smallest  of  the  restraints 
that  the  dogmas  of  the  church  impose  ;  but  we  hold  it  to 
be  without  dispute  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  every 
man  would  prefer  that  the  woman  in  whom  he  feels  an 
interest  should  err  on  the  side  of  bigotry  rather  than  on 
that  of  what  is  called  liberalism  in  points  of  religious  be- 
lief. Thus  it  is  with  most  of  us,  and  thus  was  it  with 
Roswell  Gardiner.  .  He  could  not  wonder  at  Mary's  rigid 
notions,  considering  her  education  ;  and,  on  the  whole,  he 
rather  liked  her  the  better  for  them,  at  the  very  moment 
that  he  felt  they  might  endanger  his  own  happiness.  If 
women  thoroughly  understood  how  much  of  their  real 
power  and  influence  with  men  arises  from  their  seeming 
dependence,  there  would  be  very  little  tolerance  in  their 
own  circles  for  those  among  them  who  are  for  proclaiming 
their  independence  and  their  right  to  equality  in  all  things. 
While  our  young  mariner  and  his  companion  were  work- 
ing their  way  up  to  the  table-land,  which  lay  fully  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  there  w'as  little 
opportunity  for  further  discourse,  so  rough  was  the  way, 
and  so  difficult  the  ascent.  At  the  summit,  however,  there 
was  a  short  pause,  ere  the  two  undertook  the  mountain 
proper,  and  they  came  to  a  halt  to  take  a  look  at  the  aspect 
of  things  aroun'd  them.  There  was  the  boat,  a  mere  wrhite 
speck  on  the  water,  flying  away  with  a  fresh  northerly 
breeze  toward  the  volcano,  while  the  smoke  from  the 
Litter  made  a  conspicuous  and  not  very  distant  landmark. 
Nearer  at  home,  all  appeared  unusually  plain  for  a  region 
in  which  fogs  were  apt  to  prevail.  The  cove  lay  almost 
beneath  them,  and  the  schooner,  just  then,  struck  the 
imagination  of  her  commander,  as  a  fearfully  small  craft 


196  THE   SEA    IJOXS. 

to  come  so  far  from  home  and  to  penetrate  so  deep  among 
the  mazes  of  the  ice.  It  was  that  ice  itself,  however,  that 
attracted  most  of  Roswell's  attention.  Far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  the  ocean  was  brilliant 
and  chill  with  the  vast  floating  masses.  The  effect  on  the 
air  was  always  perceptible  in  that  region,  "  killing  the 
summer,"  as  the  sealers  expressed  it  ;  but  it  seemed  tq  be 
doubly  so  at  the  elevation  to  which  the  t\vo  adventurers 
had  attained.  Still,  the  panorama  was  magnificent.  The 
only  part  of  the  ocean  that  did  not  seem  to  be  alive  with 
icebergs,  if  one  may  use  such  an  expression,  was  the  space 
within  the  group,  and  that  was  as  clear  as  an  estuary  in  a 
mild  climate.  It  really  appeared  as  if  nature  had  tabooed 
that  privileged  spot,  in  order  that  the  communication  be- 
tween the  different  islands  should  remain  open.  Of  course, 
the  presence  of  so  many  obstacles  to  the  billows  without, 
and  indeed  even  to  the  rake  of  the  winds,  produced  smooth 
water  within,  the  slow,  breath-like  heaving  and  setting  of 
the  ceaseless  ground-swell,  being  the  only  perceptible 
motion  to  the  water  inside. 

"  'Tis  a  very  remarkable  view,  Stephen,"  said  Rosweli 
Gardiner,  "  but  there  will  be  one  much  finer,  if  we  can 
work  our  way  up  that  cone  of  a  mountain,  and  stand  on 
its  naked  cap.  I  wish  I  had  brought  an  old  ensign  and  a 
small  spar  along  to  set  up  the  gridiron  in  honor  of  the 
States.  '  We're  beginning  to  put  out  our  feelers,  old  Stim- 
son,  and  shall  have  'em  on  far  better  bits  of  territory  than 
this,  before  the  earth  has  gone  round  in  its  track  another 
hundred  years." 

"Well,  to  my  notion,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  answered  the 
seaman,  following  his  officer  toward  the  base  of  the  cone, 
"  Uncle  Sam  has  got  more  land  now  than  he  knows  what 
to  do  with.  If  a  body  could  discover  a  bit  of  ocean,  or  a 
largish  sort  of  a  sea,  there  might  be  some  use  in  it.  Whales 
are  getting  to  be  skeary,  and  are  mostly  driven  off  their 
old  grounds  ;  and  as  for  the  seals,  you  must  bury  yourself, 
craft  and  all,  up  to  the  truck  in  ice,  to  get  a  smile  from 
one  of  their  good-lookin'  count'nances,  as  I  always  say." 

"  I'm  afraid,  Stephen,  it  is  all  over  with  the  discovery  of 
more  seas.  Even  the  moon,  they  now  say,  is  altogethe?* 
without  water,  having  not  so  much  as  a  lake  or  a  large 
pond  to  take  a  duck  in." 

"  Without  water,  sir  ! "  exclaimed  Stimson,  quite  aghast. 
"  If  'tis, so,  sir,  it  imtst  be  right,  since  the  same  hand  that 
made  the  moon  made  this  'arth  and  all  it  contains.  But 


THE    SEA    LIO.YS. 


197 


what  can  they  do  for  seafaring  folks  in  the  moon,  if  what 
you  tell  me,  Captain  Gar'ner,  is  the  truth  ? " 

"They  must  do  without  them.  I  fancy  oil  and  skins 
are  not  very  much  in  demand  among  the  moonites,  Ste- 
phen. What's  that,  off  'here  to  the  eastward,  eh  ?  East- 
and-by-north-half-east,  or  so  ?  " 

"  I  see  what  you  mean,  sir.  It  does  look  wonderfully 
like  a  sail,  and  a  sail  pretty  well  surrounded  by  ice 
too  ! " 

There  was  no  mistake  in  the  matter.  The  white  canvas 
of  a  vessel  was  plainly  visible,  over  a  vast  breadth  of  field- 
ice,  a  little  to  the  northward  of  the  island  that  lay  directly 
opposite  the  cove.  Although  the  sails  of  this  stranger 
were  spread,  it  was  plain  enough  he  was  closely  beset,  if 
not  actually  jammed.  From  the  first  instant  he  saw  the 
strange  craft,  Roswell  had  not  a  doubt  of  her  character. 
He  felt  convinced  it  was  his  late  consort,  the  Sea  Lion  of 
the  Vineyard,  which  had  found  her  way  to  the  group  by 
means  of  some  hint  that  had  fallen  into  Daggett's  hands, 
if  not  by  a  positive  nautical  instinct.  So  great  had  been 
his  own  success,  however,  and  so  certain  did  he  now  feel 
of  filling  up  in  due  season,  that  he  cared,  much  less  for  this 
invasion  on  his  privacy  than  he  would  have  done  a  fort- 
night earlier.  On  the  contrary,  it  might  be  a  good  thing 
to  have  a  consort  in  the  event  of  any  accident  occurring  to 
his  own  vessel.  From  the  moment,  then,  that  Gardiner 
felt  certain  of  the  character  of  the  strange  sail,  his  policy 
was  settled  in  his  own  mind.  It  was  to  receive  his  old  ac- 
quaintance with  good-will,  and  to  help  fill  him  up,  too,  as 
soon  as  he  had  secured  his  own  cargo,  in  order  that  they 
might  sail  for  home  in  company.  By  his  aid  and  advice 
the  other  schooner  might  save  a  week  in  time  at  that  most 
important  season  of  the  year  ;  and  by  the  experience  and 
exertions  of  his  people,  a  whole  month  in  filling  up  might 
readily  be  gained. 

All  thoughts  of  climbing  the  peak  were  at  once  aban- 
doned ;  and,  in  fifteen  minutes  after  the  sail  was  seen, 
Roswell  and  Stephen  both  came  panting  down  to  the 
house  ;  so  much  easier  is  it  to  descend  in  this  world  than 
to  mount.  A  swivel  was  instantly  loaded  and  fired  as  a 
signal  ;  and,  in  half  an  hour,  a  boat  was  manned  and  ready. 
Roswell  took  command  himself,  leaving  his  second  mate 
to  look  after  the  schooner.  Stimson  went  with  his  captain, 
and  less  than  one  hour  after  he  had  first  seen  the  strange 
sail,  our  h.iro  was  actually  pulling  out  of  the  cove,  with  a 


I98  THE   SKA    LIONS. 

view  to  go  to  her  assistance.  Roswell  Gardiner  was  as 
good-heaited  a  fellow  as  ever  lived.  He  had  a  sufficient 
regard  for  his  own  interests,  as  well  as  for  those  of  others 
intrusted  to  his  care  ;  but,  these  main  points  looked  after, 
he  would  cheerfully  have  worked  *a  month  to  relieve  the 
Vineyard  men  from  the  peril  that  so  plainly  beset  them. 
Setting  his  sails  the  instant  the  boat  was  clear  of  the  rocks, 
away  he  went,  then,  as  fast  as  ash  and  canvas  could  carry 
him,  which  was  at  a  rate  but  little  short  of  eight  knots  in 
the  hour. 

As  he  was  thus  flying  toward  his  object,  our  young  mari- 
ner formed  a  theory  in  his  own  mind,  touching  the  drift  of 
the  ice  in  the  adjacent  seas.  It  was  simply  this.  He  had 
sounded  in  entering  the  great  bay,  and  had  ascertained 
that  comparatively  shallow  water  existed  between  the 
southeastern  extremity  of  Sealer's  Land  and  the  nearest 
island  opposite.  It  was  deep  enough  to  admit  the  largest 
vessel  that  ever  floated,  and  a  great  deal  more  than  this  ; 
but  it  was  not  deep*  enough  to  permit  an  iceberg  to  pass. 
The  tides,  too,  ran  in  races  among  the  islands,  which  pre- 
vented the  accumulation  of  ice  at  the  southern  entrance, 
while  the  outer  currents  seemed  to  set  everything  past 
the  group,  to  allow  of  the  floating  mountains  to  collect  to 
the  eastward,  where  they  appeared  to  be  thronged.  It 
was  on  the  western  verge  of  this  wilderness  of  icebergs 
and  ice  fields  that  the  strange  sail  had  been  seen  working 
her  way  toward  the  group,  whicli  must  be  plainly  in  view 
from  her  decks,  as  her  distance  from  the  nearest  of  the 
islands  certainly  did  not  exceed  two  leagues. 

It  required  more  than  two  hours  for  the  whale-boat  of 
Roswell  to  cross  the  bay,  and  reach  the  margin  of  that 
vast  field  of  ice  which  was  prevented  from  drifting  into 
the  open  space  only  by  encountering  the  stable  rocks  of  the 
first  of  the  group.  Every  eye  was  now  turned  in  quest  of 
an  opening,  by  means  of  which  it  might  be  possible  to  get 
further  to  the  eastward.  One,  at  length,  was  discovered, 
and  into  it  Gardiner  dashed,  ordering  his  boat's  crew  to 
stretch  themselves  out  at  their  oars,  though  every  man 
with  him  thought  they  were  plunging  into  possible  de- 
struction. On  the  boat  went,  however,  now  sheering  to 
starboard,  now  to  port,  to  avoid  projecting  spurs  of  ice, 
until  she  had  ploughed  her  way  through  a  fearfully  narrow, 
and  a  deviating  passage,  that  sometimes  barely  permitted 
them  to  go  through,  until  a  spot  was  reached  where  the 
two  fields  whicli  formed  this  strait  actually  came  in  close, 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  I99 

crushing  contact  with  each  other.  Rosvvell  took  a  look 
before  and  behind  him,  saw  that  his  boat  was  safe,  owing 
to  the  formation  of  the  two  outlines  of  the  respective 
fields,  when  he  sprang  upon  the  ice  itself,  bidding  the 
boat-steerer  to  wait  for  him.  A  shout  broke  out  of  the 
lips  of  tne  young  captain  the  instant  he  was  erect  on  the 
ice.  There  lay  the  schooner,  the  Martha's  Vineyard  craft, 
within  half  a  mile  of  him,  in  plain  sight,  and  in  as  plain 
jeopardy.  She  was  jammed,  with  every  prospect,  as  Ros- 
well  thought,  of  being  crushed,  ere  she  could  get  free 
from  the  danger. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"  A  sculler's  notch  in  the  stern  he  made, 
An  oar  he  shaped  of  the  battle  blade  ; 
Then  sprung  to  his  seat  with  a  lightsome  leap, 
And  launched  afar  on  the  calm,  blue  deep." 

— 7 'he  Cjtlprit  Fay. 

ROSWELL  was  hardly  on  the  ice  before  a  sound  of  a  most 
portentous  sort  reached  his  ear.  He  knew  at  once  that  the 
field  had  been  rent  in  twain  by  outward  pressure,  and  that 
some  new  change  was  to  occur  that  might  release  or  might 
destroy  the  schooner.  He  was  on  the  point  of  springing 
forward  in  order  to  join  Daggett,  when  a  call  from  the  boat 
arrested  his  steps. 

"  These  here  fields  are  coming  together,  Captain  Gar'ner, 
and  our  boat  will  soon  be  crushed  unless  we  get  it  out  of 
the  water." 

Sure  enough,  a  single  glance  behind  him  sufficed  to  as- 
sure the  young  master  of  the  truth  of  this  statement.  The 
field  he  was  on  was  slowly  swinging,  bringing  its  western 
margin  in  closer  contact  with  the  eastern  edge  of  the  floe 
that  lay  within  it.  The  movement  could  be  seen  merely 
by  the  closing  of  the  channel  through  which  the  boat  had 
come,  and  by  the  cracking  and  crushing  of  the  ice  on  the 
edges  of  the  two  fields.  So  tremendous  was  the  pressure, 
however,  that  cakes  as  large  as  a  small  house  were  broken 
off,  and  forced  upward  on  the  surface  of  the  field,  or  ground 
into  small  fragments,  as  it  might  be  under  the  vice  of  a 
power  hitherto  unknown  to  the  spectators.  Slow  as  was 
the  movement  of  the  floe,  it  was  too  fast  to  allow  of  delay  ; 
and,  finding  a  suitable  place,  the  boat  was  hauled  up,  ancl 
put  in  security  on  the  floe  that  lay  nearest  the  schooner. 


200  THE   SEA    L70.VS. 

"  This  may  give  us  a  long  drag  to  get  back  into  the 
water,  Stimson,  and  a  night  out  of  our  bunks,"  said  Ros- 
well,  looking  about  him,  as  soon  as  the  task  was  achieved. 

"I  do  not  know  that,  sir,"  was  the  answer.  "It  seems 
to  me  that  the  floe  'has  parted  alongside  of  them  rocks, 
and  if  so-be  that  should  turn  out  to  be  the  case,  the  whull 
on  us,  schooner,  boat,  and  all  hands,  may  drift  into  the 
bay  ;  for  that  there  is  a  current  setting  from  this  quarter 
up  toward  our  island,  I'm  sartain  of,  by  the  feel  of  my  oar, 
as  we  come  along." 

"It  may  be  so;  the  currents  run  all  manner  of  ways, 
and  field  ice  may  pass  the  shoals,  though  a  berg  never 
can.  I  do  not  remember,  nevertheless,  to  have  ever  seen 
even  a  floe  within  the  group — nothing  beyond  large  cakes 
that  have  got  adrift  by  some  means  or  other." 

"  I  have,  sir,  though  only  once.  A  few  days  a'ter  we 
got  in,  when  I  was  ship-keeper,  and  all  hands  was  down 
under  the  rocks  of  the  north  eend,  a  field  come  in  at  the 
northern  entrance  of  the  bay,  and  went  out  at  the  southern. 
It  might  have  been  a  league  athwart  it,  and  it  drifted,  as  a 
body  might  say,  as  if  it  had  some  one  aboard  to  give  it 
the  right  sheer.  Touch  it  did  at  the  south  cape,  but  just 
winding  as  handy  as  a  craft  could  have  done  it,  in  a  good 
tide's  way,  out  to  sea  it  went  ag'in,  bound  to  the  south 
pole  for-ti-'now." 

"Well,  this  rs  good  news,  and  may  be  the  means  of 
saving  the  Vineyard  craft  in  the  end.  We  do  seem  to  be 
setting  bodily  into  the  bay,  and  if  we  can  only  get  clear  of 
that  island,  I  do  not  see  what  is  to-hinder  it.  Here  is  a 
famous  fellow  of  a  mountain  to  the  northward,  coming- 
down  before  the  wind,  as  one  might  say,  and  giving  us  a 
cant  into  the  passage.  I  should  think  that  chap  must 
produce  some  sort  of  a  change,  whether  it  be  for  better 
or  worse." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  put  in  Thompson,  who  acted  as  a  boat- 
steerer  at  need,  "  he  may  do  just  that,  but  it  is  all  he  can 
do.  Mr.  Green  and  I  sounded  out  from  the  cove  for  a 
league  or  more,  a  few  days  since,  and  we  found  less  than 
twenty  fathoms,  as  far  as  we  went.  That  chap  up  to  the 
nor'ard  there  draws  something  like  a  hundred  fathoms,  if 
he  draws  an  inch.  He  shows  more  above  water  than  a 
first-rate's  truck." 

"That  does  he,  and  a  good  deal  to  spare.  Thompson, 
do  you  and  Todd  remain  here,  and  look  after  the  boat, 
while  the  rest  of  us  will  shape  our  course  for  the  schooner. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  20! 

She  seems  to  be  in  a  wicked  berth,  and  'twill  be  no  more 
than  neighborly  to  try  to  get  her  out  of  it." 

Truly  enough  might  Roswell  call  the  berth  of  the  .Sea 
Lion  of  the  Vineyard  by  any  expressive  name  that  implied 
danger.  When  the  party  reached  her,  they  found  the 
situation  of  that  vessel  to  be  as  follows  :  She  had  been  en- 
deavoring to  work  her  way  through  a  passage  between  two 
large  fields,  when  she  found  the  ice  closing,  and  that  she 
was  in  great  danger  of  being  "  nipped."  Daggett  was  a 
man  of  fertile  resources,  and  great  decision  of  character. 
Perceiving  that  escape  was  impossible,  all  means  of  get- 
ting clear  being  rendered  useless  by  the  floes  seen  touch- 
ing, both  before  and  behind  him,  he  set  about  adopting 
the  means  most  likely  to  save  his  vessel.  Selecting  a  spot 
where  a  curve,  in  the  margin  of  the  field  to  leeward,  prom- 
ised temporary  security,  at  least,  he  got  his  vessel  into 
it,  anchored  fast  to  the  floe.  Then  he  commenced  cutting 
away  the  ice,  by  means  of  axes  first,  and  of  saws  after- 
ward, in  the  hope  that  he  might  make  such  a  cavity  as, 
by  its  size  and  shape,  would  receive  the  schooner's  hull, 
and  prevent  her  destruction.  For  several  hours  had  he 
and  his  people  been  at  this  work,  when,  to  their  joy,  as 
well  as  to  their  great  astonishment,  they  were  suddenly 
joined  by  Roswell  and  his  party.  The  fact  was,  that  so 
intently  had  every  one  of  the  Vineyard  men's  faculties  been 
absorbed  by  their  own  danger,  and  so  much  was  each  in- 
dividual occupied  by  his  own  duty,  that  not  a  -man 
among  them  had  seen  the  boat,  or  even  any  of  the  crew, 
until  Gardiner  called  out  to  Daggett  as  he  approached, 
announcing  his  presence  by  his  voice. 

"This  is  good  fortune,  truly,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said 
Daggett,  shaking  his  brother  master  cordially  by  the  hand  ; 
"good  fortune,  do  I  call  it  !  I  was  satisfied  that  I  should 
fall  in  with  you  somewhere  about  this  group  of  islands,  for 
they  lie  just  about  where  my  late  uncle  had  given  us  reason 
to  suppose  some  good  sealing-ground  might  be  met  with  ; 
but  I  did  not  hope  to  see  you  this  morning.  You  observe 
our  position,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  there  is  every  prospect  of 
a  most  awful  nip  !  " 

"There  is,  indeed,  though  I  see  you  have  been  making 
some  provision  for  it.  What  luck  have  you  had  in  digging 
a  slip  to  let  the  schooner  into?" 

"Well,  we  might  have  had  worse,  though  better  would 
have  been  more  agreeable.  It's  plain  sailing,  so  long  as 
we  can  work  above  water,  and  von  see  we've  cleared  a  fine 


202  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

berth  for  the  craft,  down  to  the  water's  edge  ;  but,  below 
that,  'tis  blind  work  and  slow.  The  field  is  some  thirty 
feet  thick,  and  sawing  through  it  is  out  of  the  question. 
The  most  we  can  do  is  to  get  off  pieces  diagonally.  I  am 
not  without  hopes  that  we  have  done  enough  of  this  to 
make  a  wedge  on  which  the  schooner  will  rise,  if  pressed 
hard  on  her  off-side.  I  have  heard  of  such  things,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  though  I  cannot  say  I  ever  saw  it." 

"  It's  a  ticklish  business  to  trust  to  such  a  protector  ;  still 
a  great  deal  must  be  gained  by  cutting  away  so  much  of 
this  upper  ice,  and  it  is  possible  your  schooner  may  be 
lifted,  as  you  seem  to  expect.  Has  anything  been  done  to 
strengthen  the  craft  inboard?" 

"  Not  as  yet ;  though  I've  thought  of  that,  too.  But  what 
is  the  stoutest  ship  that  ever  floated  against  the  pressure 
of  such  an  enormous  field  of  ice  ?  Had  we  not  better  keep 
cutting  away  ? " 

"You  can  continue  to  work  the  saw  and  the  axes,  but  I 
will  give  an  eye  to  strengthening  the  craft  inboard.  Just 
point  out  the  spars  and  plank  you  can  spare,  and  we'll  see 
what  can  be  done.  At  any  rate,  my  lads,  you  can  now  work 
with  the  certainty  that  your  lives  are  safe.  My  schooner 
jies  about  six  leagues  from  you,  as  safely  moored  as  if  she 
jay  in  a  dock.  Come,  Captain  Daggett,  let  me  see  your 
spare  spars  and  plank." 

»  Great  encouragement  it  certainly  was  to  these  mariners, 
so  far  from  home,  and  in  their  imminently  perilous  condi- 
tion, to  know  that  a  countryman  and  a  friend  v\as  so  near 
them  to  afford  shelter  and  protection.  The  American 
sailor  is  not  a  cheering  animal,  like  his  English  relative, 
but  he  quite  as  clearly  understands  what  ought  to  be  re- 
ceived with  congratulation,  as  those  who  are  apt  to  make 
more  noise.  The  Vineyard  men,  in  particular,  were  habit- 
ually quiet  and  thoughtful,  there  being  but  one  seaman  in 
the  craft  who  did  not  husband  his  lay  and  look  forward  to 
meet  the  wants  of  a  future  day.  This  is  the  result  of  edu- 
cation, men  usually  becoming  quiet  as  they  gain  ideas, 
and  feel  that  the  tongue  has  been  given  to  us  in  order  to 
communicate  them  to  our  fellows.  Still  the  joy  at  re- 
ceiving this  unlooked-for  assistance  was  great  among  the 
Vineyard  men,  and  each  party  went  to  work  with  activity 
and  zeal. 

The  task  of  Roswell  Gardiner  was  inboard,  while  that  of 
Daggett  and  his  men  continued  to  be  on  the  ice.  The  lat- 
ter resumed  the  labor  of  cutting  and  sawing  the  field,  and 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  203 

of  getting  up  fenders,  or  skids,  to  protect  the  inner  side  of 
their  vessel  from  the  effects  of  a  "nip."  As  for  Gardiner, 
he  set  about  his  self-assumed  duty  with  great  readiness 
and  intelligence.  His  business  was  to  strengthen  the  craft 
by  getting  supports  up  in  her  hold.  This  was  done  with- 
out'much  difficulty,  all  the  upper  part  of  the  hold  being 
clear  and  easily  come  at.  Spars  were  cut  to  the  proper 
length,  plank  were  placed  in  the  broadest  part  of  the  ves- 
sel, opposite  to  each  other,  and  the  spars  were,  wedged  in 
carefully,  extending  from  side  to  side,  so  as  to  form  a  great 
additional  support  to  the  regular  construction  of  the 
schooner.  In  little  more  than  an  hour,  Roswell  had  his 
task  accomplished,  while  Daggett  did  not  see  that  he 
could  achieve  much  more  himself.  They  met  on  the  ice 
to  consult  and  to  survey  the  condition  of  things  around 
them. 

The  outer  field  had  been  steadily  encroaching  upon  the 
inner,  breaking  the  edges  of  both,  until  the  points  of  junc- 
tion were  to  be  traced  by  a  long  line  of  fragments  forced 
upward,  and  piled  high  in  the  air.  Open  spaces,  however, 
still  existed,  owing  to  irregularities  in  the  outlines  of  the 
two  floes  ;  and  Daggett  hoped  that  the  little  bay  into  which 
he  had  got  his  schooner  might  not  be  entirely  closed,  ere 
a  shift  of  wind,  or  a  change  in  the  tides, 'might  carry  away 
the  causes  of  the  tremendous  pressure  that  menaced  his 
security.  It  is  not  easy  for  those  who  are  accustomed  to* 
look  at  natural  objects  in  their  more  familiar  aspects,  fully 
to  appreciate  the  vast  momentum  of  the  weight  that  was 
now  drifting  slowly -down  upon  the  schooner.  The  only 
ray  of  hope  was  to  be  found  in  the  deficiency  in  one  of 
the  two  great  requisites  of  such  a  force.  Momentum  being 
weight  multiplied  into  velocity,  there  were  some  glimpses 
visible,  of  a  nature  to  produce  a  slight  degree  of  expecta- 
tion that  the  last  might  yet  be  resisted.  The  movement 
was  slow,  but  it  was  absolutely  grand,  by  its  steadiness  and 
po\ver.  Any  one  who  has  ever  stood  on  a  lake  or  river 
shore,  and  beheld  the  undeviating  force  with  which  a  small 
cake  of  ice  crumbles  and  advances  before  a  breeze,  or  in  a 
current,  may  form  some  idea  of  the  majesty  of  the  move- 
ment of  a  field  of  ice  leagues  in  diameter,  and  which  was 
borne  upon  by  a  gale  of  the  ocean,  as  well  as  by  currents, 
and  by  the  weight  of  drifting  icebergs  from  without.  It  is 
true  that  the  impetus  came  principally  from  a  great  dis- 
tance, and  could  scarcely  be  detected  or  observed  by  those 
around  the  schooner  ;  still,  these  last  were  fully  aware  of 


204  THE    SLA    L1OXS. 

the  whole  character  of  the  danger,  which  each  minute  ar> 
peared  to  render  more  and  more  imminent  and  imposing. 
The  two  fields  were  obviously  closing  still,  and  that  with  a 
resistless  power  that  boded  destruction  to  the  unfortunate 
vessel.  The  open  water  near  her  was  already  narrowed  to 
a  space  that  half  an  hour  might  suffice  to  close  entirely.. 

"  Have  you  set  that  nearest  island  by  compass,  Daggett  ?" 
asked  Roswell  Gardiner,  as  soon  as  he  had  taj^en  a  good 
look  around  him.  "  To  me  it  seems  that  it  bears  more  to 
the  eastward  than  it  did  an  hour  since.  If  this  should  be 
true,  our  inner  field  here  must  have  a  very  considerable 
westerly  set." 

"  In  which  case  we  may  still  hope  to  drift  clear,"  returned 
Daggett,  springing  on  board  the  schooner,  and  running 
aft  to  the  binnacle,  Roswell  keeping  close  at  his  side.  "  By 
George  !  it  is  as  you  say  ;  the  bearings  of  that  island  are 
altered  at  least  two  points  !  " 

"  In  which  case  our  drift  has  exceeded  a  league — Ha  ! 
what  noise  is  that  ?  Can  it  be  an  eruption  of  the  vol- 
cano ?" 

Daggett,  at  first,  was  inclined  to  believe  it  was  a  sound 
produced  by  some  of  the  internal  convulsions  of  the  earth, 
which  within,  as  if  in  mockery  of  the  chill  scene  that  pre- 
vailed without,  was  a  raging  volcano,  the  fierce  heats  of 
which  found  vent  at  the  natural  chimneys  produced  by  its 
.own  efforts.  This  opinion,  however,  did  not  last  long,  and 
he  gave  expression  to  his  new  thoughts  in  his  answer. 

"  'Tis  the  ice,"  he  said.  "  I  do  believe  the  pressure  has 
caused  the  fields  to  part  on  the  rocks  of  that  island.  If  so, 
our  leeward  floe  may  float  away,  as  fast  as  the  weather 
field  approaches." 

"  Hardly,"  said  Roswell,  gazing  intently  toward  the  near- 
est island  ;  "  hardly  ;  for  the  most  weatherly  of  the  two  will 
necessarily  get  the  force  of  the  wind  and  the  impetus  of 
those  bergs  first,  and  make  the  fastest  drift.  It  may  lessen 
the  violence  of  the  nip,  but  I  do  not  think  it  will  avert  it 
altogether." 

This  opinion  of  Gardiner's  fully  described  all  that  sub- 
sequently occurred.  The  outer  floe  continued  its  inroads 
on  the  inner,  breaking  up  the  margins  of  both,  until  the 
channel  was  so  nearly  closed  as  to  bring  the  field  from 
which  the  danger  was  most  apprehended  in  absolute  con- 
tact with  the  side  of  the  schooner.  When  the  margin  of 
the  outer  floe  first  touched  the  bilge  of  the  schooner,  it  was 
at  the  precise  spot  where  the  vessel  had  just  been  fortified 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  205 

within.-  Fenders,  had  alsc  been  provided  without,  and  there 
was  just  a  quarter  of  a  minute,  during  which  the  two  cap- 
tains hoped  that  these  united  means  of  defence  might  en- 
able the  craft  to  withstand  the  pressure.  This  delusion 
lasted  but  a  moment,  however,  the  cracking  of  timbers 
letting  it  be  plainly  seen  that  the  force  was  too  great  to  be 
resisted.  For  another  quarter  of  a  minute,  the  two  masters 
held  their  breath,  expecting  to  see  the  deck  rise  beneath 
their  feet,  as  the  ice  rose  along  the  points  of  contact  be- 
tween the  floes.  Such,  in  all  probability,  would  have  been 
the  result,  had  not  the  pressure  brought  about  another 
change,  that  was  quite  as  much  within  the  influence  of  the 
laws  of  mechanical  forces,  though  not  so  much  expected. 
Owing  to  the  wedge-like  form  of  the  vessel's  bottom,  as 
well  as  to  the  circumstance  that  the  ice  of  the  outer  floe 
had  a  similar  shape,  projecting  beneath  the  schooner's  keel, 
the  craft  was  lifted  bodily,  with  an  upward  jerk,  as  if  she 
were  suddenly  released  from  some  imprisoning  power. 
Released  she  wras,  indeed,  and  that  most  opportunely,  for 
another  half  minute  would  have  seen  her  ribs  broken  in, 
and  the  schooner  a  mangled  wreck.  As  she  now  rose,  Ros- 
well  gave  vent  to  his  delight  in  a  loud  cry,  and  all  hands 
felt  that  the  occurrence  might  possibly  save  them.  The 
surge  upward  was  fearful,  and  several  of  the  men  were 
thrown  off  their  feet ;  but  it  effectually  released  the  schooner 
from  the  nip,  laying  her  gradually  up  in  the  sort  of  dock 
tnat  her  people  had  been  so  many  hours  preparing  for  her 
reception.  There  she  lay,  inclining  a  little,  partly  on  her 
bilge,  or  sewed,  as  seamen  term  it,  when  a  vessel  gets  a 
list  from  touching  the  ground  and  being  left  by  the  tide, 
neither  quite  upright,  nor  absolutely  on  her  beam-ends. 

No  sooner  was  the  vessel  thus  docked,  than  all  apprehen- 
sion of  receiving  further  injury  from  the  outer  floe  ceased. 
It  might  force  the  schooner  altogether  on  the  inner  field, 
driving  the  vessel  before  it,  as  an  avalanche  of  mud  in  the 
Alps  is  known  to  force  cottages  and  hamlets  in  its  front  ; 
but  it  could  no  longer  "  nip  "  it.  It  did  not  appear  proba- 
ble to  the  two  masters,  however,  that  the  vessel  would  be 
forced  from  its  present  berth,  the  rending  and  cracking  of 
the  ice  sensibly  diminishing,  as  the  two  floes  came  closer 
and  closer  together.  Nor  was  this  all  :  it  was  soon  very 
obvious  that  the  inner  field  was  drifting,  with  an  increased 
motion,  into  the  bay,  while  the  larger,  or  outer  floe,  seemed 
to  hang,  from  some  cause  or  other.  Of  the  fact  there  was 
soon  no  doubt,  the  fissure  beginning  to  open,  as  slowly 


206 

and  steadily  as  it  had  closed,  but  noiselessly,  and  without 
any  rending  of  the  ice. 

"  We  shall  get  you  clear,  Daggett  !  we  shall  get  you 
clear!"  cried  Roswell,  with -hearty  good-will,  forgetting, 
in  that  moment  of  generous  effort,  all  feelings  of  competi- 
tion and  rivalry.  u  I  know  what  you  are  after,  my  good 
fellow — have  understood  it  from  the  first.  Yonder  higli 
land  is  the  spot  you  seek  ;  and  along  the  north  shore  of 
that  island  are  elephants,  lions,  dogs,  bears,  and  other  ani- 
mals, to  fill  up  all  the  craft  that  ever  came  out  of  the 
Vineyard  ! " 

"  This  is  hearty,  Gar'ner,"  returned  the  other,  giving  his 
brother  master  a  most  cordial  shake  of  the  hand,  "and  it's 
just  what  I  like.  Sealing  is  a  sociable  business,  and  a 
craft  should  never  come  alone  into  these  high  latitudes. 
Accidents  .will  happen  to  the  most  prudent  man  living,  as 
you  see  by  what  has  just  befallen  me  ;  for,  to  own  the 
truth,  we've  had  a  narrow  chance  of  it !  " 

The  reader  will  remember  that  all  which  Daggett  now 
said,  was  uttered  by  a  man  who  saw  his  vessel  lying  on  the 
ice,  with  a  list  that  rendered  it  somewhat  difficult  to  move 
about  on  her  deck,  and  still  in  circumstances  that  would 
have  caused  half  the  navigators  of  this  world  to  despair. 
Such  was  not  the  fact  with  Daggett,  however.  Seven  thou- 
sand miles  from  home,  alone,  in  an  unknown  sea,  and  un- 
certain of  ever  finding  the  place  he  sought,  this  man  had 
picked  his  way  among  mountains  and  fields  of  ice,  with 
perhaps  less  hesitation  and  reluctance  than  a  dandy  would 
encounter  the  perils  of  a  crossing,  when  the  streets  were  a 
little  moistened  by  rain.  Even  then,  with  his  vessel  liter- 
ally shelved  on  the  ice,  certain  that  she  had  been  violently 
nipped,  he  was  congratulating  himself  on  reaching  a  seal- 
ing ground  from  which  he  could  never  return  without  en- 
countering all  the  same  dangers  over  again.  As  for  Ros- 
well, he  laughed  a  little  at  the  other's  opinion  of  the  seal- 
ing business,  for  he  was  morally  certain  the  Vineyard  man 
would  have  kept  the  secret,  had  it  been  in  his  possession 
alone. 

"Well,  well,  we'll  forget  the  past,"  he  said,  "all  but 
what  we've  done  to  help  one  another.  You  stood  by  me 
off  Hatteras,  and  I've  been  of  some  service  to  you  here. 
You  know  how  it  is  in  our  calling,  Daggett  ;  first  come, 
first  served.  I  got  here  first,  and  have  had  the  cream  of 
the  business  for  this  season  ;  though  I  do  not  by  any  means 
wish  to  be  understood  as  saying  that  you  are  too  late." 


THE    SEA    LIONS. 


207 


"  I  hope  not,  Gar'ner.  Twould  be  vexatious  to  have  all 
this  risk  and  trouble  for  nothing.  How  much  ile  have  you 
stowed  ? " 

"All  my  ground  tier.,  and  a  few  riders.  It  is  with  the 
skins  that  we  are  doing  the  best  business." 

Daggett's  eyes  fairly  snapped  at  this  announcement, 
which  aroused  all  his  professional  ambition,  to  say  nothing 
of  that  propensity  to  the  "  root  of  all  evil,"  which  had 
become  pretty  thoroughly  incorporated  with  his  moral 
being,  by  dint  of  example,  theory,  and  association.  We 
have  frequently  had  occasion  to  remark  how  much  more 
"  enjoyable,"  for  the  intellectual  and  independent,  is  a 
country  on  the  decline,  than  a  country  on  the  advance. 
The  one  is  accumulating  that  wealth  which  the  other  has 
already  possessed  and  improved  ;  and  men  cease  to  dwell 
so  much  on  riches  in  their  inmost  souls,  when  the  means 
of  obtaining  them  would  seem  to  have  got  beyond  their 
reach.  This  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  universal  popular- 
ity of  Italy  with  the  idle  and  educated  ;  though  the  climate, 
and  the  monuments,  and  the  recollections,  out  of  doubt, 
contribute  largely  to  its  charms.  Nevertheless,  man,  as  a 
rule,  is  far  more  removed  from  the  money-getting  mania 
in  Italy  than  in  almost  any  other  portion  of  the  Christian 
world  ;  and  this  merely  because  the  time  of  her  wealth 
and  power  has  gone  by,  leaving  in  its  train  a  thousand 
fruits  that  would  seem  to  be  the  most  savory,  as  the  stem 
on  which  they  grew  would  appear  to  be  approaching  its 
decay.  Neither  on  Martha's  Vineyard,  however,  nor  in 
any  part  of  the  Great  Republic,  indeed,  has  this  waning 
season  yet  commenced,  and  the  heart  of  man  is  still  en- 
grossed with  those  desires  that  are  to  produce  the  means 
which  are  to  lay  the  foundations  for  the  enjoyment  of 
generations  to  come. 

"  That's  luck,  indeed,  for  a  craft  so  early  in  the  season," 
returned  Daggett,  when  his  eyes  had  done  snapping.  "  Are 
the  critturs  getting  to  be  wild  and  skeary  ?  " 

"  Not  more  so  than  the  day  we  began  upon  them.  I 
have  taken  the  greatest  care  to  send  none  but  my  most 
experienced  hands  out  to  kill  and  skin,  and  their  orders 
have  been  rigid  to  give  as  little  alarm  as  possible.  If  you 
wish  to  fill  up,  I  would  advise  you  to  take  the  same  pre- 
cautions, for  the  heel  of  the  season  is  beginning  to1"  show 
itself." 

"  I  will  winter  here,  but  I  get  a  full  craft,"  said  Daggett, 
with  a  resolute  manner,  if  not  absolutely  serious  in  what 


±o8  THE   SEA    LIO.\'S. 

he  said.  "  Trouble  enough  have  I  had  to  find  the  group, 
and  we  Vineyard  men  don't  relish  the  idee  of  being  out- 
done." 

"  You  would  be  done  up,  my  fine  fellow,"  answered  Ros- 
well,  laughing,  "did  you  attempt  to  pass  a  winter  here. 
The  Sea  Lion  of  Humses'  Hull  would  not  herself  keep  you 
in  fuel,  and  you  would  have  to  raft  it  off  next  summer  on 
your  casks,  or  remain  here  forever." 

"  I  suppose  a  body  might  expect  to  see  you  back  again, 
another  season,"  observed  Daggett,  glancing  meaningly 
toward  his  companion,  as  if  he  had  seriously  revolved  so 
desperate  a  plan  in  his  mind.  "  'Tisn't  often  that  a  sealer 
lets  a  station  like  that  you've  described  drop  out  of  his 
recollection  in  a  single  v'y'ge." 

"I  may  be  back  or  I  may  not,"  said  Roswell,  just  then 
remembering  Mary,  and  wondering  if  she  would  continue 
to  keep  him  any  longer  in  suspense,  should  he  return  suc- 
cessful from^iis  present  adventure:  "that  will  depend  on 
others  more  than  on  myself.  I  wish,  however,  now  we  are 
both  here,  and  there  can  no  longer  be  any 'hide  and  go 
seek '  between  us,  that  you  would  tell  me  how  you  came  to 
know  anything  about  this  cluster  of  islands,  or  of  the  seals 
then  and  there  to  be  found  ? " 

"You  forget  my  uncle,  who  died  on  Oyster  Pond,  and 
whose  effects  I  crossed  over  to  claim  ?" 

"  I  remember  him  very  well — saw  him  often  while  living, 
and  helped  to  bury  him  when  dead." 

*'  Well,  our  information  came  from  him.  He  threw  out 
several  hints  consarning  sealing  grounds  aboard  the  brig  in 
which  he  came  home ;  and  you  needn't  be  told,  Gar'ner, 
that  a  bint  of  that  kind  is  sartain  to  find  its  way  through 
all  the  ports  down  east.  But  hearing  that  there  was  new 
sealing  ground  wasn't  knowing  where  to  find  it.  I  should 
have  been  at  a  loss,  wasn't  it  for  the  spot  on  my  uncle's 
chart  that  had  been  rubbed  over  lately,  as  I  concluded,  to 
get  rid  of  some  of  his  notes.  You  know,  as  well  as  I  do, 
that  the  spot  was  in  this  very  latitude  and  longitude,  and 
so  I  came  here  to  look  for  the  much-desired  land." 

"  And  you  have  undertaken  such  an  outfit,  and  come 
this  long  distance  into  an  icy  sea,  on  information  as  slight 
as  this!"  exclaimed  Roswell,  astonished  at  this  proof  of 
sagacity  and  enterprise,  even  in  men  who  are  renowned  for 
scenting  dollars  from  pole  to  pole. 

"  On  this,  with  a  few  hints  picked  up,  here  and  there, 
among  some  of  the  old  gentleman's  papers.  He  was  fond 


THE   SEA 


209 


of  scribbling,  and  I  have  got  a  sort  of  a  chart  that  he 
scratched  on  a  leaf  of  his  Bible,  that  was  made  to  repre- 
sent this  very  group,  as  I  can  now  see." 

"  Then  you  could  have  had  no  occasion  for  the  printed 
chart,  with  the  mark  of  obliteration  on  it,  and  did  not 
come  here  on  that  authority  after  all." 

"  There  you're  wrong,  Captain  Gar'ner.  The  chart  of 
(he  group  had  no  latitude  or  longitude,  but  just  placed 
each  island  with  its  bearings  and  distances  from  the  other 
islands.  It  was  no  help  in  finding  the  place,  which  might 
be  in  one  hemisphere  as  well  as  the  other." 

"  It  was,  then,  the  mark  of  the  obliteration " 

"Marks,  if  you  please,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  interrupted 
the  other,  significantly.  "  My  uncle  talked  a  good  deal 
aboard  of  that  brig  about  other  matters  besides  sealing.  We 
think  several  matters  have  been  obliterated  from  the  old 
chart,  and  we  intend  to  look  'em  all  up.  It's  our  right,  you 
know,  seeing  that  the  old  man  was  Vineyard-born,  and  we 
are  his  nearest  of  kin." 

"  Certainly,"  rejoined  Roswell,  laughing  again,  but  some- 
what more  faintly  than  before.  "  Every  man  for  himself 
in  this  world  is  a  good  maxim  ;  it  being  pretty  certain  if  we 
do  not  take  care  of  ourselves,  no  on£  will  take  care  of  us." 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Stimson,  who  was  standing  near;  "  there 
is  One  to  care  for  every  hair  of  our  heads,  however  for- 
getful and  careless  we  may  be  ourselves.  Wasn't  it  for 
this,  Captain  Gar'ner,  there's  many  a  craft  that  comes 
into  these  seas  that  would  never  find  its  way  out  of  'em  ; 
and  many  a  bold  sailor,  with  a  heart  boiling  over  with  fun 
and  frolic,  that  would  be  frozen  to  an  ice-cicle  every  year!" 

Gardiner  felt  the  justice  of  this  remark,  and  easily  par- 
doned its  familiarity  for  its  truth.  In  these  sealers  the  dis- 
cipline is  by  no  means  of  that  distant  .and  military  or 
naval  character  that  is  found  in  even  an  ordinary  merchant- 
man. As  every  seaman  has  an  interest  in  the  result  of  the 
voyage,  some  excuse  was  made  for  this  departure  from 
the  more  general  usage ;  and  this  familiarity  itself  never 
exceeded  the  bounds  that  were  necessary  to  the  observance 
of  duty. 

"  Ay,  ay,"  returned  Roswell,  smiling,  "  in  one  sense  you 
are  right  enough  ;  but  Captain  Daggett  and  myself  were 
speaking  of  human  affairs,  as  human  affairs  are  carried 
on.  Is  not  this  inner  field  drifting  fast  away  from  the 
outer,  Daggett  ?  If  so,  we  shall  go  directly  into  the  bay  !" 

It  \vas  as  Gardiner  thought.     By  some  means  that  were 


2io  THE    SEA    SJO.VS. 

not  apparent,  the  floes  were  now  actually  separating,  and 
at  a  rate  of  movement  which  much  exceeded  that  of  their 
junction.  All  idea  of  further  danger  from  the  outer  field 
disappeared,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

"  It's  so,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  Stimson,  respectfully, 
but  with  point  ;  "  and  who  and  what  brought  it  about  for 
our  safety  and  the  preservation  of  this  craft  ?  I  j  ust  ventur' 
to  ask  that  question,  sir." 

"  It  may  be  the  hand  of  Providence,  my  good  fellow ; 
for  I  very  frankly  own  I  can  see  no  direct  physical  cause. 
Nevertheless,  I  fancy  it  would  be  found  that  the  tides  or 
currents  have  something  to  do  with  it,  if  the  truth  could 
be  come  at." 

"  Well,  sir,  arid  who  causes  the  tides  and  currents  to  run, 
this-a-vvay  and  that-a-way  ?  " 

"There  you  have  me,  Stephen  ;  for  I  never  could  get 
hold  of  the  clew  to  their  movements  at  all,"  answered  Ros- 
well,  laughing.  "There  is  a  reason  for  it  all,  I  dare  say, 
if  one  could  only  find  it  out.  Captain  Daggett,  it  is  high 
time  to  look  after  the  safety  of  your  schooner.  She  ought 
to  be  in  the  cove  before  night  sets  in,  since  the  ice  has 
found  its  way  into  the  bay." 

This  appeal  produced  a  general  movement.  By  this 
time  the  two  fields  were  a  hundred  fathoms  asunder  ;  the 
smaller,  or  that  on  which  the  vessel  lay,  drifting  quite 
fast  into  the  bay,  under  the  joint  influences  of  wind  and 
current  ;  while  the  larger  floe  had  clearly  been  arrested 
by  the  islands.  This  smaller  field  was  much  lessened  in 
surface,  in  consequence  of  having  been  broken  at  the 
rocks,  though  the  fragment  that  was  thus  cutoff  was  more 
than  a  league  in  diameter,  and  of  a  thickness  that  exceeded 
many  yards. 

As  for  the  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard,  she  was  literally 
shelved,  as  has  been  said.  So  irresistible  bad  been  the 
momentum  of  the  great  floe,  that  it  lifted  her  out  of  the 
water  as  two  or  three  hands  would  run  up  a  bark  canoe  on 
a,  gravelly  beach.  This  lifting  process  had,  very  fortunately 
for  the  craft,  been  effected  by  an  application  of  force  from 
below,  in  a  wedge-like  manner,  and  by  bringing  the  strong- 
est defences  of  the  vessel  to  meet  the  power.  Consequently, 
no  essential  injury  had  been  done  the  vessel  in  thus  laying 
her  on  her  screw-dock. 

"  If  a  body  could  get  the  craft  off  as  easily  as  she  was 
got  on"  obseVved  Daggett,  as  he  and  Roswell  Gardiner 
stood  looking  at  the  schooner's  situation,  "  it  would  be  but 


THE    SEA    LIOiVS.  211 

a  light  job.     But,  as  it  is,  she   lies  on  ice  at  least  twenty 
'feet  thick,  and  ice  that  seems  as  solid  as  flint !  " 

"We  know  it  is  not  quite  as  hard  as  that,  Daggett,"  was 
Roswell's  reply  ;  "  for  our  saws  and  axes  make  great  havoc 
in  it,  when  we  can  fairly  get  at  it." 

"  If  one  could  get  fairly  at  it !  But  here  you  see,  Gar'ner, 
everything  is  under  water,  and  an  axe  is  next  to  useless. 
Nor  can  the  saws  be  used  with  much  advantage  on  ice  so 
thick." 

"There  is  no  help  for  it  but  hard  work  and  great  per- 
severance. I  would  advise  that  a  saw  be  set  at  work  at 
each  end  of  the  schooner,  allowing  a  little  room  in  case 
of  accidents,  and  that  we  weaken  the  foundation  by  two 
deep  cuts.  The  weight  of  the  vessel  will  help  us,  and  in 
time  she  will  settle  back  into  her  *  native  element,'  as  the 
newspapers  have  it." 

There  was,  indeed,  no  other  process  that  promised 
success,  and  the  advice  of  Gardiner  was  followed.  In  the 
course  of  the  next  two  hours  deep  cuts  were  made  with 
the  saws,  which  were  pushed  so  low  as  to  reach  quite  to 
the  bottom  of  the  cake.  This  could  be  done  only  by  what 
the  sailors  called  "jury-handles,"  or  spars  secured  to  the 
plates.  The  water  offered  the  principal  obstacle,  for  that 
lay  on  the  shelf  at  least  five  feet  deep.  Perseverance  and 
ingenuity,  however,  finally  achieved  their  aim.  A  crack- 
ing was  heard,  the  schooner  slowly  righted,  and  settled 
off  into  the  sea  again,  as  easily  and  harmlessly  as  if  scien- 
tifically launched.  The  fenders  protected  her  sides  and 
copper,  though  the  movement  was  little  more  than  slowly 
sinking  on  the  fragment  of  the  cake,  which,  by  means  of 
the  cuts,  had  been  "gradually  so  much  reduced  as  to  be 
unable  to  uphold  so  great  a  weight.  It  was  merely  re- 
versing the  process  of  breaking  the  camel's  back,  by  laying 
the  last  feather  on  his  load. 

This  happy  conclusion  to  several  hours  of  severe  toil, 
occurred  just  as  the  field  had  drifted  abreast  of  the  cove, 
and  was  about  the  centre  of  th.e  bay.  Hazard  came  up 
also  at  that  point,  on  his  return  from  the  volcano,  altering 
his  course  a  little  to  speak  the  strangers.  The  report  of 
the  mate  concerning  his  discoveries  was  simple  and  brief. 
There  was  a  volcano,  and  one  in  activity  ;  but  it  had  noth- 
ing remarkable  about  it.  No  seal  were  seen,  and  there 
was  little  to  reward  one  for  crossing  the  bay.  Sterility, 
and  a  chill  grandeur, -were  the  characteristics  of  all  tha; 
region  ;  and  these  were  not  wanting  to  any  part  of  ,the 


212  THE    SEA    LIOXS. 

group.  Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  Gardiner  piloted  his 
companion  into  the  cove  ;  and  the  two  Sea  Lions  were 
moored  amicably  side  by  side',  and  that  too  at  a  spot 
where  thousands  of  the  real  animals  were  to  be  found 
within  a  league. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  The  morning  air  blows  fresh  on  him  ; 

The  waves  dance  gladly  in  his  sight ; 
The  sea-birds  call,  and  wheel,  and  skim — 
O  blessed  morning  light !  " — DANA, 

THE  very  day  succeeding  the  arrival  of  the  Sea  Lion  of 
the  Vineyard,  even  while  his  mate  was  clearing  the  vessel, 
Daggett  had  a  gang  on  the  north  shore,  killing  and  skin- 
ning. As  Roswell's  rules  were  rigidly  observed?  no  other 
change  was  produced  by  this  accession  to  the  force  of  the 
sealers,  than  additional  slaughter.  Many  more  seals  were 
killed,  certainly,  but  all  was  done  so  quietly  that  no  great 
alarm  was  awakened  among  the  doomed  animals  them- 
selves. One  great  advantage  was  obtained  by  the  arrival 
of  the  new  party  that  occasioned  a  good  deal  of  mirth  at 
first,  but  which,  in  the  end,  was  found  to  be  of  great  im- 
portance to.  the  progress  of  the  work.  Daggett  had  taken 
to  pieces  and  brought  with  him  the  running  part  of  a  com- 
mon country  wagon,  which  was  soon  found  of  vast  service 
in  transporting  the  skins  and  blubber  across  the  rocks. 
The  wheels  were  separated,  leaving  them  in  pairs,  and 
each  axle  was  loaded  with  a  freight  that  a  dozen  men 
would  hardly  have  carried,  wrhereas  two  or  three  hands 
would  drag  in  the  load,  with  an  occasional  lift  from  other 
gangs,  to  get  them  up  a  height,  or  over  a  cleft.  This  por- 
tion of  the  operation  was  found  to  work  admirably,  owing 
in  a  great  measure  to  the  smooth  surfaces  of  the  rocks  ; 
and  unquestionably,  these  wheels  advanced  the  business 
of  the  season  at  least  a  fortnight  ; — Gardiner  thought  a 
month.  It  rendered  the  crews  better  natured,  too,  much 
diminishing  their  toil,  and  sending  them  to  their  bunks  at 
night  in  a  far  better  condition  for  rest  than  they  other- 
wise could  have  been. 

Just  one  month,  or  four  wreeks  to  a  day,  after  the  second 
schooner  got  in,  it  being  Sunday  of  course,  Gardiner  and 
Daggett  met  on  the  platform  of  a  perfectly  even  rock  thaf 


THE   SEA    IJO.VS.  213 

lay  stretched  for  two  hundred  yards  directly  beneath  the 
house.  It  was  in  the  early  morning.  Notwithstanding 
there  was  a  strong  disposition  to  work  night  and  day  on 
the  part  of  the  new-comers,  Ros well's  rule  of  keeping  the 
Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  had  prevailed,  and  the  business  of 
washing,  scrubbing,  and  shaving  had  just  commenced.  As 
for  the  two  masters,  they  required  fewer  ablutions  than 
their  men,  had  risen  earlier,  and  were  already  dressed  lor 
the  day. 

"  To-morrow  will  be  the  first  day  of  February,"  said 
Daggett,  when  the  salutations  of  the  morning  were  passed, 
"and  I  was  calculating  my  chances  of  getting  full  this 
season.  You  will  be  full  this  week,  I  conclude,  Gar'ner  ? " 

"  We  hope  to  be  so,  by  the  middle  of  it,"  was  the  answer. 
"  I  think  the  seal  are  gettihg  to  be  much  shyer  than  they 
were,  and  I  am  afraid  we  shall  demonstrate  that '  the  more 
haste  is  the  worse  speed.' " 

"  What  is  that  to  you  ?"  returned  Daggett,  quickly.  "  Of 
course  you  will  sail  for  home  as  soon  as  you  can  get  off." 

Gardiner  did  not  like  the  "  of  course,"  which  was  indi- 
rectly saying  what  the  other  would  do  himself  under  simi- 
lar circumstances.  Still,  it  caused  no  difference  in  his  own 
decision,  which  had  been  made  up  under  the  influence  of 
•much  reflection  and  of  a  great  deal  of  good  feeling. 

"  I  shall  do  no  such  thing,  Captain  Daggett,"  was  the 
answer.  "  I  do  not  fancy  the  idea  of  leaving  a  fellow- 
creature,  a  countryman — nay,  I  might  say,  a  neighbor,  on 
this  lone  spot,  with  the  uncertainty  of  his  ever  getting 
out  of  it.  If  you  can  come  to  some  understanding  with 
my  officers  and  crew,  I  will  keep  the  schooner  here  until 
we  are  both  full,  and  ready  to  sail  in  company." 

"  In  which  case  vou  would  nat'rallv  ask  a  lay  for  your- 
self?" 

"  Naturally,  perhaps,  I  might,"  returned  Roswell,  smil- 
ing, "though  positively,  I  shall  not.  Not  one  of  us  in  the 
cabin  will  look  for  any  other  advantage  than  your  good 
company.  I  have  talked  this  matter  over  with  my  mates, 
and  they  say  that  the  advantage  of  having  a  consort  in 
getting  through  the  ice  is  sufficient  to  justify  us  in  hold- 
ing  on  two  or  three  weeks  longer.  With  the  men,  it 
will  be  a  little  different,  perhaps ;  and  they  will  re- 
quire some  pay.  The  poor  fellows  live  by  their  hands, 
and  what 'their  hands  do  they  will  expect  to  be  compen- 
sated for." 

"  They  shall  have  good  lays,  depend  on  it.    As  for  your< 


214  THE   SEA    LIOVS, 

self,  Captain  Gar'ner,  I  trust  my  owners  will  not  forget  to 
do  what  is  right,  if  we  ever  get  home,  and  meet  with  luck 
in  the  market." 

"  Never  fear  for  me,  Daggett.  I  look  for  my  reward  in 
the  bright  eyes  and  pleasant  smiles  of  as  excellent  a  girl  as 
Long  Island  can  produce.  Mary  never  fails  to  reward  me 
in  that  way  whenever  I  do  right.  It  is  right  to  stand  by  you 
just  now — to  do  as  I  would  be  done  by  ;  and  I'll  do  it.  Set 
the  thing  down  as  decided,  but  make  your  bargain  with  my 
men.  And  now,  Daggett,  what  say  you  to  climbing  yonder 
mountain  to-day,  by  way  of  getting  a  good  survey  of  our 
territories,  as  well  as  to  take  a  look  at  the  state  of  the 
ice?" 

Daggett  assented  very  cheerfully,  his  mind  being  greatly 
relieved  by  this  assurance  of  standing  by  him,  on  the  part 
of  Roswell  ;  for  he  had  been  undecided  whether  to  remain 
after  the  departure  of  the  other  schooner  or  not.  All  was 
now  clear  to  him,  however,  and  the  two  masters  made  their 
preparations  to  ascend  the  mountain  as  soon  as  they  had 
breakfasted.  Stimson  was  summoned  to  be  of  the  party 
his'officer  having  got  to  be  accustomed  to,  and  desirous  ot" 
his  company. 

For  the  first  two  hours  after  quitting  the  house,  Gardi- 
ner,-Daggett,  and  the  boat-steerer  were  busily  employed  in 
working  their  way  across  the  broken  surface  of  the  island, 
to  the  base  of  the  cone-line  pinnacle  that  formed  the  apex 
of  all.  There  they  rested  and  took  a  little  refreshment, 
conversing  the  while  on  the  state  of  the  ice  in  the  offing, 
so  far  as  the  last  could  be  seen  from  their  present  ele- 
vation.- 

"  We  shall  have  a  sharp  hill  to  climb,  should  we  succeed 
in  getting  up  here,"  observed  Roswell,  "  though  the  rocks 
appear  to  be  quite  clear  of  snow  just  now." 

"Just  now,  or  never.  This  is  the  antarctic  dog-days, 
Gar'ner,"  answered  Daggett,  laughing,  "and  we  must  make 
the  most  of  them.  A  man  can  move  about  without  his 
pea-jacket  at  noonday,  and  that  is  something  gained  ;  for, 
I  have  heard  of  ice  making  in  the  bays,  even  at  midsum- 
mer." 

"We  are  not  in  a  high  enough  latitude  for  that,  thank 
heaven,  though  pretty  well  south  too.  This  is  our  harvest- 
time,  sure  enough,  and  we  had  better  look  to  it." 

As  Gardiner  said  this,  the  eyes  of  all  three  were  turned 
on  the  sterile  scene  around  them.  The  island  was  not  ab- 
solutely destitute  of  vegetation,  as  is  the  case  a  few  de« 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  215 

grees  further  south  ;  but  it  might  be  said  to  be  nearly  so. 
A  few  stunted  plants  were  to  be  seen  in  the  fissures  of  the 
rocks,  and  a  little  soil  had  been  made,  seemingly  by  the 
crumbling  of  the  stones,  in  which  a  wiry  grass  occasionally 
showed  itself.  As  for  the  mountain,  however,  it  was 
mostly  bare  ;  and  when  our  party  began  to  climb,  the  as- 
cent was  not  only  difficult,  but  in  places  dangerous.  Ros- 
well  had  foreseen  this,  and  he  had  made  a  provision 
accordingly.  In  addition  to  his  lance,  used  as  a  leaping- 
staff  and  walking-pike,  each  man  had  a  small  coil  of 
ratlin-stuff  thrown  over  his  shoulder,  in  order  to  help  him 
in  difficult  places,  or  enable  him  to  help  his  companions. 
It  was  in  the  descent  chiefly  that  these  ropes  were  ex- 
pected to  be  of  service,  though  their  utility  was  made  ap- 
parent ere  the  three  reached  the  summit.  The  ascent  of  a 
mountain  a  thousand  feet  in  height  is  no  great  exploit 
under  ordinary  circumstances.  Even  when  there  are  pre- 
cipitous cliffs,  gorges,  ravines,  and  broken  masses,  youth, 
activity,  and  courage  will  commonly  overcome  all  the  dif- 
ficulties, placing  the  foot  of  man  on  eminences  that  nature 
would  appear  to  have  intended  solely  for  the  dominion  of 
the  goat.  Thus  did  it  turn  out  with  the  three  sealers,  all 
of  whom  stood  on  the  bald  cap  of  that  mountain,  after  a 
vigorous  and  somewhat  hazardous  ascent,  that  occupied 
rather  more  than  an  hour.  They  had  greatly  aided  each 
other  in  achieving  their  purpose,  to  be  sure  ;  and  the 
ratlin-stuff  was  found  of  use  on  more  than  one  occasion. 

An  extraordinary,  and,  .considering  the  accessories,  a 
most  brilliant  view,  rewarded  the  adventurers.  But,  after 
a  few  minutes  passed  in  pure  admiration  of  what  they  be- 
held, the  minds  of  all  three  adverted  to  the  parts  which 
gave  such  unusual  splendor  to  the  panorama.  Icebergs 
were  visible  on  all  sides  of  them,  the  great  bay  excepted  ; 
and  the  group  was  surrounded  by  them,  in  a  way  that 
would  seem  to  proclaim  a  blockade.  At  that  season,  the 
south  winds  prevailed,  though  changes  were  frequent  arid 
sudden,  and  the  vast  frozen  fleet  was  drifting  north.  Gar- 
diner saw  that  the  passage  by  which  he  had  brought  in 
his  schooner  was  now  completely  closed,  and  that  the 
only  means  of  exit  from  the  bay  was  by  its  northern  out- 
let. The  great  depth  of  the  bergs  still  prevented  their 
coming  within  the  cluster  of  islands,  while  their  numbei 
and  size  completely  stopped  the  floes  from  passing. 

To  the  northward,  the  sea  was  much  more  open.  Gar- 
diner and  Daggett  both  thought,  as  they  gazed  in  that  di« 


2i6  THE    SEA    LWXS. 

rection,  that  it  would  be  easy  enough  to  take  a  vessel 
through  the  difficulties  of  the  navigation,  and  that  a  good 
run  of  eight-and-forty  hours  would  carry  her  quite  beyond 
the  crowded  ice.  This  sight  awakened  some  regrets  in  the 
two  masters,  that  they  were  not  then  in  a  condition  to  de- 
part. 

"  I  am  almost  sorry  that  we  have  made  a  holiday  of  the 
Sunday,"  said  Daggett,  seating  himself  on  a  point  of  rock, 
to  get  a  little  rest  after  so  fatiguing  an  ascent.  "  Every 
minute  of  time  is  precious  to  men  in  our  situation." 

"  Every  minute  of  time  is  precious  to  all  men,.  Captain 
Daggett,  in  another  and  a  still  more  important  sense,  if  they 
did  but  know  it,"  put  in  Stimson,  with  a  zealous  freedom, 
and  a  Christian's  earnestness. 

"  I  understand  you,  Stephen,  and  will  not  gainsay  it. 
But  a  sealin'  v'y'ge  is  no  place,  after  all,  for  a  man  to  give 
himself  up  to  Sabbaths  and  religion." 

"  All  places  are  good,  sir,  and  all  hours  Sabbaths,  when 
the  heart  is  in  the  true  state.  God  is  on  this  naked  rock, 
as  he  is  on  the  Vineyard  ;  and  a  thought,  or  a  syllable,  in 
his  praise,  on  this  mountain,  are  as  pleasant  to  him  as  them 
that  arise  from  churches  and  priests." 

"  I  believe  it  is,  at  least,  a  mistake  in  policy  to  give  the 
men  no  day  of  rest,"  said  Roswell,  quietly.  "Though  not 
prepared  to  carry  matters  as  far  as  my  friend  Stephen  here, 
1  agree  with  him  entirely  in  that." 

"And  not  in  believing,  sir,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  on 
this  island  ?" 

"  In  that  too,  certainly.  Neither  Captain  Daggett  nor 
myself  will  be  disposed  to  dispute  either  of  these  two 
propositions,  I  think,  when  we  come  to  reflect  on  them. 
A  day  of  rest  would  seem  to  be  appointed  by  nature  ;  and 
I  make  no  doubt  we  have  filled  up  all  the  sooner  for  hav- 
ing observed  one.  Seamen  have  so  many  calls  on  their 
time  which  cannot  be  neglected,  that  it  is  unwise  in  them 
to  increase  the  number  unnecessarily." 

"  This  is  not  the  spirit,  Captain  Gar'ner,  I'm  sorry  to  say, 
in  which  we  should  keep  our  day  of  rest,  though  it  is  well 
that  we  keep  it  at  all.  I'm  no  stickler  for  houses  and  con- 
gregations, »though  they  are  good  enough  in  their  times 
and  seasons  ;  for  every  man  has  a  tabernacle  in  his  owrn 
heart,  if  lie's  disposed  to  worship." 

"  And  if  any  place  on  earth  can  particularly  incline  one 
to  worship  God,  surely  it  must  be  some  such  spot  as  this  !  " 
exclaimed  Roswell,  with  a  degree  of  fervor  it  was  not  usual 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  217 

for  him  to  exhibit.  "  Never  in  my  life  have  my  eyes  seen 
a  sight  as  remarkable  and  as  glorious  as  this.! " 

Well  might  our  young  mariner  thus  exclaim.  The  day 
was  fine  for  the  region,  but  marked  by  the  caprice  and 
changeful  light  of  high  latitudes.  There  was  mist  in  places, 
and  flurries  of  snow  were  to  be  seen  to  the  southward, 
while  the  ocean  to  the  northward  of  the  group  was  glitter- 
ing under  the  brightness  of  an  unclouded  sun.  It  was  the 
mixed  character  of  this  scene  that  rendered  it  so  peculiar, 
while  its  grandeur,  sublimity,  and  even  beauty,  were  found 
in  its  vastness,  its  noble  though  wild  accessories,  its  frozen 
and  floating  mountains,  glowing  in  prismatic  light,  and 
the  play  of  summer  on  the  features  of  an  antarctic  view. 

"  'Tis  a  remarkable  spot,  as  no  one  can  deny,"  answered 
Daggett  ;  "but  I  like  its  abundance  of  seal  the  most  of 
all.  I  cannot  say  I  have  much  taste  for  sights,  unless  they 
bring  the  promise  of  good  profit  with  them.  We  Vine- 
yarders  live  in  a  small  way,  and  are  not  rich  enough  to 
take  delight  in  landscapes." 

"  Serve  God,  and  reverence  his  holy  name,"  said  Stimson, 
earnestly,  "  and  all  places  will  be  good  to  look  upon.  I 
have  been  on  the  Vineyard  in  my  time,  and  have  never 
found  any  difference  as  to  the  spot,  so  long  as  the  heart  is 
right." 

"A  poor  man  must  work,"  answered  Daggett,  dropping 
his  eyes  from  the  more  distant  and  gorgeous  views  of  the 
drifting  ice-mountains,  to  the  rocky  shore,  that  was  still 
frequented  by  thousands  of  seals,  some  of  the  largest  of 
which  might  be  seen,  even  from  that  elevation,  waddling 
about  ;  "ay,  a  poor  man  must  work,  Sundays  or  no  Sun- 
days ;  and  he  who  would  make  his  hay,  must  do  it  while 
the  sun  shines.  I  like  meetin'-goin'  at  the  right  place,  and 
sealin'  when  sealin'  ought  to  be  done.  This  day  is  lost,  I 
fear,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  reason  to  regret  it." 

Stimson  did  not  abandon  what  he  conceived  to  be  his 
duty,  but  answered  this  cold,  worldly  spirit  in  the  best 
manner  his  uncultivated  speech  enabled  him  to  do.  But 
his  words  were  thrown  away  on  Daggett.  The  lust  of  gold 
was  strong  within  him  ;  and  while  that  has  full  dominion 
over  the  heart,  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  any  purely  spiritual 
fruits  will  ripen  there.  Daggett  was  an  instance  of  W7hat, 
we  fear,  many  thousands  resembling  him  might  be  found, 
up  and  down  the  land,  of  a  man  energetic  by  temperament, 
industrious  by  habit,  and  even  moderate  in  his  views,  but 
whose  whole  existence  is  concentrated  in  the  accumula  Ion 


218  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

of  property.  Born  poor,  and  in  a  state  of  society  in  which 
no  one  other  generally  recognized  mode  of  distinction  is 
so  universally  acknowledged  as  that  of  the  possession  of 
money,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  man  of  his  native  dispo- 
sition should  early  bend  all  his  faculties  to  this  one  great 
object.  He  was  not  a  miser,  like  Deacon  Pratt,  for  he 
could  spend  freely,  on  occasion,  and  perfectly  understood 
the  necessity  of  making  liberal  outfits  to  insure  ample  re- 
turns ;  but  he  lived  for  little  else  than  for  gain.  What 
such  a  man  might  have  become,  under  more  favorable  aus- 
pices, and  with  different  desires  instilled  into  his  youthful 
mind,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  ;  it  is  only  certain  that,  as  he 
was,  the  steel-trap  is  not  quicker  to  spring  at  the  touch, 
than  he  was  to  arouse  all  his  manifold  energies  at  the  hopes 
or  promise  of  profit.  As  his  whole  life  had  been  passed 
in  one  calling,  it  was  but  natural  that  his  thoughts  should 
most  easily  revert  to  the  returns  that  calling  had  so  often 
given.  He  never  dreamed  of  speculations,  knew  nothing 
of  stocks,  had  no  concerns  with  manufactures  in  cotton  or 
wool,  nor  had  any  other  notion  of  wealth  than  the  posses- 
sion of  a  good  farm  on  the  Vineyard,  a  reasonable  amount 
of  money  "at  use,"  certain  interests  in  coasters,  whalers, 
and  sealers,  and  a  sufficiency  of  household  effects,  and  this 
in  a  very  modest  way,  to  make  himself  and  family  com- 
fortable. Notwithstanding  this  seeming  moderation,  Dag- 
gett  was  an  intensely  covetous  man  ;  but  his  wishes  were 
limited  by  his  habits. 

While  one  of  the  masters  of  the  sealing  crafts  was  draw- 
ing these  pictures,  in  his  imagination,  of  wealth  after  his 
manner,  very  different  were  the  thoughts  of  the  other. 
Roswell's  fancy  carried  him  far  'across  that  blue  and  spark- 
ling ocean,  northward,  to  Oyster  Pond,  and  Deacon  Pratt's 
homestead,  and  to  Mary.  He  saw  the  last  in  her  single- 
hearted  simplicity,  her  maiden  modesty,  her  youthful 
beauty, — nay,  even  in  her  unyielding  piety  ;  for,  singular 
as  it  may  seem,  Gardiner  valued  his  mistress  so  much  the 
more  for  that  very  faith  to  which,  in  his  own  person,  he 
laid  no  claim.  Irreligious  he  was  not,  himself,  though 
skeptical  on  the  one  great  tenet  of  Christianity.  But,  in 
Mary,  it  struck  him  it  was  right  that  she  should  believe 
that  which  she  had  been  so  sedulously  taught ;  for  he  did 
not  at  ail  fancy  those  inquiring  minds,  in  the  other  sex, 
that  lead  their  possessors  in  quest  of  novelties  and  para- 
doxes. In  this  humor,  then,  the  reader  will  not  be  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  he  imagined  the  deacon's  niece  in  her 


THE   SEA    LIO.VS.  219 

most  pleasing  attributes,  and  bedecked  her  with  all  those 
charms  that  render  maidens  pleasant  to  youthful  lovers. 
Had  Mary  been  less  devout,  less  fixed  in  her  belief  that 
J.esus  was  the  Son  of  God,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  the 
skeptical  young  man  would  have  loved  her  less. 

And  what  was  that  rugged,  uncultivated  seaman,  who 
stood  near  the  two  officers,  thinking  of  all  this  time  ?  Did 
lie,  too,  bend  his  thoughts  on  love,  and  profit,  *nd  the 
pleasures  of  this  world  ?  Of  love,  most  truly,  was  his  heart 
full  to  overflowing  ;  but  it  was  the  love  of  God,  with  that 
affection  for  all  his  creatures,  that  benevolence  and  faith, 
which  glow  as  warmly  in  the  hearts  of  the*  humblest  and 
least  educated,  as  in  those  of  the  great  and  learned.  His 
mind  was  turned  toward  his  Creator,  and  it  converted  the 
extraordinary  view  that  lay  before  his  sight  into  a  vast, 
magnificent,  gorgeous,  though  wild  temple,  for  his  worship 
and  honor.  It  might  be  well  for  all  of  us  occasionally  to 
pause  in  our  eager  pursuit  of  worldly  objects,  and  look 
around  on  the  world  itself,  considering  it  as  but  a  particle 
in  the  illimitable  fields  of  creation, — one  among  the  many 
thousands  of  other  known  worlds,  that  have  been  set  in 
their  places  in  honor  of  the  hand  that  made  them.  These 
brief  but  vivid  glances  at  the  immensity  of  the  moral  space 
which,  separates  man  from  his  Deity,  have  very  healthful 
effects  in  inculcating  that  humility  which  is  the  stepping- 
stone  of  faith  and  love. 

After  passing  an  hour  on  the  bald  cap  of  the  mountain, 
sometimes  conversing,  at  others  ruminating  on  the  scene, 
a  change  in  the  weather  induced  our  party  to  move. 
There  had  been  flurries  of  snow  visible  all  the  morning, 
but  it  was  in  the  distance,  and  among  the  glittering  bergs. 
Once  the  volcano  had  thus  been  shut  in  from  view  ;  but 
now  a  driving  cloud  passed  over  the  mountain  itself,  which 
was  quickly  as  white  as  the  pure  element  could  make  it. 
So  heavy  was  the  fall  of  snow,  that  it  was  soon  impossible 
to  see  a  dozen  yards,  and  of  course  the  whole  of  the  plain 
of  the  island  was  concealed.  At  this  most  inauspicious 
moment,  our  adventurers  undertook  their  descent. 

It  is  always  much  less  dangerous  to  mount  an  acclivity 
than  to  go  down  it.  The  upper  progress  is  easily  enough 
arrested,  while  that  in  the  other  direction  is  frequently  too 
rapid  to  be  under  perfect  command.  Roswell  felt  the 
truth  of  this,  and  would  have  proposed  a  delay  until  the 
atmosphere  became  clear  again,  but  it  struck  him  that 
this  was  not  likely  to  occur  very  soon.  He  followed 


220  TJfK   SEA    LIO.YS. 

Daggett;  therefore,  though  reluctantly,  .and  with  due  cau 
lion.     Stimson  brought  up  the  rear. 

For  the  first  ten  minutes  our  adventurers  got  along 
without  any  great  difficulty.  They  found  the  precise  point 
at  which  they  had  reached  the  summit  of  the  mountain, 
and  began  to  descend.  It  was  soon  apparent  that  great 
caution  must  be  used,  the  snow  rendering  the  footing 
slipper^.  Daggett,  however,  wras  a  bold  and  hot-blooded 
man  when  in  motion,  and  lie  preceded  the  party  some  little 
distance,  calling  out  to  those  behind  him  to  come  on  with- 
out fear.  This  the  last  did,  though  it  was  with  a  good 
deal  more  caution  than  was  observed  by  their  leader.  At 
length  all  three  reached  a  spot  where  it  seemed  they  could 
not  overcome  the  difficulties.  Beneath  them  was  the 
smooth  face  of  a  rock  already  covered  with  snow,  while 
they  could  not  see  far  enough  in  advance  to  ascertain  in 
what  this  inclined  plane  terminated.  Daggett,  however, 
insisted  that  he  knew  the  spot  ;  that  they  had  passed  up 
it.  There  was  a  broad  shelf  a  short  distance  below  them  • 
and  once  on  that  shelf,  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  ? 
considerable  circuit  in  order  to  reach  a  certain  ravine 
down  which  the  path  would  be  reasonably  easy.  All  re 
membered  the  shelf  and  the  ravine  ;  the  question  wa 
merely  whether  the  first  lay  beneath  them,  and  as  near  £  / 
Daggett  supposed.  A  mistaken  confidence  beset  the  laa^ 
and  he  carried  this  feeling  so  far  as  to  decline  taking  the 
end  of  a  line  which  Roswell  threw  to  him,  but  seated  him- 
self on  the  snow  and  slid  downward,  passing  almost 
immediately  out  of  sight. 

"What  has  become  of  him?"  demanded  Itoswell,  en- 
deavoring to  pierce  the  air  by  straining  his  eyeballs.  "  He 
is  not  to  be  seen  ! " 

"  Hold  on  to  the  line,  sir,  and  give  me  the  other  end  of 
it ;  I  will  go  and  see,"  answered  Stimson. 

It  being  obviously  the  most  hazardous  to  remain  to  the 
last,  and  descend  without  the  support  of  one  above  him, 
Roswell  acquiesced  in  this  proposal,  lowering  the  boat- 
steerer  down  the  rock,  until  he  too  was  hid  from  his  sight. 
But,  though  out  of  sight  in  that  dense  snow-storm,  Stimson 
was  not  so  distant  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  voice. 

"Go  more  to  the  right,  sir,"  called  out  the  seaman, 
"and  steady  me  with  the  line  along  with  you." 

This  was  done,  the  walking  being  sufficiently  secure  at 
the  elevation  where  Roswell  was.  Presently,  Stimson 
shook  the  line,  and  called  out  again. 


THE   SEA    L/O.VS.  221 

"That  will  do,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  he  said.  "I  am  on 
the  shelf  now,  and  have  pretty  good  footing.  Lay  the  line 
down  on  the  snow,  sir,  and  slide  as  slowly  as  you  can  ; 
mind  and  keep  close  at  its  side.  I'll  stand  by  to  fetch  you 
up." 

Gardiner  understood  all  this  perfectly,  and  did  as  he  was 
desired  t»  do.  By  keeping  near  the  line  he  reached  the 
shelf  precisely  at  the  spot  where  Stimson  was  ready  to 
meet  him  ;  the  latter  arresting  his  downward  movement 
by  throwing  the  weight  of  his  own  body  forward  to  meet 
his  officer.  By  such  a  precaution  Roswell  was  stopped  in 
time,  else  would  he  have  gone  over  the  shelf,  and  down  a 
declivity  that  was  so  nearly  perpendicular  as  to  offer  no 
means  of  arresting  the  movement. 

"  And  what  has  become  of  Captain  Daggett  ?  "  demanded 
Gardiner,  as  soon  as  on  his  feet  again. 

"I  fear  he  has  shot  off  the  rock,  sir,"  was  the  answer. 
"  At  the  place  where  I  reached  this  shelf,  it  was  so  nar- 
row I  could  with  great  difficulty  walk — could  not,  indeed, 
had  not  the  line  been  there  to  steady  me  ;  and,  judging 
from  the  marks  in  the  snow,  the  poor  man  has  gone  down 
helpless ! " 

This  was  appalling  intelligence  to  receive  at  such  a  time, 
and  in  such  a  place.  But  Roswell  was  not  unmanned  by 
it ;  on  the  contrary,  he  acted  coolly,  and  with  great  judg- 
ment. Making  a  coil  of  the  ratlin-stuff,  he  threw  the  line 
down  until  certain  it  reached  bottom,  at  the  distance  of 
about  six  fathoms.  Then  he  caused  Stimson  to  brace  him- 
self firmly,  holding  on  to  the  line,  aided  by  a  turn  round 
a  rise  in  the  rock,  and  he  boldly  lowered  himself  down 
the  precipice,  reaching  its  base  at  about  the  distance  he 
had  calculated  so  to  do. 

It  still  snowed  violently,  the  flakes  being  large,  and  ed- 
dying round  the  angles  of  the  rocks  in  flurries  so  violent 
as,  at  moments,  to  confound  all  the  senses  of  the  young 
man.  He  was  resolute,  however,  and  bent  on  an  object  of 
humanity,  as  well  as  of  good  fellowship.  Living  or  dead, 
Daggett  must  be  somewhere  on  his  present  level  ;  and  he 
began  to  grope  his  way  among  the  fragments  of  rock, 
eager  and  solicitous.  The  roaring  of  the  wind  almost  pre- 
vented his  hearing  other  sounds  ;  though  once  or  twice  he 
heard,  or  fancied  that  he  heard,  the  shouts  of  Stimson  from 
above.  Suddenly  the  wind  ceased,  the  snow  lessened  in 
quantity,  soon  clearing  away  altogether  ;  and  the  rays  of 
the  sun — and  this  in  the  dog-days  of  that  region,  be  it  re- 


222  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

membered — fell  bright  and  genial  on  the  glittering  scene. 
At  the  next  instant,  the  eyes  of  Roswell  fell  on  the  ob- 
ject of  his  search. 

Dagget  had  been  carried  over  the  narrow  shelf  on  which 
Stimson  landed,  in  consequence  of  his  having  no  support, 
or  any  means  of  arresting  his  momentum.  He  did  thrust 
forward  his  lance,  or  leaping-staff ;  but  its  point  met  noth- 
ing but  air.  The  fall,  however,  was  by  no  means  perpen- 
dicular, several  projections  of  the  rocks  helping  to  lessen 
it  ;  though  it  is  probable  that  the  life  of  the  unfortunate 
sealer  was  saved  altogether  by  means  of  the  lance.  This 
was  beneath  him  as  he  made  his  final  descent,  and  he  slid 
along  it  tfre  whole  length,  canting  him  into  a  spot  where 
was  the  only  piece  of  stinted  vegetation  that  was  to  be 
seen  for  a  considerable  distance.  In  consequence  of  com- 
ing down  on  a  tolerably  thick  bunch  of  furze,  the  fall  was 
essentially  broken. 

When  Roswell  reached  his  unfortunate  companion,  the 
latter  was  perfectly  sensible  and  quite  cool. 

"  God  be  thanked  that  you  have  found  me,  Gar'ner,"  he 
said  ;  "at  one  time  I  had  given  it  up." 

"Thank  God,  also,  that  you  are  living,  my  friend,"  an- 
swered the  other.  "  I  expected  only  to  find  your  body  ; 
but  you  do  not  seem  to  be  much  hurt." 

"  More  than  appears,  Gar'ner  ;  more  than  appears:  My 
left  leg  is  broken,  certainly  ;  and  one  of  my  shoulders 
pains  me  a  good  deal,  though  it  is  neither  out  of  joint  or 
broken.  This  is  a  sad  business  for  a  sealing  v'y'ge  !  " 

"Give  yourself  no  concern  about  your  craft,  Daggett — 
I  \vill  look  to  her  and  to  your  voyage." 

"Will  you  stand  by  the  schooner,  Gar'ner? — Promise 
me  that,  and  my  mind  will  be  at  peace." 

"  I  do  promise.  The  two  vessels  shall  stick  together,  at 
all  events  until  we  are  clear  of  the  ice." 

•"  Ay,  but  that  won't  do.  My  Sea  Lion  must  be  filled  up 
as  well  as  your  own.  Promise  me  that" 

"  It  shall  be  done,  God  willing.  But  here  comes  Stim- 
son ;  the  first  thing  will  be  to  get  you  out  of  this  spot." 

Daggett  was  obviously  relieved  by  Roswell's  pledges  ;  for 
amid  the  anguish  and  apprehensions  of  his  unexpected 
state,  his  thoughts  had  most  keenly  adverted  to  his  vessel 
and  her  fortunes.  Now  that  his  mind  was  somewhat  re- 
lieved on  this  score,  the  pains  of  his  body  became  more 
sensibly  felt.  The  situation  of  our  party  was  sufficiently 
embarrassing.  The  leg  of  Daggett  was  certainly  broken,  a 


77 fE   SEA    LIONS. 


223 


little  distance  above  his  ankle  ;  and  various  bruises  in 
other  places,  gave  notice  of  the  existence  of  other  injuries. 
To  do  anything  with  the  poor  man,  lying  where  he  was, 
was  out  of  the  question,  however  ;  and  the  first  thing  was 
to  remove  the  sufferer  to  a  more  eligible  position.  Fort- 
unately it  was  no  great  distance  to  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain, and  a  low,  level  piece  of  rock  was  accessible,  by 
means  of  care  and  steady  feet.  Daggett  was  raised  between 
Roswell  and  Stimson  in  a  sitting  attitude,  and  supporting 
himself  by  putting  an  arm  around  the  neck  of  each.  The 
legs  hung  down,  the  broken  as  well  as  the  sound  limb.  To 
this  accidental  circumstance  the  sufferer  was  indebted  to 
a  piece  of  incidental  surgery  that  proved  of  infinite  ser- 
vice to  him.  While  dangling  in  this  manner  the  bone  got 
into  its  place,  and  Daggett  instantly  became  aware  of  that 
important  fact,  which  was  immediately  communicated  to 
Roswell.  Of  course  the  future  mode  of  proceeding  was 
regulated  by  this  agreeable  piece  of  information. 

Sailors  are  often  required  to  act  as  physicians,  surgeons, 
and  priests.  It  is  not  often  that  they  excel  in  either  ca- 
pacity ;  but  in  consequence  of  the  many  things  they  are 
called  to  turn  their  hands  to,  it  does  generally  happen  that 
they  get  to  possess  a  certain  amount  of  address  that  ren- 
ders them  far  more"  dexterous,  in  nearly  everything  they 
undertake,  than  the  generality  of  those  who  are  equally 
strangers  to  the  particular  act  that  is  thus  to  be  exercised. 
Roswell  had  set  one  or  two  limbs  already,  and  had  a  tolera- 
ble notion  of  the  manner  of  treating  the  case.  Daggett 
was  now  seated  on  a  rock  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  with 
his  legs  still  hanging  down,  and  his  back  supported  by 
another  rock.  No  sooner  was  he  thus  placed  than  Stim- 
son was  despatched,  post-haste,  for  assistance.  His  instruc- 
tions were  full,  and  the  honest  fellow  set  off  at  a  rate  that 
promised  as  early  relief  as  the  circumstances  would  at  all 
allow. 

As  for  our  hero,  he  set  about  his  most  important  office 
the  instant  Stimson  left  him.  Daggett  aided  with  his 
counsel,  and  a  little  by  his  personal  exertions  ;  for  a  sea- 
man does  not  lie  down  passively,  when  anything  can  be 
done,  even  in  his  own  case. 

Baring  the  limb,  Roswell  soon  satisfied  himself  that  the 
bone  had  worked  itself  into  place.  Bandages  were  in- 
stantly applied  to  keep  it  there  while  splints  were  making. 
It  was,  perhaps,  a  little  characteristic  that  Daggett  took 
out  his  knife  and  aided  in  shaving  down  these  splints  to 


224  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

the  necessary  form  and  thickness.  They  were  made  out 
of  the  staff  of  the  broken  lance,  and  were  soon  completed. 
Rosvvell  manifested  a  good  deal  of  dexterity  and  judgment 
in  applying  the  splints.  The  handkerchiefs  were  used  to 
relieve  the  pressure  in  places,  and  rope-yarns  from  the 
ratlin-stuff  furnished  the  means  of  securing  everything  in 
its  place.  In  half  an  hour,  Roswell  had  his  job  completed, 
and  that  before  there  was  much  swelling  to  interfere  with 
him.  As  soon  as  the  broken  limb  was  thus  attended  to, 
it  was  carefully  raised  and  laid  upon  the  rock  along  with 
its  fellow,  a  horizontal  position  being  deemed  better  than 
one  that  was  perpendicular. 

Not  less  than  four  painful  hours  now  passed  ere  the  gang 
of  hands  from  the  vessels  reached  the  base  of  the  moun- 
tain. It  came  prepared,  however,  to  transport  the  sufferer 
on  a  handbarrovv  that  had  been  used  in  conveying  the 
skins  of  seal  across  the  rocks.  On  this  barrow  Daggett 
was  now  carefully  placed,  when  four  men  lifted  him  up 
and  walked  away  with  him  for  a  few  hundred  yards.  These 
were  then  relieved  by  four  more  ;  and  in  this  manner  was 
the  whole  distance  to  the  house  passed  over.  The  patient 
was  put  in  his  bunk,  and  some  attention  was  bestowed  on 
his  bruises  and  other  injuries. 

Glad  enough  was  the  sufferer  to  find  himself  beneath  a 
roof,  and  in  a  room  that  had  its  comforts  ;  or  what  were 
deemed  comforts  on  a  sealing  voyage.  As  the  men  were 
in  the  dormitory  very  little  of  the  time  except  at  night,  he 
was  enabled  to  sleep  ;  and  Roswell  had  hopes,  as  he  now 
told  Stimson,  that  a  month  or  six  weeks  would  set  the  pa- 
tient on  his  feet  again. 

"  He  has  been  a  fortunate  fellow,  Stephen,  that  it  was  no 
worse,"  added  Roswell  on  that  occasion.  "  But  for  the 
luck  which  turned  the  lance-pole  beneath  him,  every  bone 
he  has  would  have  been  broken." 

"What  you  call  luck.  Captain  Gar'ner,  I  call  Providence" 
was  Stephen's  answer.  "  The  great  book  tells  us  that  not 
n  sparrow  shall  fall  without  the  eye  of  Divine  Providence 
being  on  it." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  225 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

"  Now  far  he  sweeps,  where  scarce  a  summer  smiles, 
On  Behring's  rocks,  or  Greenland's  naked  isles  ; 
Cold  on  his  midnight  watch  the  breezes  blow, 
From  wastes  that  slumber  in  eternal  snow, 
And  waft  across  the  waves'  tumultuous  roar, 
The  wolf's  long  howl  from  Oonalaska's  shore." — CAMPBELL. 

ROSWELL  GARDINER  set  about  his  duties  the  succeeding 
day  with  a  shade  of  deep  reflection  on  his  brow.  A  crisis 
had,  indeed,  come  in  his  affairs,  and  it  behooved  him  to 
look  well  to  his  proceedings.  Daggett's  presence  on  the 
island  was  no  longer  of  any  moment  to  himself  or  his 
owner,  but  there  remained  the  secret  of  the  key,  and  of 
the  buried  treasure.  Should  the  two  schooners  keep  to- 
gether, how  was  he  to  acquit  himself  in  that  part  of  his 
duty,  without  admitting  of  a  partnership,  against  which  he 
knew  that  every  fibre  in  the  deacon's  system,  whether 
physical  or  moral,  would  revolt:  Still,  his  word  was 
pledged,  and  he  had  no  choice  but  to  remain  and  help  fill 
up  the  rival  Sea  Lion,  and  trust  to  his  own  address  in  get- 
ting rid  of  her  again,  as  the  two  vessels  proceeded  north. 

The  chief  mate  of  Daggett's  craft,  though  a  good  sealer, 
was  an  impetuous  and  reckless  man,  and  had  more  than 
once  found  fault  with  the  great  precautions  used,  by  the 
orders  of  Roswell.  Macy,  as  this  officer  was  called,  was 
for  making  a  regular  onslaught  upon  the  animals,  slaying 
as  many  as  they  could  at  once,  and  then  take  up  the  busi- 
ness of  curing  and  trying-out  as  a  regular  job.  He  had 
seen  such  things  done  with  success,  and  he  believed  it 
was  the  most  secure  mode  of  getting  along.  "  Some  of 
these  fine  mornings,"  as  he  expressed  it,  "  Captain  Gar'- 
ner  would  turn  out  and  find  that  his  herd  was  off — gone 
to  pasture  in  some  other  fi^ld."  This  was  a  view  of  the 
matter  with  which  Roswell  did  not  at  all  agree.  His  for- 
bearing and  cautious  policy  had  produced  excellent  re- 
sults so  far,  and  he  hoped  it  woulcf  continue  so  to  do  until 
both  schooners  were  full.  On  the  morning  when  the  men 
next  went  forth,  he  as  leader  of  both  crews,  therefore,  our 
young  master  renewed  his  admonitions,  pointing  out  to  the 
new-comers,  in  particular,  the  great  necessity  there  was  of 
using  forbearance,  and  not  to  alarm  the  seals  more  than 
the  work  indispensably  required.  The  usual  number  of 


«26  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"Ay,  ay's,  sir!"  were  given  in  reply,  and  the  gangs  went 
along  the  rocks,  seemingly  in  a  good  humor  to  obey  these 
injunctions. 

Circumstances,  however,  were  by  no  means  favorable 
to  giving  Roswell  the  same  influence  over  the  Vineyard- 
men  as  he  possessed  over  his  own  crew.  He  was  a  young 
commander,  and  this  was  his  first  voyage  in  that  capacity, 
as  all  well  knew  ;  then  there  had  been  rivalry  and  competi- 
tion between  tjie  two  crafts,  which  was  a  feeling  not  so  easi- 
ly removed  ;  next,  Macy  felt  and  even  intimated,  that  lie 
was  the  lawful  commander  of  his  own  schooner,  in  cases 
in  which  Daggett  was  disabled,  and  that  the  latter  had  no 
power  to  transfer  him  and  his  people  to  the  authority  of 
any  other  individual.  All  these  points  were  discussed  that 
day,  with  some  freedom,  particularly  among  the  Vineyard- 
men,  and  especially  the  last. 

Wisely  has  it  been  said  that  "the  king's  name  is  a  tower 
of  strength."  They  who  have  the  law  on  their  side  carry 
with  them  a  weight  of  authority  that  it  is  not  easy  to  shake 
by  means  of  pure  reasoning  on  right  or  wrong.  Men  are 
much  inclined  to  defer  to  those  who  are  thus  armed,  legal 
control  being  ordinarily  quite  as  effective  in  achieving  a 
victory  as  having  one's  "  quarrel  ju*st."  In  a  certain  sense, 
authority  indeed  becomes  justice,  and  we  look  to  its  prop- 
er exercise  as  one  of  the  surest  means  of  asserting  what 
"is  right  between  man  and  man." 

"  The  commodore  says  that  the  critturs  are  to  be  treated 
delicately,"  said  Macy,  laughing,  as  he  lanced  his  first  seal 
that  morning,  a  young  one  of  the  fur  species  ;  "  so  take  up 
the  pet,  lads,  and  lay  it  in  its  cradle,  while  I  go  to  look  for 
its  mamma." 

A  shout  of  merriment  succeeded  this  sally,  and  the  men 
were  only  so  much  the  more  disposed  to  be  rebellious  and 
turbulent,  in  consequence  of  hearing  so  much  freedom  of 
remark  in  their  officer. 

"The  child's  in  its  cradle,  Mr.  Macy,"  returned  Jenkins, 
who  was  a  wag  as  well  as  the  mate.  k<  In  my  judgment, 
the  best  mode  of  rocking  it  to  sleep  will  be  by  knocking 
over  all  these  grim  chaps  that  are  so  plenty  in  our  neigh- 
borhood." 

"  Let  'em  have  it ! "  cried  Macy,  making  an  onset  on  an 
elephant,  as  he  issued  the  order.  In  an  instant  the  rocks 
at  that  point  of  the  island  were  a  scene  of  excitement  and 
confusion.  Hazard,  who  was  near  at  hand,  succeeded  in 
restraining  his  own  people,  but  it  really  seemed  as  if  the 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  227 

Vineyard-men  were  mad.  A  great  many  seals  were  killed, 
it  is  true  ;  but  twenty  were  frightened  to  take  refuge  in 
the  ocean  where  one  was  slain.  All  animals  have  their 
alarm  cries,  or,  if  not  absolutely  cries,  signals  that  are  un- 
derstood by  themselves.  Occasionally,  one  sees  a  herd,  or 
a  flock,  take  to  its  heels,  or  to  its  wings,  without  any  ap- 
parent cause,  but  in  obedience  to  some  warning  that  is 
familiar  to  their  instincts.  .  Thus  must  it  have  been  with 
the  seals  ;  for  the  rock  was  soon  deserted,  even  at  the  dis- 
tance of  a  league  from  the  scene  of  slaughter,  leaving 
Hazard  and  his  gang  literally  with  nothing  to  do,  unless, 
indeed,  they  returned  to  complete  some  stowage  that  re- 
mained to  be  done  on  board  their  own  craft. 

"  I  suppose  you  know,  Mr.  Macy,  all  this  is  contrary  to 
orders,"  said  Hazard,  as  he  was  leading  his  own  gang  back 
toward  the  cove.  "You  see  I  am  obliged  to  go  in  and 
report." 

"  Report  and  welcome,"  was  the  answer.  "  I  have  no 
commander  but  Captain  Daggett  ; — and,  by  the  way,  if 
you  see  him,  Hazard,  just  tell  him  we  have  made  a  glori- 
ous morning's  work  of  it." 

"  Ay,  ay  ;  you  will  have  your  hands  full  enough  to-day, 
Macy  ;  but  how  will  it  be  to-morrow  ? " 

k<  Why,  just  as  it  has  been  to-day.  The  devils  must 
come  up  to  blow,  and  we're  sartiri  of  'em,  somewhere  along 
the  shore..  This  day's  work  is  worth  any  two  that  I've 
'seen  since  I  came  upon  the  island." 

"  Very  true  ;  but  what  will  to-morrow's  work  be  worth  ? 
I  will  tell  Captain  Daggett  what  you  wish  me  to  say,  how- 
ever, and  we  will  hear  his  opinion  on  the  subject.  In  rny 
judgment,  he  means  to  command  his  craft  till  she  gets 
back  to  the  hole,  legs  or  no  legs." 

Hazard  went  his  way,  shaking  his  head  ominously  as  he 
proceeded.  Nor  was  he  much  mistaken  in  what  he  ex- 
pected from  Daggett's  anger.  That  experienced  sealer 
sent  for  his  mate,  and  soon  gave  him  to  understand  that  he 
was  yet  his  commander.  Loose  q,nd  neighborly  as  is  usually 
the  discipline  of  one  of  these  partnership  vessels,  there 
is1  commonly  a  man  on  board  who  is  every  way  competent 
to  assert  the  authority  given  him  by  the  laws,  as  well  as 
by  his  contract.  Macy  was  sent  for,  rebuked,  and  menaced 
with  degradation  from  his  station,  should  he  again  presume 
to  violate  his  orders.  As  commonly  happens  in  cases  of 
this  nature,  regrets  were  expressed  by  the  offender,  and 
future  obedience  promised. 


228  THE   SRA    LIONS. 

But  the  mischief  was  done.  Sealing  was  no  longei  the 
regular,  systematic  pursuit  it  had  been  on  that  isUnd, 
but  had  become  precarious  and  changeful.  At  times 
the  men  met  with  good  success  ;  then  days  would  occur 
in  which  not  a  single  creature  of  any  of  the  different 
species  would  be  taken.  The  Vineyard  schooner  was 
not  more  than  half  full,  and  the  season  was  fast  drawing 
to  a  close.  Roswell  was  quite  ready  to  sail,  avid  he  be- 
gan to  chafe  a  little  under  the  extra  hazarcU  that  were 
thus  imposed  on  himself  and  his  people. 

In  the  meantime,  or  fully  three  weeks  after  the  occur- 
rence of  the  accident  to  Daggett,  the  injuries  received  by 
the  wounded  man  were  fast  healing.  The  bones  had 
knit,  and  the  leg  promised  in  another  month  to  become 
tolerably  sound,  if  not  as  strong  as  ir  had  been  before  the 
hurt.  All  the  bruises  were  well,  and  the  captain  of  the 
Vineyard  craft  was  just  beginning  to  move  about  a 
little  on  crutches  ;  a  prodigious  relief  to  one  of  his  habits, 
after  the  confinement  to  the  house.  By  dint  of  great  care, 
he  could  work  his  way  down  on  the  shelf  that  stretched, 
like  a  terrace,  for  two  hundred  yards  beneath  the  dwell- 
ing. Here  he  met  Roswell,  on  the  morning  of  the  Sab- 
bath, just  three  weeks  after  their  unfortunate  visit  to  the 
mountain.  Each  took  his  seat  on  a  low  point  of  rock,  and 
they  began  to  converse  on  their  respective  prospects,  and 
on  the  condition  of  their  vessels  and  crews.  Stephen  was 
near  his  officer,  as  usual. 

"  I  believe  Stimson  was  right  in  urging  me  to  give  the 
men  their  Sabbaths,"  observed  Gardiner,  glancing  round 
at  the  different  groups,  in  which  men  were  washing,  shav- 
ing, and  otherwise  getting  rid  of  the  impurities  created 
by  another  week  of  toil.  "They  begin  anew,  after  a  little 
rest,  with  a  better  will  and  steadier  hands." 
1  "  Yes,  the  Sabbath  is  a  great  privilege,  especially  to  such 
as  are  on  shore,"  returned  Daggett.  "  At  sea  I  make  no 
great  account  of  it  ;  a  craft  must  jog  along,  high  days  or 
holidays." 

"Depend  on  it,  the  same  account  is  kept  of  the  day, 
Captain  Daggett,  in  the  great  log-book  above,  whether  a 
man  is  on  or  off  soundings,"  put  in  Stephen,  who  was 
privileged  ever  to  deliver  his  sentiments  on  such  subjects. 
"The  Lord  is  God  on  the  sea,  as  on  the  land." 

There  was  a  pause  ;  for  the  solemn  manner  and  un- 
doubted sincerity  of  the  speaker  produced  an  impression 
on  his  companions,  little  given  as  they  were  to  thinking 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  229 

deeply  on  things  of  that  nature.  Then  Roswell  renewed 
the  discourse,  turning  it  on  a  matter  that  had  been 
seriously  uppermost  in  his  mind  for  several  days. 

''  I  wish  to  converse  with  you,  Captain  Daggetl^  about 
our  prospects  and  chances,"  he  said.  "  My  schooner  is 
full,  as  you  know.  We  could  do  no  more,  if  we  stayed 
here  another  season.  You  are  about  half  full,  with  a 
greatly  diminished  chance  of  filling  up  this  summer.  Mr. 
Macy's  attack  on  the  seals  has  put  you  back  a  month,  at 
least,  and  every  day  we  shall  find  the  animals  less  easy  to 
take.  The  equinox  is  not  very  far  off,  and  then,  you  know, 
we  shall  get  less  and  less  sun — so  little  as  to  be  of  no 
great  use  to  us.  We  want  daylight  to  get  through  the  ice, 
and  we  shall  have  a  long  hundred  leagues  of  it  between 
us  and  clear  water,  even  were  we  to  get  under  way  to- 
morrow. Remember  what  a  serious  thing  it  would  be  to 
get  caught  up  here,  in  so  high  a  latitude,  after  the  sun  has 
left  us  !  " 

"  I  understand  you,  Gar'ner,"  answered  the  other  quietly, 
though  his  manner  denoted  a  sort  of  compelled  resigna- 
tion, rather  than  any  cordial  acquiescence  in  that  which  he 
believed  his  brother  master  intended  to  propose.  "You're 
master  of  your  own  vessel  ;  and  I  dare  say  Deacon  Pratt 
would  be  much  rejoiced  to  see  you  coming  in  between 
Shelter  Island  and  Oyster  Pond.  I'm  but  a  cripple,  or  I 
think  the  Vineyard  craft  wouldn't  be  many  days'  run 
astarn.  ! " 

Roswell  was  provoked  ;  but  his  pride  was  touched  also. 
Biting  his  lip,  he  was  silent  for  a  moment,  when  he  spoke 
very  much  to  the  point,  but  generously,  and  like  a  man. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,  Daggett,"  said  our  hero,  "good- 
fellowship  is  good-fellowship,  and  the  flag  is  the  flag.  It 
is  the  duty  of  all  us  Yankee  seamen  to  stand  by  the  stripes  ; 
and  I  hope  I'm  as  ready  as  another  to  do  what  I  ought  to 
do  in  such  a  matter ;  but  my  owner  is  a  close  calculator, 
and  I  am  much  inclined  to  think  that  he  will  care  less  for 
this  sort  of  feeling  than  you  and  I.  The  deacon  was  never 
in  blue  water." 

"  So  I  suppose.  He  has  a  charming  daughter,  I  believe, 
Gar'ner  ?" 

"You  mean  his  niece,  I  suppose,"  answered  Roswell, 
coloring.  "  The  deacon  never  had  any  child  himself,  I 
believe — at  least  he  has  none  living.  Mary  Pratt  is  his 
niece." 

"  It's  all  the  same— niece  or  daughter,  she's  comely,  and 


230  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

will  be  rich,  I  hear.  Well,  I  am/<w,  and  what  is  more,  a 
cripple  !  " 

Rosvvell  could  have  knocked  his  companion  down,  for  he 
perfectly  understood  the  character  of  the  allusion  ;  but  he 
had  sufficient  self-command  to  forbear  saying  anything  that 
might  betray  how  much  he  felt. 

It  is  always  easier  to  work  upon  the  sensitiveness  of  a 
spirited  and  generous-minded  man  than  to  influence  him 
by  force  or  apprehensions.  Rosvvell  had  never  liked  the 
idea  of  leaving  Daggett  behind  him,  at  that  season,  and  in 
that  latitude  ;  and  he  relished  it  still  less,  now  that  he  saw 
a  false  reason  might  be  attributed  to  his  conduct. 

"You  certainly  do  not  dream  of  wintering  here,  Captain 
Daggett  ?"  he  said,  after  a  pause. 

"  Not  if  I  can  help  it.  But  the  schooner  can  never  go 
back  to  the  Vineyard  without  a  full  hold.  The  very  women 
would  make  the  island  too  hot  for  us  in  such  a  case.  Do 
your  duty  by  Deacon  Pratt,  Gar'ner,  and  leave  me  here  to 
get  along  as  well  as  I  can.  I  shall  be  able  to  walk  a  little 
in  a  fortnight ;  and  in  a  month  I  hope  to  be  well  enough 
to  get  out  among  the  people,  and  regulate  their  sealing  a 
little  myself.  Mr.  Macy  will  be  more  moderate  with  my 
eye  on  him." 

"  A  month  !  He  who  stays  here  another  month  may 
almost  make  up  his  mind  to  stay  eight  more  of  them  ;  if, 
indeed,  he  ever  get  away  from  the  group  at  all  ! " 

"A  late  start  is  better  than  a  half-empty  vessel.  When 
you  get  in  to  Oyster  Pond,  Gar'ner,  I  hope  you  will  send  a 
line  across  to  the  Vineyard,  and  tell  'em  all  about  us." 

Another  long  and  brooding  pause  succeeded,  during 
which  Roswell's  mind  was  made  up. 

"  I  will  do  this  with  you,  Daggett,"  he  said,  speaking 
like  one  who  had  fully  decided  on  his  course.  "  Twenty 
days  longer  will  I  remain  here,  and  help  to  make  out  your 
cargo  ;  after  which  I  sail,  whether  you  get  another  skin  or 
a  thousand.  This  will  be  remaining  as  long  as  any  prudent 
man  ought  to  stay  in  so  high  a  latitude." 

"Give  me  your  hand,  Gar'ner.  I  knew  you  had  the 
clear  stuff  in  you,  and  that  it  would  make  itself  seen  at  the 
proper  moment.  I  trust  that  Providence  will  favor  us — 
it's  really  a  pity  to  lose  as  fine  a  day  as  this  ;  especially  as 
the  critturs  are  coming  up  on  the  rocks  to  bask  something 
like  old  times." 

"  You'll  gain  no  great  help  from  that  Providence  you 
just  spoke  of,  Captain  Daggett,  by  forgetting  to  keep  '  holy 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  231 

the  Sabbath,'  "  said  Stimson,  earnestly.  "  Try  forbearance 
a  little,  and  find  the  good  that  will  come  of  it." 

"He  is  right,"  said  Roswell,  "as  I  know  from  having 
done  as  he  advises.  Well,  our  bargain  is  made.  For  twenty 
days  longer  I  stay  here,  helping  you  to  fill  up.  That  will 
bring  us  close  upon  the  equinox,  when  I  shall  get  to  the 
northward  as  fast  as  I  can.  In  that  time,  too,  I  think  you 
will  be  able  to  return  to  duty." 

This,  then,  was  the  settled  arrangement.  Roswell  felt 
that  he  conceded  more  than  he  ought  to  do  ;  but  the  feel- 
ing of  good-fellowship  was  active  within  him,  and  he  was 
strongly  averse  to  doing  anything  that  might  wear  the  ap- 
pearance of  abandoning  a  companion  in  his  difficulties. 
All  this  time  our  hero  was  fully  aware  that  he  was  becom- 
ing a  competitor  ;  and  he  was  not  without  his  suspicions 
that  Daggett  wished  to  keep  him  within  his  view  until  the 
visit  had  been  paid  to  the  Key.  Nevertheless,  Roswell's 
mind  was  made  up.  He  would  remain  the  twenty  days, 
arid  do  all  he  could  in  that  time  to  help  along  the  voyage 
of  the  Vineyarders. 

The  sealing  was  now  continued  with  more  order  and 
method  than  had  been  observed  under  Macy's  control. 
The  old  caution  was  respected,  and  the  work  prospered  in 
proportion.  Each  night,  orchis  return  to  the  house,  Gar- 
diner had  a  good  report  to  make  ;  and  that  peculiar  snap- 
ping of  the  eye,  that  denoted  Daggett's  interest  in  his 
calling,  was  to  be  again  traced  in  the  expression  of  the 
Vineyarder's  features  ;  a  certain  proof  that  he  was  fast  fall- 
ing into  his  old  train  of  thought  and  feeling.  Daggett  was 
never  happier  than  when  listening  to  some  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  an  old  elephant  or  lion  had  been  taken, 
or  a  numberof  fur-seals  had  been  made  to  pay  their  tribute 
to  the  enterprise  and  address  of  his  people. 

As  for  Roswell,  though  he  complied  with  his  promise, 
and  carried  on  the  duty  with  industry  and  success,  his  eye 
was  constantly  turned  on  those  signs  that  denote  the  ad- 
vance of  the  seasons.  Now  he  scanned  the  ocean  to  the 
northward,  and  noted  the  diminished  number  as  well  as 
lessened  size  of  the  floating  bergs  ;  proofs  that  the  summer 
and  the  waves  had  been  at  work  on  their  sides.  Next,  his 
.look  was  on  the  sun,  which  was  making  his  daily  course 
lower  and  lower  each  time  that  he  appeared,  settling  rap- 
idly away  toward  the  north,  as  if  in  haste  to  quit  a  hemi- 
sphere that  was  so  little  congenial  to  his  character.  The 
nights,  always  cool  in  that  region,  began  to  menace  frost  ; 


232  THE   SEA    LIO.VS. 

and  the  signs  of  the  decline  o.f  the  year  that  come  so  much 
later  in  more  temperate  climates  began  to  make  them- 
selves apparent  here.  It  is  true,  that  of  vegetation  there 
was  so  little,  and  that  little  so  meagre  and  of  so  hardy  a 
nature,  that  in  this  respect  the  progress  of  the  seasons  was 
not  to  be  particularly  noted  ;  but  in  all  others  Roswell  saw 
with  growing  uneasiness  that  the  latest  hour  of  his  depart- 
ure was  fast  drawing1  near. 

The  sealing  went  on  the  while,  and  with  reasonable  re- 
turns, though  the  golden  days  of  the  business  had  been 
seriously  interrupted  by  Macy's  indiscretion  and  disobedi- 
ence. The  men  worked  hard,  for  they  too  foresaw  the 
approach  of  the  long  night  of  the  antarctic  circle,  and  all 
the  risk  of  remaining  too  long.  As  we  have  had  frequent 
occasion  to  use  the  term  "  antarctic,"  it  may  be  well  here 
to  say  a  few  words  in  explanation.  It  is  not  our  wish  to  be 
understood  that  these  sealers  had  penetrated  literally  within 
that  belt  of  eternal  snows  and  ice,  but  approximatively. 
Few  navigators,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  have  ab- 
solutely gone  so  far  south  as  this.  Wilkes  did  it,  it  is  true  ; 
and  others  among  the  late  explorers  have  been  equally 
enterprising  and  successful.  The  group  visited  by  Gardi- 
ner on  this  occasion  was  quite  near  to  this  imaginary  line ; 
but  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty  precisely  to  give  its  latitude 
and  longitude.  To  this  hour  it  remains  a  species  of  private 
property  ;  and  in  this  age  of  anti-rentism  and  other  auda- 
cious innovations  on  long-received  and  venerable  rules  of 
conduct,  we  do  not  choose  to  be  parties  to  any  inroads  on 
the  rights  of  individuals  when  invaded  by  the  cupidity  and 
ruthless  power  of  numbers.  Those  who  wish  to  imitate 
Roswell  must  find  the  islands  by  bold  adventure,  as  he 
reached  them  ;  for  we  are  tongue-tied  on  the  subject.  It 
is  enough,  therefore,  that  we  say  the  group  is  near  the  ant- 
arctic circle  ;  whether  a  little  north  or  a  little  south  of  it 
is  a  matter  of  no  moment.  As  those  seas  have  a  general 
character,  we  shall  continue  to  call  them  the  antarctic  se:  s  ; 
with  the  understanding  that,  included  in  the  term,  are  the 
nearest  waters  without  as  well  as  within  the  circle. 

Glad  enough  was  Roswell  Gardiner  when  his  twenty 
days  were  up.  March  was  now  far  advanced,  and  the  ap- 
proach of  the  long  nights  was  near.  The  Vineyard  craft 
was  not  full,  nor  was  Daggett  yet  able  to  walk  without  a 
crutch  ;  but  orders  were  issued  by  Gardiner,  on  the  evening 
of  the  last  day,  for  his  own  crew  to  "  knock  off  sealing," 
and  to  prepare  to  get  under  way  for  home. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  233 

,  •'  Your  mind  is  made  up,  Gar'ner,"  said  Daggett,  in  a 
deprecating  sort  of  way,  as  if  he  still  had  latent  hopes  of 
persuading  his  brother-master  to  remain  a  little  longer. 
''Another  week  would  almost  fill  us  up." 

"Not  another  day,"  was*  the  answer.  "I  have  stayed  too 
long  already,  and  shall  be  off  in  the  morning.  If  you  will 
take  my  advice,  Captain  Daggett,  you  will  do  the  same 
thing.  Winter  comes  in  this  latitude  very  much  as  spring 
appears  in  our  own  ;  or,  with  a  hop,  skip,  and  a  jump.  I 
have  no  fancy  to  be  groping  about  among  the  ice  after 
the  nights  get  to  be  longer  than  the  days !  "  * 

"All  true  enough,  Gar'ner;  all  quite  true — but  it  has 
such  a  look  to  take  a  craft  home,  and  she  not  full  ! " 

"  You  have  a  great  abundance  of  provisions  ;  stop  and 
whale  awhile  on  the  False  Banks,  as  you  go  north.  I  would 
much  rather  stick  by  you  there  a  whole  month  than  remain 
here  another  day." 

u  You  make  me  narvous  talking  of  the  group  in  this 
way !  I'm  sartain  that  this  bay  must  remain  clear  of  ice 
several  weeks  longer." 

"  Perhaps  it  may ;  it  is  more  likely  to  be  so  than  to  freeze 
up.  But  this  will  not  lengthen  the  days  and  carry  us  safe 
through  the  fields  and  bergs  that  we  know  are  drifting 
about  out  here  to  the  northward.  There's  a  hundred 
leagues  of  ocean  thereaway,  Daggett,  that  I  care  for  more 
just  now  than  for  all  the  seal  that  are  left  on  these  islands. 
But,  talking  is  useless  ;  I  go  to-morrow  ;  if  you  are  wise, 
you  will  sail  in  company." 

This  settled  the  matter.  Daggett  well  knew  it  would  be 
useless  to  remain  without  the  aid  of  Roswell's  counsel,  and 
that  of  his  crew's  hands  ;  for  Macy  was  not  to  be  trusted 
any  more  as  the  leader  of  a  gang  of  sealers.  The  man  had 
got  to  be  provoked  and  reckless,  and  had  called  down  upon 
himself  latterly  more  than  one  rebuke.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  that  one  of  the  Sea  Lions  should  accompany  the 
other.  The  necessary  orders  were  issued  accordingly,  and 
"  hey  for  home  ! "  were  the  words  that  now  cheerfully 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth.  That  pleasant  idea  of 
"  home,"  in  which  is  concentrated  all  that  is  blessed  in  this 
life,  the  pale  of  the  Christian  duties  and  charities  ex- 
cepted,  brings  to  each  mind  its  particular  forms  of  happi- 
ness and  good.  The  weather-beaten  seaman,  the  foot- 
worn soldier,  the  weary  traveller,  the  adventurer  in  what- 
ever lands  interest  or  pleasure  may  lead,  equally  feels  a 
throb  in  his  heart  as  he  hears  the  welcome  sounds  of  "  hey 


234  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

for  home."  Never  were  craft  prepared  for  sea  with  greater 
rapidity  than  was  the  case  now  with  our  two  Sea  Lions. 
It  is  true  that  the  Oyster-Ponders  were  nearly  ready,  and 
had  been  so  for  a  fortnight;  but  a  good  deal  remained  to 
be  done  among  the  Vineyarders.  The  last  set  themselves 
to  their  task  with  a  hearty  good-will,  however,  and  with 
corresponding  results. 

"  We  will  leave  the  house  standing  for  them  that  come 
after  us,"  said  Roswell,  when  the  last  article  belonging  to 
his  schooner  was  taken  out  of  it.  "  The  deacon  has 
Crammed  us  so  full  of  wood  that  I  shall  be  tempted  to 
throw  half  of  it  overboard,  now  we  have  so  much  cargo. 
Let  all  stand,  Hazard,  bunks,  planks,  and  all ;  for  really 
we  have  no  room  for  the  materials.  Even  this  wood," 
pointing  to  a  pile  of  several  cords  that  had  been  landed  al- 
ready to  make  room  for  skins  and  casks  that  had  been 
brought  out  in  shocks,  "must  go  to  the  next  comer.  Per- 
haps it  may  be  one  of  ourselves ;  for  wre  sailors  never  know 
what  port  will  next  fetch  us  up." 

"  I  hope  it  will  be  old  Sag,  sir,"  answered  Hazard,  cheer- 
full)''  ;  "for,  though  no  great  matter  of  a  seaport,  it  ij  near 
every  man's  home,  and  may  be  called  a  sort  of  door-way 
to  go  in  and  out  of  the  country  through." 

"A  side-door,  at  the  best,"  answered  Roswell.  "With 
you,  I  trust  it  will  be  the  next  haven  that  we  enter;  though 
I  shall  take  the  schooner  at  once  in  behind  Shelter  Island, 
and  tie  her  up  to  the  deacon's  wharf." 

What  images  of  the  past  and  future  did  these  few  jocu- 
lar words  awaken  in  the  mind  of  our  young  sealer!  He 
fancied  that  he  saw  Mary  standing  in  the  porch  of  her 
uncle's  habitation,  a  witness  of  the  approach  of  the  schooner, 
looking  wistfully  at  the  still  indistinct  images  of  those  who 
were  to  be  seen  on  her  decks.  Mary  had  often  done  this 
in  her  dreams  ;  again  and  again  had  she  beheld  the  white 
sails  of  the  Sea  Lion  driving  across  Gardiner's  Bay,  and 
entering  Peconic  ;  and  often  had  she  thus  gazed  in  the 
weather-worn  countenance  of  him  who  occupied  so  much 
of  her  thoughts — so  many  of  her  prayers — picturing 
through  the  mysterious  images  of  sleep  the  object  she  so 
well  loved  when  waking. 

And  where  was  Mary  Pratt  at  that  day  and  hour  when 
Roswell  was  thus  issuing  his  last  orders  at  Sealer's  Land  ; 
and  what  was  her  occupation,  and  what  her  thoughts  ? 
The  difference  in  longitude  between  the  group  and  Mon- 
tauk  was  so  trifling  that  the  hour  might  be  almost  called 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  235 

identical.  Literally  so,  it  was  not ;  but  mainly  so,  it  was. 
There  were  not  the  five  degrees  in  difference  that  make 
the  twenty  minutes  in  time.  More  than  this  we  are  not 
permitted  to  say  on  this  subject ;  and  this  is  quite  enough 
to  give  the  navigator  a  pretty  near  notion  of  the  position 
of  the  group.  As  a  degree  of  longitude  measures  less 
than  twenty-eight  statute  miles  at  the  polar  circles,  this 
is  coming  within  a  day's  run  of  the  spot,  so  far  as  longi- 
tude is  concerned  ;  and  nearer  than  that  we  do  not  intend 
to  carry  the  over-anxious  reader,  let  his  curiosity  be  as 
lively  as  it  may. 

And  where,  then,  was  Mary  Pratt  ?  Safe,  well,  and  rea- 
sonably happy,  in  the  house  of  her  uncle,  where  she  had 
passed  most  of  her  time  since  infancy.  The  female  friends 
of  mariners  have  always  fruitful  sources  of  uneasiness  in 
the  pursuit  itself  ;  but  Mary  had  no  other  cause  for  con- 
cern of  this  nature  than  what  was  inseparable  from  so  long 
a  voyage,  and  the  sea  into  which  Rosvvell  had  gone.  She 
well  knew  that  the  time  was  arrived  when  he  was  ex- 
pected to  be  on  his  way  home  ;  and  as  hope  is  an  active 
and  beguiling  feeling,  she  already  fancied  him  to  be  much 
advanced  on  his  return.  But  a  dialogue  which  took  place 
that  very  day — nay,  that  very  hour — between  her  and  the 
deacon  will  best  explain  her  views  and  opinions,  and  ex- 
pectations. 

"It's  very  extr'or'nary,  Mary,"  commenced  the  uncle, 
"that  Gar'ner  doesn't  write  !  If  he  only  know'd  how  a  man 
feels  when  his  property  is  ten  thousand  miles  off,  I'm  sar- 
tain  he  would  write,  and  not  leave  me  with  so  many  mis- 
givings in  the  matter." 

•  "  By  whom  is  he  to  write,  uncle  ?  "  answered  the  more 
considerate  and  reasonable  niece.  "  There  are  no  post- 
offices  in  the  antarctic  seas,  nor  any  travellers  to  bring  let- 
ters by  private  hands." 

"  But  he  did  write  once  ;  and  plaguy  good  news  was  it 
that  he  sent  us  in  that  letter  !  " 

"  He  did  write  from  Rio,  for  there  he  had  the  means. 
By  my  calculations,  Roswell  has  left  his  sealing-ground 
some  three  or  four  weeks,  and  must  now  be  as  many  thou- 
sand miles  on  his  way  home." 

"D'ye  think  so,  gal — dy'e  think  so?"  exclaimed  the 
deacon,  his  eyes  fairly  twinkling  with  pleasure.  "  That 
would  be  good  news  ;  and  if  he  doesn't  stop  too  long  by 
the  way,  we  might  look  for  him  home  in  less  than  ninety 
days  from  this  moment !  " 


236  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Mary  smiled  pensively,  and  a  richer  color  stole  into  hef 
cheeks  slowly,  but  distinctly. 

"  I  do  not  think,  uncle,  that  Roswell  Gardiner  will  be 
very  likely  to  stop  on  his  way  to  us  here,  on  Oyster  Pond," 
was  the  answer  she  made. 

"  I  should  be  sorry  to  think  that.  The  best  part  of  his 
v'y'ge  may  be  made  in  the  West  Ingees,  and  I  hope  he  is 
not  a  man  to  overlook  his  instructions." 

"  Will  Roswell  be  obliged  to  stop  in  the  West  Indies, 
uncle  !  " 

"  Sartain — if  he  obeys  his  orders  ;  and  I  think  the  young 
man  will  do  that.  But  the  business  there  will  not  detain 
him  long" — Mary's  countenance  brightened  again  at  this 
remark — "  and,  should  you  be  right,  we  may  still  look  for 
him  in  the  next  ninety  days." 

Mary  remained  silent  for  a  short  time,  but  her  charming 
face  was  illuminated  by  an  expression  of  heartfelt  happi- 
ness, which,  however,  the  next  remark  of  her  uncle's  had 
an  obvious  tendency  to  disturb. 

"  Should  Gar'ner  come  home  successful,  Mary,"  inquired 
the  deacon  ;  "  successful  in  all  things — successful  in  seal- 
ing, and  successful  in  that  other  matter — the  West  Ingee 
business,  I  mean— but  successful  in  all,  as  I  daily  pray  he 
may  be, — I  want  to  know  if  you  would  then  have  him  ;  al- 
ways supposing  that  he  got  back  himself  unchanged?" 

"  Unchanged,  I  shall  never  be  his  wife,"  answered  Mary 
tremulously,  but  firmly. 

The  deacon  looked  at  her  in  surprise  ;  for  he  had  never 
comprehended  but  one  reason  why  the  orphan  and  penni- 
less Mary  should  refuse  so  pertinaciously  to  become  the 
wife  of  Roswell  Gardiner  ;  and  that  was  his  own  want  of 
means.  Now  the  deacon  loved  Mary  more  than  he  was 
aware  of  himself,  but  he  had  never  actually  made  up  his 
mind  to  leave  her  the  heiress  of  his  estate.  The  idea  of 
parting  with  property  at  all  was  too  painful  for  him  to 
think  of  making  a  will  ;  and  without  such  an  instrument 
there  were  others  who  would  have  corne  in  for  a  part  of 
the  assets,  "share  and  share  alike,"  as  the  legal  men  ex- 
press it.  Of  all  this  was  the  deacon  fully  aware,  and  it  oc- 
casionally troubled  him  ;  more  of  late  than  formerly,  since 
he  felt  in  his  system  the  unerring  signs  of  decay.  Once 
had  he  got  so  far  as  to  write  on  a  page  of  foolscap,  "  In 
the  name  of  God,  Amen  ;"  but  the  effort  proved  too  great 
for  him,  and  he  abandoned  the  undertaking.  Still  Deacon 
Pratt  loved  his  niece,  and  was  well  inclined  to  see  her  be- 


THE   SEA   LION'S.  237 

come  the  wife  of  "young  Gar'ner,"  more  especially  should 
the  last  return  successful. 

"  Unchanged  !"  repeated  the  uncle,  slowly;  "you  sar- 
tainly  would  not  wish  to  marry  him,  Mary,  if  he  was 
changed ' !  " 

"  I  do  not  mean  changed  in  the  sense  you  are  thinking 
of,  uncle.  But  we  will  not  talk  of  this  now.  Why  should 
Roswell  stop  in  the  West  Indies  at  all  ?  It  is  not  usual  for 
our  vessels  to  stop  there." 

"  No,  it  is  not.  If  Gar'ner  stop  at  all  it  will  be  on  a 
very  unusual  business,  and  one  that  may  make  all  our  fort- 
unes— your'n,  as  well  as  his'n  and  mine,  Mary." 

"  I  hope  that  sealers  never  meddle  with  the  transporta- 
tion of  slaves,  uncle  !"  the  girl  exclaimed,  with  a  face  filled 
with  apprehension.  "  I  would  rather  live  and  die  poor 
than  have  anything  to  do  with  them  !  " 

"  I  see  no  such  great  harm  in  the  trade,  gal ;  but  such  is 
not  Roswell's  ar'rid  in  the  West  Ingees.  It's  a  great  secret, 
the  reason  of  his  call  there  ;  and  I  will  venture  to  foretell 
that,  should  he  make  it,  and  should  it  turn  out  successful, 
you  will  marry  him,  gal." 

Mary  made  no  reply.  Well  was  she  assured  that  Roswell 
had  an  advocate  in  her  own  heart  that  was  pleading  for 
him,  night  and  day  ;  but  firm  was  her  determination  not  to 
unite  herself  with  one,  however  dear  to  her,  who  set  up  his 
own  feeble  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the  mediation 
between  God  and  man  in  opposition  to  the  plainest  lan- 
guage of  revelation,  as  well  as  to  the  prevalent  belief  of  the 
church  since  the  ages  that  immediately  succeeded  the 
Christian  era. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

"Poor  child  of  danger,  nursling  of  the  storm, 
Sad  are  the  woes  that  wreck  thy  manly  form  ! 
Rocks,  waves,  and  winds  the  shatter'd  bark  delay ; 
Thy  heart  is  sad,  thy  home  is  far  away." — CAMPBELL. 

IT  was  about  midday  when  the  two  Sea  Lions  opened 
their  canvas,  at  the  same  moment,  and  prepared  to  quit 
Sealer's  Land.  All  hands  were  on  board,  every  article  was 
shipped  for  which  there  was  room,  and  nothing  remained 
that  denoted  the  former  presence  of  man  on  that  dreary 
island  but  the  deserted  house  and  three  or  four  piles  of 


*38  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

cord-wood,  that  had  grown  on  Shelter  Island  and  Martha's 
Vineyard,  and  which  was  now  abandoned  on  the  rocks  of 
the  antarctic  circle.  As  the  topsails  were  sheeted  home,  and 
the  heavy  fore-and-aft  mainsails  were  hoisted,  the  songs  of 
the  men  sounded  cheerful  and  animating.  "  Home  "  was 
in  every  tone,  each  movement,  all  the  orders.  Daggett  was 
on  deck,  in  full  command,  though  still  careful  of  his  limb, 
while  Roswell  appeared  to  be  everywhere.  Mary  Pratt 
was  before  his  mind's  eye  all  that  morning  ;  nor  did  he 
even  once  think  how  pleasant  it  would  be  to  meet  her 
uncle,  with  a  "  There,  deaccn,  is  your  schooner,  with  a 
good  cargo  of  elephant  oil,  well  chucked  off  with  fur-seal 
skins." 

The  Oyster  Pond  craft  was  the  first  clear  of  the  ground. 
The  breeze  was  little  felt  in  that  cove,  where  usually  it  did 
not  seem  to  blow  at  all,  but  there  was  wind  enough  to 
serve  to  cast  the  schooner,  and  she  went  slowly  out  of  the 
rocky  basin  under  her  mainsail,  foretopsail,  and  jib.  The 
wind  was  at  southwest — the  nor-wester  of  that  hemisphere 
— and  it  was  fresh  and  howling  enough  on  the  other  side 
of  the  island.  After  Roswell  had  made  a  stretch  out  into 
the  bay  of  about  a  mile,  he  laid  his  foretopsail  flat  aback, 
hauled  over  his  jib-sheet,  and  put  his  helm  hard  down,  in 
waiting  for  the  other  schooner  to  come  out  and  join  him. 
In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  Daggett  got  within  hail. 

"Well,"  called  out  the  last,  "you  see  I  was  right 
Gar'ner  ;  wind  enough  out  here,  and  more,  still  further 
from  the  land.  We  have  only  to  push  in  among  them 
bergs  while  it  is  light,  pick  out  a  clear  spot,  and  heave-to 
during  the  night.  It  will  hardly  do  for  us  to  travel  among 
so  much  ice  in  the  dark." 

"  I  wish  we  had  got  out  earlier,  that  we  might  have 
made  a  run  of  it  by  daylight,"  answered  Roswell.  "Ten 
hours  of  such  a  wind,  in  my  judgment,  would  carry  us  well 
toward  clear  water." 

"The  delay  could  not  be  helped.  I  had  so  many  traps 
ashore,  it  took  time  to  gather  them  together.  Come,  fill 
away,  and  let  us  be  moving.  Now  we  are  under  way,  I'm 
in  as  great  haste  as  you  are  yourself." 

Roswell  complied,  and  away  the  two  schooners  went, 
keeping  quite  near  to  each  other,  having  smooth  water, 
and  still  something  of  a  moderated  gale,  in  consequence 
of  the  proximity  and  weatherly  position  of  the  island. 
The  course  was  toward  a  spot  to  leeward,  where  the 
largest  opening  appeared  in  the  ice,  and  where  it  wai 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  239 

hoped  a  passage  to  the  northward  would  be  found.  The 
further  the  two  vessels  got  from  the  land,  the  more  they 
felt  the  power  of  the  wind,  and  the  greater  was  their  rate 
of  running.  Daggett  soon  found  that  he  could  spare  his 
consort  a  good  deal  of  canvas,  a  consequence  of  his  not 
being  full,  and  he  took  in  his  topsail ;  though,  running 
nearly  before  the  wind,  his  spar  would  have  stood  even  a 
more  severe  strain. 

As  the  oldest  mariner,  it  had  been  agreed  between  the 
two  masters  that  Daggett  should  lead  the  way.  This  he 
did  for  an  hour,  when  both  vessels  were  fairly  out  of  the 
great  bay,  clear  of  the  group  altogether,  and  running  off 
northeasterly,  at  a  rate  of  nearly  ten  knots  in  the  hour. 
The  sea  got  up  as  they  receded  from  the  land,  and  every- 
thing indicated  a  gale,  though  one  of  no  great  violence. 
Night  was  approaching,  and  an  Alpine-like  range  of  ice- 
bergs was  glowing,  to  the  northward,  under  the  oblique 
rays  of  the  setting  sun.  For  a  considerable  space  around  the 
vessels,  the  water  was  clear,  not  even  a  cake  of  any  sort 
being  to  be  seen  ;  and  the  question  arose  in  Daggett's 
mind,  whether  he  ought  to  stand  on,  or  to  heave-to  and 
pass  the  night  well  to  windward  of  the  bergs.  Time  was 
precious,  the  wind  was  fair,  the  heavens  clear,  and  the 
moon  would  make  its  appearance  about  nine,  and  might 
be  expected  to  remain  above  the  horizon  until  the  return 
of  day.  This  was  one  side  of  the  picture.  The  other 
presented  less  agreeable  points.  The  climate  was  so 
fickle,  that  the  clearness  of  the  skies  was  not  to  be  de- 
pended on,  especially  with  a  strong  southwest  wind — a 
little  gale,  in  fact  ;  and  a  change  in  this  particular  might 
be  produced  at  any  moment.  Then  it  was  certain  that 
floes,  and  fragments  of  bergs,  would  be  found  near,  if  not 
absolutely  among  the  sublime  mountain-like  piles  that 
were  floating  about,  in  a  species  of  grand  fleet,  some 
twenty  miles  to  leeward.  Both  of  our  masters,  indeed  all 
on  board  of  each  schooner,  very  well  understood  that  the 
magnificent  array  of  icy  islands  which  lay  before  them  was 
owing  to  the  currents,  for  which  \'i  is  not  always  easy  to 
account.  The  clear  space  was  to  be  attributed  to  the  same 
cause,  though  there  was  "little  doubt  that  the  wind,  which 
had  now  been  to  the  southward  fully  eight-and-forty  hours, 
had  contributed  to  drive  the  icy  fleet  to  the  northward. 
As  a  consequence  of  these  facts,  the  field-ice  must  be  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  bergs,  and  the  embarrassment  from  that 
source  was  known  always  to  be  very  great. 


240  77//s    SKA    LIONS. 

It  required  a  good  deal  of  nerve  for  a  mariner  to  run  in 
among  dangers  of  the  character  just  described,  as  the  sun 
was  setting.  Nevertheless,  Daggett  did  it  ;  and  Roswell 
Gardiner  followed  the  movement,  at  the  distance  of  about 
a  cable's  length.  To  prevent  separation,  each  schooner 
showed  a  light  at  the  lower  yard-arm,  just  as  the  day  was 
giving  out  its  last  glimmerings.  As  yet,  however,  no  diffi- 
culty was  encountered  ;  the  Alpine-looking  range  being 
yet  quite  two  hours'  run  still  to  leeward.  Those  two  hours 
must  be  passed  in  darkness  ;  and  Daggett  shortened  sail 
in  order  not  to  reach  the  ice  before  the  moon  rose.  He 
had  endeavored  to  profit  by  the  light  as  long  as  it  re- 
mained, to  find  a  place  at  which  he  might  venture  to  enter 
among  the  bergs,  but  he  had  met  with  no  great  success. 
The  opening  first  seen  now  appeared  to  be  closed,  either 
by  means  of  the  drift  or  by  means  of  the  change  in  the 
position  of  the  vessels ;  and  he  no  longer  thought  of  that. 
Fortune  must  be  trusted  to,  in  some  measure  ;  and  on  he 
went,  Roswell  always  closely  following. 

The  early  hours  of  that'  eventful  night  were  intensely 
dark.  'Nevertheless,  Daggett  stood  down  toward  the  icy 
range,  using  no  other  precautions  than  shortening  sail  and 
keeping  a  sharp  look-out.  Every  five  minutes  the  call  from 
the  quarter-deck  of  each  schooner  to  "  keep  a  bright  look- 
out" was  heard,  unless,  indeed,  Daggett  or  Roswell  was 
on  his  own  forecastle,  thus  occupied  in  person.  No  one 
on  board  of  either  vessel  thought  of  sleep.  The  watch 
had  been  called,  as  is  usual  at  sea,  and  one-half  of  the 
crew  was  at  liberty  to  go  below  and  turn  in.  What  was 
more,  those  small  fore-and-aft  rigged  craft  were  readily 
enough  handled  by  a  single  watch ;  and  this  so  much  the 
more  easily,  now  that  their  topsails  were  in.  Still,  not  a 
man  left  the  deck.  Anxiety  was  too  prevalent  for  this, 
the  least  experienced  hand  in  either  crew  being  well 
aware  that  the  next  four-and-twenty  hours  would  in  all 
human  probability  be  decisive  of  the  fate  of  the  voyage. 

Both  Daggett  and  Gardiner  grew  more  and  more  uneasy 
as  the  time  for  the  moon  to  rise  drew  near  without  the  orb 
of  night  making  its  appearance.  A  few  clouds  were  driv- 
ing athwart  the  heavens,  though  the  stars  twinkled  as 
usual,  in  their  diminutive  but  sublime  splendor.  It  was 
not  so  dark  that  objects  could  not  be  seen  at  a  considera- 
ble distance ;  and  the  people  of  the  schooners  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  very  distinctly  tracing,  and  that  not  very  far  ahead, 
the  broken  outlines  of  the  chain  of  floating  mountain*. 


THE   SEA    LIOiVS.  24* 

No  Alpine  pile,  in  very  fact,  could  present  a  more  regular 
•or  better  defined  range,  and  in  some  respects  more  fantas- 
tic outlines.  When  the  bergs  first  break  away  from  their 
native  moorings,  their  forms  are  ordinarily  somewhat  reg- 
ular; the  summits  commonly  resembling  tableland.  This 
regularity  of  shape,  however,  is  soon  lost  under  the  rays 
of  the  summer  sun,  the  wash  of  the  ocean,  and  most  of  all 
by  the  wear  of  the  torrents  that  gush  out  of  their  own 
frozen  bosoms.  A  distinguished  navigator  of  our  own 
time  has  compared  the  appearance  of  these  bergs,  after 
their  regularity  of  shape  is  lost  and  they  begin  to  assume 
the  fantastic  outlines  that  uniformly  succeed,  to  that  of  a 
deserted  town,  built  of  the  purest  alabaster,  with  Its  edi- 
fices crumbling  under  the  seasons,  and  its  countless  un- 
peopled streets,  avenues,  and  alleys.  All  who  have  seen 
the  sight  unite  in  describing  it  as  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable that  comes  from  the  lavish  hand  of  nature. 

About  nine  o'clock  on  the  memorable  night  in  question 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  fog  driving  over  the  ocean  to  in- 
crease the  obscurity.  This  rendered  Daggett  doubly  cau- 
tious, and  he  actually  hauled  up  close  to  the  wind,  heading 
off  well  to  the  westward,  in  order  to  avoid  running"  in 
among  the  bergs  in  greater  uncertainty  than  the  circum- 
stances would  seem  to  require.  Of  course  Roswell  fol- 
lowed the  movement;  and,  when  the  moon  first  diffused 
its  mild  rays  on  the  extraordinary  scene,  the  two  schoon- 
ers were  pitching  into  a  heavy  sea,  within  less  than  a  mile 
of  the  weather-line  of  the  range  of  bergs.  It  was  soon  ap- 
parent that  floes  or  field-ice  accompanied  the  floating  moun- 
tains, and  extended  so  far  to  the  southward  of  them  as  to 
be  already  within  an  inconvenie-nt,  if  not  hazardous,  prox- 
imity to  the  two  vessels.  These  floes,  however,  unlike  those 
previously  encountered,  were  much  broken  by  the  undula- 
tions of  the  waves,  and  seldom  exceeded  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  diameter;  while  thousands  of  them  were  no  larger 
than  the  ordinary  drift  ice  of  our  own  principal  rivers  in 
the  time  of  a  freshet.  Their  vicinity  to  the  track  of  the 
schooners,  indeed,  was  first  ascertained  by  the  noise  they 
produced  in  grinding  against  each  other,  which  soon  made 
itself  audible  even  above  the  roaring  of  the  gale. 

Both  of  our  masters  now  began  to  be  exceedingly  un- 
comfortable. It  was  soon  quite  apparent  that  Daggett 
had  been  too  bold,  and  had  led  down  toward  the  ice  with- 
out sufficient  caution  and  foresight.  As  the  moon  rose 
higher  and  higher  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to  leeward 
16 


242  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

became  at  each  minute  more  and  more  apparent.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  magnificent  than  the  scene  which 
lay  before  the  eyes  of  the  mariners,  or  would  have  produced 
a  deeper  feeling  of  delight,  had  it  not  been  for  the  lively 
consciousness  of  the  risk  the  two  schooners  and  all  who 
were  in  them  unavoidably  ran  by  being  so  near  and  to 
windward  of  such  an  ice  coast,  if  one  may  use  the  expres- 
sion as  relates  to  floating  bodies.  By  that  light  it  was  very 
easy  to  imagine  Wilkes' picture  of  a  ruined  town  of  alabas- 
ter. There  were  arches  of  all  sizes  and  orders  ;  pinnacles 
without  number  ;  towers,  and  even  statues  and  columns. 
To  these  were  to  be  added  long  lines  of  perpendicular 
walls,  that  it  was  easy  enough  to  liken  to  fortresses,  dun- 
geons, and  temples.  In  a  word,  even  the  Alps,  with  all 
their  peculiar  grandeur,  and  certainly  on  a  scale  so  vastly 
more  enlarged,  possess  no  one  aspect  that  is  so  remarkable 
for  its  resemblance  to  the  labors  of  man,  composed  of  a 
material  of  the  most  beautiful  transparency,  and,  consid- 
ered as  the  results  of  human  ingenuity,  on  a  scale  so 
gigantic.  The  glaciers  have  often  been  likened,  and  not 
unjustly,  to  a  frozen  sea  ;  but  here  were  congealed  moun- 
tains seemingly  hewed  into  all  the  forms  of  art,  not  by  the 
chisel  it  is  true,  but  by  the  action  of  the  unerring  laws 
which  produced  them. 

Perhaps  Roswell  Gardiner  was  the  only  individual  in 
those  two  vessels  that  night  who  was  fully  alive  to  all  the  ex- 
traordinary magnificence  of  its  unusual  pictures.  Stephen 
may,  in  some  degree,  have  been  an  exception  to  the  rule  ; 
though  he  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  nearly  all  things.  "  It's 
wonderful  to  look  at,  Captain  Gar'ner,  isn't  it  ? "  said  this 
worthy  seaman,  about  the  time  the  light  of  the  moon  be- 
gan to  tell  on  the  view  ;  "  wonderful,  truly,  did  we  not 
know  who  made  it  all  ! "  These  few  and  simple  words  had 
a  cheering  influence  on  Roswell,  and  served  to  increase  his 
confidence  in  eventual  success.  God  did  produce  all  things, 
either  directly  or  indirectly;  this  even  his  skeptical  notions 
could  allow ;  and  that  which  came  from  divine  wisdom 
must  be  intended  for  good.  He  would  take  courage,  and 
for  once  in  his  life  trust  to  Providence.  The  most  resolute 
man  by  nature  feels  his  courage  augmented  by  such  a  res- 
olution. 

The  gales  of  the  antarctic  sea  are  said  to  be  short,  though 
violent.  They  seldom  last  six-and-thirty  hours,  and  for 
about  a  third  of  that  time  they  blow  with  their  greatest 
violence.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  danger  amid  the  ice 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  243 

is  much  increased  by  a  tempest  ;  though  a  good  working 
breeze,  or  small  gale  of  wind,  perhaps,  adds  to  a  vessel's 
security,  by  rendering  it  easier  to  handle  her,  and  to  avoid 
floes  and  bergs.  If  the  ice  is  sufficient  to  make  a  lee, 
smooth  water  is  sometimes  a  consequence  ;  though  it  of- 
tener  happens  that  the  turbulence  produced  in  clear  water 
is  partially  communicated  over  a  vast  surface,  causing  the 
fields  and  mountains  to  grind  against  each  other  under  the 
resistless  power  of  .the  waves.  On  the  present  occasion, 
however,  the  schooners  were  still  in  open  water,  where  the 
wind  had  a  long  and  unobstructed  rake,  and  a  sea  had  got 
up  that  caused  both  of  the  little  craft  to  bury  nearly  to 
their  gunwales.  What  rendered  their  situation  still  more  un- 
pleasant was  the  fact  that  all  the  water  which  came  aboard 
of  them  now  soon  froze.  To  this,  however,  the  men  were  ac- 
customed, it  frequently  happening  that  the  moisture  de- 
posited on  the  rigging  and  spars  by  the  fogs  froze  during 
the  nights  of  the  autumn.  Indeed,  it  has  been  thought  by 
some  speculators  on  the  subject,  that  the  bergs  themselves 
are  formed  in  part  by  a  similar  process,  though  snows  un- 
doubtedly are  the  principal  element  in  their  composition. 
This  it  is  which  gives  the  berg  its  stratified  appearance,  no 
geological  formation  being  more  apparent  or  regular  in 
this  particular  than  most  of  those  floating  mountains. 

About  ten,  the  moon  was  well  above  the  horizon  ;  the 
fog  had  been  precipitated  in  dew  upon  the  ice,  where  it 
congealed,  and  helped  to  arrest  the  progress  of  dissolu- 
tion ;  while  the  ocean  became  luminous  for  the  hour,  and 
objects  comparatively  distinct.  Then  it  was  that  the  sea- 
men first  got  a  clear  insight  into  the  awkwardness  of  their 
situation.  The  bold  are  apt  to  be  reckless  in  the  dark  ; 
but  when  danger  is  visible,  their  movements  become  more 
wary  and  better  calculated  than  those  of  the  timid.  When 
Daggett  got  this  first  good  look  at  the  enormous  masses 
of  the  field-ice,  that,  stirred  by  the  unquiet  ocean,  were 
grinding  each  other,  and  raising  an  unceasing,  rushing 
sound,  like  that  the  surf  produces  on  a  beach,  though  far 
louder,  and  with  a  hardness  in  it  that  denoted  the  collision 
of  substances  harder  than  water,  he  almost  instinctively 
ordered  every  sheet  to  be  flattened  down,  and  the  schoon- 
er's head  brought  as  near  the  wind  as  her  construction 
permitted.  Roswell  observed  the  change  in  his  consort's 
line  of  sailing,  slight  as  it  was,  and  imitated  the  manoeuvre. 
The  sea  was  too  heavy  to  dream  of  tacking,  and  there  was 
not  room  to  wear.  So  close,  indeed,  were  some  of  the 


244  THE   SEA    LIONS, 

cakes,  those  that  might  be  called  the  stragglers  of  the 
grand  array,  that  repeatedly  each  vessel  brushed  along  so 
near  them  as  actually  to  receive  slight  shocks  from  col- 
lisions with  projecting  portions.  It  was  obvious  that  the 
vessels  were  setting  down  upon  the  ice,  and  that  Daggett 
did  not  haul  his  wind  a  moment  too  soon. 

The  half-hour  that  succeeded  was  one  of  engrossing 
interest.  It  settled  the  point  whether  the  schooners  could 
or  could  not  eat  their  way  into  the  wind  sufficiently  to 
weather  the  danger.  Fragment  after  fragment  was  passed  ; 
blow  after  blow  was  received  ;  until  suddenly  the  field-ice 
appeared  directly  in  front.  It  was  in  vast  quantities,  ex- 
tending to  the  southward  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  There 
remained  no  alternative  but  to  attempt  to  wear.  Without 
waiting  longer  than  to  assure  himself  of  the  facts,  Daggett 
ordered  his  helm  put  up  and  the  main  gaff  lowered.  At 
that  moment  both  the  schooners  were  under  their  jibs 
and  foresails,  each  without  its  bonnet,  and  double-reefed 
mainsails.  This  was  not  canvas  very  favorable  for  wearing, 
there  being  too  much  after-sail  ;  but  the  sheets  were  at- 
tended to,  and  both  vessels  were  soon  driving  dead  to  lee- 
ward, amid  the  foam  of  a  large  wave  ;  the  next  instant  ice 
was  heard  grinding  along  their  sides. 

It  was  not  possible  to  haul  up  on  the  other  tack  ere  the 
rhooners  would  be  surrounded  by  the  floes  ;  and  seeing 
a  comparatively  open  passage  a  short  distance  ahead, 
Daggett  stood  in  boldly,  followed  closely  by  Roswell.  In 
ten  minutes  they  were  fully  a  mile  within  the  field,  ren- 
dering all  attempts  to  get  out  of  it  to  windward  so  hopeless 
as  to  be  almost  desperate.  The  manoeuvre  of  Daggett 
was  begun  under  circumstances  that  scarcely  admitted  of 
any  alternative,  though  it  might  be  questioned  if  it  were 
not  the  best  expedient  that  offered.  Now  that  the  schoon- 
ers were  so  far  within  the  field-ice  the  water  was  much 
less  broken,  though  the  undulations  of  the  restless  ocean 
were  still  considerable,  and  the  grinding  of  ice  occasioned 
by  them  was  really  terrific.  So  loud  was  the  noise  pro- 
duced by  these  constant  and  violent  collisions,  indeed,  that 
the  roaring  of  the  wind  was  barely  audible,  and  that  only 
at  intervals.  The  sound  was  rushing,  like  that  of  an  in- 
cessant avalanche,  attended  by  cracking  noises  that  re- 
sembled the  rending  of  a  glacier. 

The  schooners  now  took  in  their  foresails,  for  the  double 
purpose  of  diminishing  their  velocity  and  of  being  in  a 
better  condition  to  change  their  course,  in  order  to  avoid 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


245 


dangers  ahead.  These  changes  of  course  were  necessarily 
frequent ;  but,  by  dint  of  boldness,  perseverance,  and  skill, 
Daggett  worked  his  way  into  the  comparatively  open 
passage  already  mentioned.  It  was  a  sort  of  river  amid 
the  floes,  caused  doubtless  by  some  of  the  inexplicable 
currents,  and  was  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  width, 
straight  as  an  air-line,  and  of  considerable  length  ;  though 
how  long  could  not  be  seen  by  moonlight.  It  led,  more- 
over, directly  down  toward  the  bergs,  then  distant  less 
than  a  mile.  Without  stopping  to  ascertain  more,  Daggett 
stood  on,  Roswell  keeping  close  on  his  quarter.  In  ten 
minutes  they  drew  quite  near  to  that  wild  and  magnificent 
ruined  city  of  alabaster  that  was  floating  about  in  the  ant- 
arctic sea  ! 

Notwithstanding  the  imminent  peril  that  now  most  seri- 
ously menaced  the  two  schooners,  it  was  not  possible  to 
approach  that  scene  of  natural  grandeur  without  feelings 
of  awe  that  were  allied  quite  as  much  to  admiration  as  to 
dread.  Apprehensions  certainly  weighed  on  every  heart ; 
but  curiosity,  wonder,  even  delight,  were  all  mingled  in  the 
breasts  of  the  crews.  As  the  vessels  came  driving  down 
into  the  midst  of  the  bergs,  everything  contributed  to  rea- 
der the  movements  imposing  in  all  senses,  appalling  in 
one.  There  lay  the  vast  maze  of  floating  mountains,  gen- 
erally of  a  spectral  white  at  that  hour,  though  many  of  the 
masses  emitted  hues  more  pleasing,  while  some  were  black 
as  night.  The  passages  between  the  bergs,  or,  what  might 
be  termed  the  streets  and  lanes  of  this  mysterious-looking, 
fantastical,  yet  sublime  city  of  the  ocean,  were  numerous, 
and  of  every  variety.  Some  were  broad,  straight  avenues, 
a  league  in  length  ;  others  winding  and  narrow  ;  while  a 
good  many  were  little  more  than  fissures,  that  might  be 
fancied  lanes. 

The  schooners  had  not  run  a  league  within  the  bergs  be- 
fore they  felt  much  less  of  the  power  of  the  gale  ;  and  the 
heaving  and  setting  of  the  seas  were  sensibly  diminished. 
What  was,  perhaps,  not  to  be  expected,  the  field-ice  had 
disappeared  entirely  within  the  passages  of  the  bergs,  and 
the  only  difficulty  in  navigating  was  to  keep  in  such  chan- 
nels as  had  outlets,  and  which  did  not  appear  to  be  closing. 
The  rate  of  sailing  of  the  two  schooners  was  now  greatly 
lessened,  the  mountains  usually  intercepting  the  wind, 
though  it  was  occasionally  heard  howling  and  scuffling  in 
the  ravines,  as  if  in  a  hurry  to  escape  and  pass  on  to  the 
more  open  seas.  The  grinding  of  the  ice,  too,  came  down 


246  THE   SEA    LIOXS. 

in  the  currents  of  air,  furnishing  fearful  evidence  of  dan- 
gers  that  were  not  yet  distant.  As  the  water  was  now  suffi- 
ciently smooth,  and  the  wind,  except  at  the  mouths  of 
particular  ravines,  was  light,  there  was  nothing  to  prevent 
the  schooners  from  approaching  each  other.  This  was 
done,  and  the  two  masters  held  a  discourse  together  on  the 
subject  of  their  present  situation. 

"You're  a  bold  fellow,  Daggett,  and  one  I  should  not 
like  to  follow  in  a  voyage  round  the  world,"  commenced 
Roswell.  "  Here  we  are,  in  the  midst  of  some  hundreds 
of  icebergs  ;  a  glorious  sight  to  behold,  I  must  confess — 
but  are  we  ever  to  get  out  again  ? " 

"  It  is  much  better  to  be  here,  Gar'ner,"  returned  the 
other,  "than  to  be  among  the  floes.  I'm  always  afraid  of 
my  starn  and  my  rudder  when  among  the  field-ice  ;  whereas 
there  is  no  danger  hereabouts  that  cannot  be  seen  before 
a  vessel  is  on  it.  Give  me  my  eyes,  and  I  feel  that  I  have 
a  chance." 

"  There  is  some  truth  in  that  ;  but  I  wish  these  chan- 
nels were  a  good  deal  wider  than  they  are.  A  man  may 
feel  a  berg  as  well  as  see  it.  Were  two  of  these  fellows  to 
take  it  into  their  heads  to  close  upon  us,  our  little  craft 
would  be  crushed  like  nuts  in  the  crackers ! " 

•'  We  must  keep  a  good  look-out  for  that.  Here  seems 
to  be  a  long  bit  of  open  passage  ahead  of  us,  and  it  leads 
as  near  north  as  we  can  wish  to  run.  If  we  can  only  get 
to  the  other  end  of  it,  I  shall  feel  as  if  half  our  passage 
back  to  Ameriky  was  made." 

The  citizen  of  the  United  States  calls  his  country  "Ameri- 
ca," par  excellence,  never  using  the  addition  of  "  North,"  as 
is  practised  by  most  European  people.  Daggett  meant 
"home,"  therefore,  by  his  "Ameriky,"  in  which  he  saw  no 
other  than  the  east  end  of  Long  Island,  Gardiner's  Island, 
and  Martha's  Vineyard.  Roswell  understood  him,  of 
course  ;  so  no  breath  was  lost. 

"In  my  judgment,"  returned  Gardiner,  "we  shall  not 
get  clear  of  this  ice  for  a  thousand  miles.  Not  that  I  ex- 
pect to  be  in  a  wilderness  of  it,  as  we  are  to-night ;  but, 
after  such  a  summer,  you  may  rely  on  it,  Daggett,  that  the 
ice  will  get  as  far  north  as  45°,  if  not  a  few  degrees  further." 

"  It  is  possible  ;  I  have  seen  it  in  42°  myself  ;  and  in  40° 
to  the  nor'ard  of  the  equator.  If  it  get  as  far  as  50°,  how- 
ever, in  this  part  of  the  world,  it  will  do  pretty  well.  That 

will  be  play  to  what  we  have  just  here In  the  name  of 

Divine  Providence,  what  is  that,  Gar'ner? " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  247 

Not  a  voice  was  heard  in  either  vessel ;  scarcely  a  breath 
was  drawn.  A  heavy  groaning  sound  had  been  instantly 
succeeded  by  such  a  plunge  into  the  water  as  might  be 
imagined  to  succeed  the  fall  of  a  fragment  from  another 
planet.  Then  all  the  bergs  near  by  began  to  rock  as  if 
agitated  by  an  earthquake.  This  part  of  the  picture  was 
both  grand  and  frightful.  Many  of  those  masses  rose 
above  the  sea  more  than  two  hundred  feet  perpendicularly, 
and  showed  wall-like  surfaces  of  half  a  league  in  length. 
At  the  point  where  the  schooners  happened  to  be  just  at 
that  moment,  the  ice-islands  were  not  so  large,  but  quite 
as  high,  and  consequently  were  more  easily  agitated.  While 
the  whole  panorama  was  bowing  and  rocking,  pinnacles, 
arches,  walls,  and  all  seeming  about  to  totter  from  their 
bases,  there  came  a  wave  sweeping  down  the  passage  that 
lifted  them  high  in  the  air,  some  fifty  feet  at  least,  and 
bore  them  along  like  pieces  of  cork  fully  a  hundred  yards. 
Other  waves  succeeded,  though  of  less  height  and  force  ; 
when  gradually  the  water  regained  its  former  and  more 
natural  movement,  and  subsided. 

"  This  has  been  an  earthquake!"  exclaimed  Daggett. 
"That  volcano  has  been  pent  up,  and  the  gas  is  stirring  up 
the  rocks  beneath  the  sea." 

"No,  sir,"  answered  Stimson,  from  the  forecastle  of  his 
own  schooner,  "it's  not  that.  Captain  Daggett.  One  of 
them  bergs  has  turned  over,  like  a  whale  wallowing,  and  it 
has  set  all  the  others  a-rocking." 

This  was  the  true  explanation  ;  one  that  did  not  occur 
io  the  less  experienced  sealers.  It  is  a  danger,  however, 
of  no  rare  occurrence  in  the  ice,  and  one  that  ever  needs 
to  be  looked  to.  The  bergs,  when  they  first  break  loose 
from  their  native  moorings,  which  is  done  by  the  agency 
of  frosts,  as  well  as  by  the  action  of  the  seasons  in  the 
warm  months,  are  usually  tabular,  and  of  regular  outlines  ; 
but  this  shape  is  soon  lost  by  the  action  of  the  waves  on 
ice  of  very  different  degrees  of  consistency  ;  some  being 
composed  of  frozen  snow,  some  of  the  moisture  precipi- 
tated from  the  atmosphere  in  the  shape  of  fogs,  and  some 
of  pure  frozen  water.  The  first  melts  soonest ;  and  a  berg 
that  drifts  for  an.y  length  of  time  with  one  particular  face 
exposed  to  the  sun's  rays,  soon  loses  its  equilibrium,  and 
is  canted  with  an  inclination  to  the  horizon.  Finally  the 
centre  of  gravity  gets  outside  of  the  base,  when  the  still 
monstrous  mass  rolls  over  in  the  ocean,  coming  literally 
bottom  upward.  There  are  all  degrees  and  varieties  of 


248  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

these  ice-slips,  if  one  may  so  term  them,  and  they  bring  in 
their  train  the  many  different  commotions  that  such  acci- 
dents would  naturally  produce.  That  which  had  just 
alarmed  and  astonished  our  navigators  was  of  the  follow- 
ing character.  A  mass  of  ice  that  was  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  in  length,  and  of  fully  half  that  breadth,  which 
floated  quite  two  hundred  feet  above  the  surface  of  the 
water,  and  twice  that  thickness  beneath  it,  was  the  cause 
of  the  disturbance.  It  had  preserved  its  outlines  unusually 
well,  and  stood  upright  to  the  last  moment;  though,  owing 
to  numerous  strata  of  snow-ice,  its  base  had  melted  much 
more  on  one  of  its  sides  than  on  the  other.  When  the 
precise  moment  arrived  that  would  have  carried  a  perpen- 
dicular line  from  the  centre  of  gravity  without  this  base, 
the  monster  turned  leisurely  in  its  lair,  producing  some 
such  effect  as  would  have  been  wrought  by  the  falling  of 
a  portion  of  a  Swiss  mountain  into  a  lake  ;  a  sort  of  acci- 
dent of  which  there  have  been  many  and  remarkable  in- 
stances. 

Stimson's  explanation,  while  it  raised  the  curtain  from 
all  that  was  mysterious,  did  not  serve  very  much  to  quiet 
apprehensions.  'If  one  berg  had  performed  such  an  evolu- 
tion, it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  others  might  do 
the  same  thing  ;  and  the  commotion  made  by  this,  which 
was  at  a  distance,  gave  some  insight  into  what  might  be 
expected  from  a  similar  change  in'  another  nearer  by.  Both 
Daggett  and  Gardiner  were  of  opinion  that  the  fall  of  a 
berg  of  equal  size  within  a  cable's  length  of  the  schooners 
might  seriously  endanger  the  vessels  by  dashing  them 
against  some  wall  of  ice,  if  in  no  other  manner.  It  was 
too  late,  however,  to  retreat,  and  the  vessels  stood  on 
gallantly. 

The  passage  between  the  bergs  now  became  quite 
straight,  reasonably  broad,  and  was  so  situated  as  regarded 
the  gale  as  to  receive  a  full  current  of  its  fo*rce.  It 
was  computed  that  the  schooners  ran  quite  three  marine 
leagues  in  the  hour  that  succeeded  the  overturning  of  the 
berg.  There  were  moments  when  the  wind  blew  furiously  ; 
and,  taking  all  the  accessories  of  that  remarkable  view  into 
the  account,  the  scene  resembled  one  that  the  imagination 
might  present  to  the  mind  in  its  highest  flights,  but  which 
few  could  ever  hope  to  see  with  their  proper  eyes.  The 
moonlight,  the  crowd  of  icebergs  of  all  shapes  and  dimen- 
sions, seeming  to  flit  past  by  the  rapid  movements  of  the 
vessels;  thevariety  of  hues,  from  spectral  white  to  tints  of 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  249 

orange  and  emerald,  pale  at  that  hour,  yet  distinct  ;  streets 
and  lanes  that  were  scarce  opened  ere  they  were  passed  ; 
together  with  all  the  fantastic  images  that  such  objects 
conjured  to  the  thoughts,  contributed  to  make  that  hour 
much  the  most  wonderful  that  Roswell  Gardiner  had  ever 
passed.  To  add  to  the  excitement,  a  couple  of  whales 
came  blowing  up  the  passage,  coming  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  the  schooners.  They  were  fin-backs,  which  are 
rarely  if  ever  taken,  and  were  suffered  to  pass  unharmed. 
To  capture  a  whale,  however,  amid  so  many  bergs,  would 
be  next  to  impossible,  unless  the  animal  were  killed  by  the 
blow  of  the  harpoon,  without  requiring  the  keener  thrust 
of  the  lance. 

At  the  end  of  the  hour  mentioned,  the  Sea  Lion  of  the 
Vineyard  rapidly  changed  her  course,  hauling  up  by  a 
sudden  movement  to  the  westward.  The  passage  before 
her  was  closed,  and  there  remained  but  one  visible  outlet, 
toward  which  the  schooner  slowly  made  her  way,  having 
got  rather  too  much  to  leeward  of  it,  in  consequence  of 
not  earlier  seeing  the  necessity  for  the  change  of  course  in 
that  dim  and  deceptive  light.  Roswell,  being  to  wind- 
ward, had  less  difficulty,  but,  notwithstanding,  he  kept  his 
station  on 'his  consort's  quarter,  declining  to  lead.  The 
passage  into  which  Dagget  barely  succeeded  in  carrying 
his  schooner  was  fearfully  narrow,  and  appeared  to  be  fast 
closing  ;  though  it  was  much  wider  further  ahead,  could 
the  schooners  but  get  through  the  first  dangerous  strait. 
Roswell  remonstrated  ere  the  leading  vessel  entered,  and 
pointed  out  to  Daggett  the  fact  that  the  bergs  were  evi- 
dently closing,  each  instant  increasing  their  movement, 
most  probably  through  the  force  of  attraction.  It  is  known 
that  ships  are  thus  brought  in  contact  in  calms,  and  it  is 
thought  a  similar  influence  is  exercised  on  the  icebergs. 
At  all  events,  the  wind,  the  current,  or  attraction,  was  fast 
closing  the  passage  through  which  the  schooners  had  now 
to  go. 

Scarcely  was  Daggett  within  the  channel,  when  an  enor- 
mous mass  fell  from  the  summit  of  one  of  the  bergs,  literally 
closing  the  passage  in  his  wake,  while  it  compelled  Gardi- 
ner to  put  his  helm  down,  and  to  tack  ship,  standing  off 
from  the  tottering  berg.  The  scene  that  followed  was 
frightful  !  The  cries  on  board  the  leading  craft  denoted 
her  peril,  but  it  was  not  possible  for  Roswell  to  penetrate 
to  her  \vith  his  vessel.  All  he  could  do  was  to  heave-to 
his  own  schooner,  lower  a  boat,  and  pull  back  toward  the 


250  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

point  of  danger.  This  he  did  at  once,  manfully,  but  with 
an  anxious  mind  and  throbbing  heart.  He  actually  urged 
his  boat  into  the  chasm  beneath  an  arch  in  the  fallen  frag- 
ment, and  made  his  way  to  the  very  side  of  Daggett's 
vessel:  The  last  was  nipped  again,  and  that  badly,  but  was 
not  absolutely  lost.  The  falling  fragment  from  the  berg 
alone  prevented  her,  and  all  in  her,  from  being  ground 
into  powder.  This  block,  of  enormous  size,  kept  the  two 
bergs  asunder  ;  and  now  that  they  could  not  absolutely 
come  together,  they  began  slowly  to  turn  in  the  current, 
gradually  opening  and  separating,  at  the  very  point  where 
they  had  so  lately  seemed  attracted  to  a  closer  union.  In 
an  hour  the  way  was  clear,  and  the  boats  towed  the 
schooner  stern  foremost  into  the  broader  passage. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"  A  voice  upon  the  prairies, 
A  cry  of  woman's  woe, 
That  mingleth  with  the  autumn  blast 

All  fitfully  and  low."— MRS.  SIGOURNEY. 

THE  accident  to  the  Sea  Lion  of  the  Vineyard  occurred 
very  near  the  close  of  the  month  of  March,  which,  in  the 
southern  hemisphere,  corresponds  to  our  month  of  Sep- 
tember. This  was  somewhat  late  for  a  vessel  to  remain  in 
so  high  a  latitude,  though  it  was  not  absolutely  dangerous 
to  be  found  there  several  weeks  longer.  We  have  given  a 
glance  at  Mary  Pratt  and  her  uncle  about  this  time  ;  but 
it  has  now  become  expedient  to  carry  the  reader  forward 
for  a  considerable  period,  and  take  another  look  at  our 
heroine  and  her  miserly  uncle  some  seven  months  later. 
In  that  interval  a  great  change  had  come  over  the  deacon 
and  his  niece,  and  hope  had  nearly  deserted  all  those  who 
had  friends  on  board  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond,  as  the 
following  explanation  will  show  was  reasonable  and  to  be 
expected. 

When  Captain  Gardiner  sailed  it  was  understood  that 
his  absence  would  not  extend  beyond  a  single  season.  All 
who  had  friends  and  connections  on  board  his  schooner 
had  been  assured  of  this,  and  great  was  the  anxiety,  and 
deep  the  disappointment,  when  the  first  of  our  own  sum- 
mer months  failed  to  bring  back  the  adventurers.  As 


THE  SEA   LIONS.  251 

week  succeeded  week  and  the  vessel  did  not  return,  the 
concern  increased,  until  hope  began  to  be  lost  in  appre- 
hension. Deacon  Pratt  groaned  in  spirit  over  his  loss, 
finding  little  consolation  in  the  gains  secured  by  means  of 
the  oil  sent  home,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  with  the  avari- 
cious when  their  hearts  are  once  set  on  gain.  As  for  Mary, 
the  load  on  her  heart  increased  in  weight,  as  it  might  be, 
day  by  day,  until  those  smiles,  which  had  caused  her 
sweet  countenance  to  be  radiant  with  innocent  joy,  en- 
tirely disappeared,  and  she  was  seen  to  smile  no  more. 
Still  complaints  never  passed  her  lips.  She  prayed  much, 
and  found  all  her  relief  in  such  pursuits  as  comported 
with  her  feelings,  but  she  seldom  spoke  of  her  grief ;  nev- 
er, except  at  weak  moments,  when  her  querulous  kinsman 
introduced  the  subject  in  his  frequent  lamentations  over 
his  losses. 

The  month  of  November  is  apt.to  be  stormy  on  the  At- 
lantic coasts  of  the  republic.  It  is'  true  that  the  heaviest 
gales  do  not  then  occur,  but  the  weather  is  generally  stern 
and  wintry,  and  the  winds  are  apt  to  be  high  and  boister- 
ous. At  a  place  like  Oyster  Pond  the  gales  from  the  ocean 
are  felt  with  almost  as  much  power  as  on  board  a  vessel  at 
sea  ;  and  Mary  became  keenly  sensible  of  the  change  fvpm 
the  bland  breezes  of  summer  to  the  sterner  blasts  of  au- 
tumn. As  for  the  deacon,  his  health  was  actually  giving 
way  before  anxiety,  until  the  result  was  getting  to  be  a 
matter  of  doubt.  Premature,  old  age  appeared  to  have 
settled  on  him,  and  his  niece  had  privately  consulted  Dr. 
Sage  on  his  case.  The  excellent  girl  was  grieved  to  find 
that  the  mind  of  her  uncle  grew  more  worldly,  his  desires 
for  wealth  more  grasping,  as  he  was  losing  his  hold  on 
life,  and  was  approaching  nearer  to  that  hour  when  time 
is  succeeded  by  eternity.  All  this  while,  however,  Deacon 
Pratt  "  kept  about,"  as  he  expressed  it  himselfj  and  strug- 
gled to  look  after  his  interests,  as  had  been  his  practice 
through  life.  He  collected  his  debts,  foreclosed  his  mort- 
gages when  necessary,  drove  tight  bargains  for  his  wood 
and  other  salable  articles,  and  neglected  nothing  that  he 
thought  would  tend  to  increase  his  gains.  Still  his  heart 
was  with  his  schooner,  for  he  had  expected  much  from 
that  adventure,  and  the  disappointment  was  in  proportion 
to  the  former  hopes. 

One  day  near  the  close  of  November  the  deacon  and  his 
niece  were  alone  together  in  the  "  keeping-room  "—as  it 
was,  if  it  be  not  still,  the  custom  among  persons  of  New 


252  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

England  origin  to  call  the  ordinary  sitting-apartment — 
he  bolstered  up  in  an  easy  chair,  on  account  of  increasing 
infirmities,  and  she  plying  the  needle  in  her  customary 
way.  The  chairs  of  both  were  so  placed  that  it  was  easy 
for  either  to  look  out  upon  that  bay,  now  of  a  wintry  aspect, 
where  Roswell  had  at  last  anchored  previously  to  sailing. 

"  What  a  pleasant  sight  it  would  be,  uncle,"  Mary,  al- 
most unconsciously  to  herself,  remarked,  as,  with  tearful 
eyes,  she  sat  gazing  intently  on  the  water,  "  could  we  only 
awake  and  find  the  Sea  Lion  at  anchor  under  the  point  of 
Gardiner's  Island  !  I  often  fancy  that  such  may  be — nay, 
must  be  the  case  yet ;  but  it  never  comes  to  pass  !  I  would 
not  tell  you  yesterday,  for  you  did  not  seem  to  be  as  well 
as  common,  but  I  have  got  an  answer,  by  Baiting  Joe,  to 
my  letter  sent  across  to  the  Vineyard." 

The  deacon  started  and  half  turned  his  body  toward  his 
niece,  on  whose  face  his.  own  sunken  eyes  were  now  fast- 
ened with  almost  ferocious  interest.  It  was  the  love  of 
Mammon  stirring  within  him  the  lingering  remains  of 
covetousness.  He  thought  of  his  property,  while  Mary 
thought  of  those  whose  lives  had  been  endangered,  if  not 
lost,  by  the  unhappy  adventure.  The  latter  understood 
the^look,  however,  so  far  as  to  answer  its  inquiry  in  her 
usual  gentle,  feminine  voice. 

"I  am  sorry  to  say,  sir,  that  no  news  has  been  heard 
from  Captain  Daggett  or  any  of  his  people,"  was  the  sad 
reply  to  this  silent  interrogatory.  "No  one  on  the  island 
has  heard  a  word  from  the  Vineyard  vessel  since  the  day 
before  she  sailed  from  Rio.  There  is  the  same  uneasiness 
felt  among  Captain  Daggett's  friends,  as  we  feel  for  poor 
Roswell.  They  think,  however,  that  the  two  vessels  have 
kept  together,  and  believe  that  the  same  fate  has  befallen 
both." 

"  Heaven  forbid  !  "  exclaimed  the  deacon  as  sharply  as 
wasting  lungs  would  allow  ;  "  heaven  forbid  !  If  Gar'ner 
has  let  that  Daggett  keep  in  his  company  an  hour  longer 
than  was  necessary,  he  has  deserved  to  meet  with  ship- 
wreck, though  the  loss  always  falls  heaviest  on  the 
owners." 

"  Surely,  uncle,  it  is  more  cheering  to  think  that  the  two 
schooners  are  together  in  those  dangerous  seas,  than  to 
imagine  one,  alone,  left  to  meet  the  risks,  without  a  com- 
panion ! " 

"  You  talk  idly,  gal — as  women  always  talk.  If  you 
know'd  all,  you  wouldn't  think  of  such  a  thing." 


THE  SEA    LION'S.  253 

"  So  you  have  said  often,  uncle,  and  I  fear  there  is  some 
mystery  preying  all  this  time  on  your  spirits.  Why  not 
relieve  your  mind;  by  telling  your  troubles  to  me  ?  I  am 
your  child  in  affection,  if  not  by  birth." 

"  Your're  a  good  gal,  Mary,"  answered  the  deacon,  a  good 
deal  softened  by  the  plaintive  tones  of  one  of  the  gentlest 
voices  that  ever  fell  on  human  ear;  "  an  excellent  creatur' 
at  the  bottom — but  of  course  you  know  nothing  of  the 
sealing  business,  and  next  to  nothing  about  taking  care  of 
property." 

"  I  hope  you  do  not  think  me  wasteful,  sir  ?  That  is  a 
character  I  should  not  like  to  possess." 

"  No,  not  wasteful  ;  on  the  contrary,  curful  (so  the  deacon 
pronounced  the  word)  and  considerate  enough,  as  to  keep- 
ing, but  awfully  indifferent  as  to  getting.  Had  I  been  as 
indifferent  as  you  are  yourself,  your  futur'  days  would  not 
be  so  comfortable  and  happy  as  they  are  now  likely  to  be, 
a'ter  my  departure — if  depart  I  must."* 

"  My  future  life  happy  and  comfortable  !  "  thoughtTA&ry  ; 
then  she  struggled  to  be  satisfied  with  her  lot,  and  con- 
tented with  the  decrees  of  Providence.  "  It  is  but  a  few 
hours  that  we  live  in  this  state  of  trials,  compared  to  the 
endless  existence  that  is  to  succeed  it." 

"I  wish  I  knew  all  about  this  voyage  of  Roswell's/'.she 
added,  aloud  ;  for  she  was  perfectly  certain  that  there  was 
something  to  be  told  that,  as  yet,  the  deacon  had  concealed 
from  her.  "  It  might  relieve  your  mind,  and  lighten  your 
spirits  of  a  burden,  to  make  me  a  confidant." 

The  deacon  mused  in  silence  for  more  than  five  minutes. 
Seldom  had  his  thoughts  gone  over  so  wide  a  reach  of  in- 
terests and  events  in  so  short  a  space  of  time  ;  but  the  con- 
clusion was  clear  and  decided. 

•"  You  ought  to  know  all,  Mary,  and  you  shall  know  ail," 
he  answered,  in  the  manner  of  a  man  who  had  made  up  his 
mind  beyond  appeal.  "  Gar'ner  has  gone  a'ter  seal  to  some 
islands  that  the  Daggett  who  died  here,  about  a  year  and  a 
half  ago,  told  me  of  ;  islands  of  which  nobody  know'd  any- 
thing, according  to  his  account,  but  himself.  His  ship- 
mates, that  saw  the  place  when  he  saw  it,  were  all  dead, 
afore  he  let  me  into  the  secret." 

"  I  have  long  suspected  something  of  the  sort,  sir,  and 
have  also  supposed  that  the  people  on  Martha's  Vineyard 
had  got  some  news  of  this  place,  by  the  manner  in  which 
Captain  Daggett  has  acted." 

"  Isn't  it  wonderful,  gal?     Islands,  they  tell  me,  where  a 


254 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


schooner  can  fill  up  with  ile  and  skins  in  the  shortest  season 
in  which  the  sun  ever  shone  upon  an  antarctic  summer  ! 
Wonderful  !  wonderful !  " 

"  Very  extraordinary,  perhaps;  but  we  should  remem- 
ber, uncle,  at  how  much  risk  the  young  men  of  the  country 
go  on  these  distant  voyages,  and  how  dearly  their  profits 
are  .sometimes  bought." 

"Bought!  If  the  schooner  would  only  come  back,  I 
should  think  nothing  of  all  that.  It's  the  cost  of  the  vessel 
and  outfit,  Mary,  that  weighs  so.  much  on  my  spirits.  Well, 
Gar'ner's  first  business  is  with  them  islands,  which  are  at 
an  awful  distance  for  one  to  trust  his  property  ;  but,  'noth- 
ing ventured,  nothing  got,'  they  say.  By  my  calculations, 
the  schooner  has  had  to  go  a  good  five  hundred  miles 
among  the  ice  to  get  to  the  spot  ;  not  such  ice  as  a  body 
falls  in  with,  in  going  and  coming  between  England  and 
Ameriky,  as  we  read  of  in  the  papers,  but  ice  that  covers 
the  sea  as  we  sometimes  see  it  piled  up  in  Gar'ner's  Bay, 
only  a  hundred  times  higher,  and  deeper,  and  broader,  and 
colder  !  It's  desperate  cold  ice,  the  sealers  all  tell  me,  that 
of  the  antarctic  seas.  Some  on  'em  think  it's  colder  down 
south  than  it  is  the  other  way,  up  toward  Greenland  and 
Iceland  itself.  It's  extr'or'nary,  Mary,  that  the  weather 
should  grow  cold  as  a  body  journeys  south  ;  but  so  it  is,  by 
all  accounts.  I  never  could  understand  it,  and  it  isn't  so 
in  Ameriky,  I'm  sartin.  I  suppose  it  must  come  of  their 
turning  the  months  round,  and  having  their  winter  in  the 
midst  of  the  dog-days.  I  never  could  understand  it,  though 
Gar'ner  has  tried,  more  than  once,  to  reason  me  into  it.  I 
believe,  but  I  don't  understand." 

"  It  is  all  told  in  my  geography  here,"  answered  Mary, 
mechanically  taking  down  the  book,  for  her  thoughts  were 
far  away  in  those  icy  seas  that  her  uncle  had  been  so 
graphically  describing.  "  I  dare  say  we  can  find  it  all  ex- 
plained in  the  elementary  parts  of  this  book." 

"They.dk  make  their  geographies  useful,  nowadays," 
said  the  deacon,  with  rather  more  animation  than  he  had 
shown  before  that  morning.  "They've  got  'em  to  be  now 
almost  as  useful  as  almanacs.  Read  what  it  says  about  the 
seasons,  child." 

"  It  says,  sir,  that  the  changes  in  the  seasons  are  owing 
to  'the  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  its 
orbit.'  I  do  not  exactly  understand  what  that  means,  uncle. M 

"  No  ;  it's  not  as  clear  as  it  might  be.    The  declination — ' 

"  /inclination,  sir,  is  what  is  printed  here." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  255 

et  Ay,  inclination.  I  do  not  see  why  anyone  should  have 
much  inclination  for  winter,  but  so  it  must  be,  I  suppose. 
The  *  'arth's  orbit  has  an  inclination  toward  changes,'  you 
say." 

"The  changes  in  the  seasons,  sir,  are  owing  to  '  the  in- 
clination of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit.'  .It 
does  not  say  that  the  orbit  has  an  inclination  in  any  par- 
ticular way." 

Thus  was  it  with  Mary  Pratt,  and  thus  was  it  with  her 
uncle,  the  deacon.  One  of  the  plainest  problems  in  natural 
philosophy  was  Hebrew  to  both,  simply  because  the  capac- 
ity that  Providence  had  so  freely  bestowed  on  each  had 
never  been  turned  to  the  consideration  of  such  useful 
studies.  But,  while  the  mind  of  Mary  Pratt  was  thus  ob- 
scured on  this  simple,  and,  to  such  as  choose  to  give  it  an 
hour  of  reflection,  perfectly  intelligible  proposition,  it  was 
radiant  as  the  day  on  another  mystery,  and  one  that  has 
confounded  thousands  of  the  learned,  as  well  as  of  the  un- 
learned. To  her  intellect  nothing  was  clearer,  no  moral 
truth  more  vivid,  no  physical  fact  more  certain,  than  the 
incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  She  had  the  "  evidence  of 
things  not  seen,"  in  the  fulness  of  Divine  grace ;  and  was 
profound  on  this,  the  greatest  concern  of  human  life, 
while  unable  even  to  comprehend  how  the  "inclination  ot 
the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit"  could  be  the 
cause  of  the  change  of  the  seasons.  And  was  it  thus  with 
her  uncle  ? — he  who  was  a  pillar  of  the  "  meeting,"  whose 
name  was  often  in  men's  mouths  as  a  "  shining  light,"  and 
'who  had  got  to  be  identified  with  religion  in  his  own 
neighborhood  to  a  degree  that  caused  most  persons  to 
think  of  Deacon  Pratt  when  they  should  be  thinking  of  the 
Saviour  ?  We  are  afraid  he  knew  as  little  of  one  of  these 
propositions  as  of  the  other. 

"  It's  very  extr'or'nary,"  resumed  the  deacon,  after  rumi- 
nating on  the  matter  for  a  few  moments,  "  but  I  suppose 
it  is  so.  Wasn't  it  for  this  '  inclination'  to  cold  weather, 
our  vessels  might  go  and  seal  under  as  pleasant  skies  as 
we  have  here  in  June.  But,  Mary,  I  suppose  that  wasn't 
to  be,  or  it  would  be." 

"There  would  have  been  no  seals,  most  likely,  uncle,  if 
there  was  no  ice.  They  tell  me  that  such  creatures  love 
the  cold,  and  the  ice,  and  the  frozen  oceans.  Too  much 
warm  weather  would  not  suit  them." 

"  But,  Mary,  it  might  suit  other  folks  !  Gar'ner's  whole 
ar'nd  isn't  among  the  ice,  or  a'ter  them  seals." 


256  THE  SEA    LIONS. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  I  understand  you,  sir.  Surely  Ros 
well  has  gone  on  a  sealing  voyage." 

"  Sartain  ;  there's  no  mistake  about  that.  But  there  may 
be  many  stopping-places  in  so  long  a  road." 

"  Do  you  mean,  sir,  that  he  is  to  use  any  of  these  stop^ 
pUig-places,  as  you  call  them  ?"  asked  Mary,  eagerly,  half- 
breathless  with  her  anxiety  to  hear  all.  **  You  said  some- 
thing about  the  West  Indies  once." 

"  Harkee,  Mary — just  look  out  into  the  entry  and  see  if 
the  kitchen  door  is  shut.  And  now  come  nearer  to  me, 
child,  so  that  there  may  be  no  need  of  bawling  what  I've 
got  to  say  all  over  Oyster  Pond.  There,  sit  down,  my  dear, 
and  don't  look  so  eager,  as  if  you  wanted  to  eat  me,  or  my 
mind  may  misgive  me,  and  then  I  couldn't  tell  you,  a'terall. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  best,  if  I  was  to  keep  my  own  secret." 

"  Not  if  it  'has  anything  to  with  Roswell,  dear  uncle  ; 
not  if  it  has  anything  to  do  with  him  !  You  have  often  ad- 
vised me  to  marry  him,  and  I  ought  to  know  all  about  the 
man  you  wish  me  to  marry." 

"Yes,  Gar'ner  will  make  a  right  good  husband  for  any 
young  woman,  and  I  do  advise  you  to  have  him.  You  are 
my  brother's  da'ghter,  Mary,  and  I  give  you  this  advice, 
which  I  should  give  you  all  the  same,  had  you  been  my 
own  child,  instead  of  his'n." 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  know  that.  But  what  about  Roswell,  and 
his  having  to  stop,  on  his  way  home  ? " 

"  Why,  you  must  know,  Mary,  that  this  v'y'ge  came  al- 
together out  of  that  seaman  who  died  among  us,  last  year. 
I  was  kind  to  him,  as  you  may  remember,  and  helped  him 
to  many  little  odd  comforts  " — odd  enough  were  they,  of  a 
verity — "and  he  was  grateful.  Of  all  virtues,  give  me 
gratitude,  say  I  !  It  is  the  noblest,  as  it  is  the  most  on- 
common  of  all  our  good  qualities.  How  little  have  I  met 
with  in  my  day!  Of  all  the  presents  I  have  made,  and 
gifts  bestowed,  and  good  acts  done,  not  one  in  ten  has  ever 
n-ket  with  any  gratitude." 

Mary  sighed  :  for  well  did  she  know  how  little  he  had 
given,  of  his  abundance,  to  relieve  the  wants  of  his  fellow- 
creatures.  She  sighed,  too,  with  a  sort  of  mild  impatience, 
that  the  information  she  sought  with  so  much  eagerness 
was  so  long  and  needlessly  delayed.  But  the  deacon  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  tell  her  all. 

"  Yes,  Gar'ner  has  got  something  to  do,  beside  sealing," 
he  resumed  of  himself,  when  his  regret  at  the  prevalence 
of  ingratitude  among  men  had  exhausted  itself.  "  Suthin '  " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  257 

— for  this  was  the  way  he  pronounced  that  word — "  that  is 
of  more  importance  than  the  schooner's  hold  full  of  ile. 
He  is  ile,  I  know,  child  ;  but  gold  is  gold.  What  do  you 
think  of  that?" 

"  Is  Roswell,  then,  to  stop  at  Rio  again,  in  order  to  sell 
his  oil,  and  send  the  receipts  home  in  gold  ? " 

"  Better  than  that — much  better  than  that,  if  he  gets 
back  at  all."  Mary  felt  a  chill  at  her  heart.  "  Yes,  that  is 
the  p'int — if  he  gets  back  at  all.  If  Gar'ner  ever  does 
come  home,  child,  I  shall  expect  to  see  him  return  with  a 
considerable  sized  keg — almost  a  barrel,  by  all  accounts- 
filled  with  gold  !  " 

The  deacon  stared  about  him  as  he  made  this  announce- 
ment, like  a  man  who  was  afraid  that  he  was  telling  too 
much.  Nevertheless,  it  was  to  his  own  niece,  his  brother's 
daughter,  that  he  had  confided  thus  much  of  his  great 
secret — and  reflection  reassured  him. 

"  How  is  Roswell  to  get  all  this  gold,  uncle,  unless  he 
sells  his  cargo  ?"  Mary  asked,  with  obvious  solicitude. 

"  That's  another  p'int.  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it,  gal,  and 
you'll  see  the  importance  of  keeping  the  secret.  This  Dag- 
gett— not  the  one  who  is  out  in  another  schooner,  another 
Sea  Lion,  as  it  might  be,  but  his  uncle,  who  died  down 
here  at  the  Widow  White's — well,  that  Daggett  told  more 
than  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  sealing  islands — he 
told  me  of  a  buried  treasure  !  " 

"  Buried  treasure  ! — Buried  by  whom;  and  consisting  of 
what,  uncle  ? " 

"  Buried  by  seamen  who  make  free  with  the  goods  of 
Khers  on  the  high  seas,  ag'in  the  time  when  they  might 
come  back  and  dig  it  up,  and  carry  it  away  to  be  used. 
Consisting  of  what,  indeed  !  Consisting  principally,  ac- 
cordin*  to  Daggett's  account,  of  heavy  doubloons  ;  though 
there  was  a  lot  of  old  English  guineas  among  'em.  Yes,  I 
remember  that  he  spoke  of  them  guineas — three  thousand 
and  odd,  and  nearly  as  many  doubloons  ! " 

"  Was  Daggett,  then,  a  pirate,  sir  ? — for  they  who  make 
free  with  the  goods  of  others  on  the  high  seas  are  neither 
more  nor  less  than  pirates." 

"  No  ;  not  he,  himself.  He  got  this  secret  from  one  who 
was  a  pirate,  however,  and  who  was  a  prisoner  in  a  jail 
where  he  was  himself  confined  for  smuggling.  Yes;  that 
man  told  him  all  about  the  buried  treasure,  in  return  for 
some  acts  of  kindness  shown  him  by  Daggett.  It's  well  to 
be  kind  sometimes,  Mary." 

17 


258-  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"  It  is  well  to  be  kind  always,  sir  ;  even  when  it  is  mis- 
understood, and  the  kindness  is  abused.  What  was  the  re- 
demption but  kindness  and  love,  and  god-like  compassion 
on  those  who  neither  understood  it  nor  felt  it  ?  But  money 
collected  and  buried  by  pirates  can  never  become  yours, 
uncle  ;  nor  can  it  ever  become  the  property  uf  Roswell 
Gardiner." 

"  Whose  is  it,  then,  gal  ?"  demanded  the  deacon,  sharply. 
"  Gar'ner  had  some  such  silly  notion  in  his  head  when  I 
first  told  him  of  this  treasure  ;  but  I  soon  brought  him  to 
hear  reason." 

"  I  think  Roswell  must  always  have  seen  that  a  treasure 
obtained  by  robbery  can  never  justly  belong  to  any  but  its 
rightful  owner." 

"  And  who  is  this  rightful  owner,  pray  ?  or  owners,  I 
might  say  ;  for  the  gold  was  picked  up,  here  and  there,  out 
of  all  question,  from  many  hands.  Now,  supposing  Gar'- 
ner gets  this  treasure,  as  I  still  hope  he  may,  though  he  is 
an  awful  time  about  it-1- but  suppose  lie  gets  it,  how  is  he 
to  find  the  rightful  owners  ?  There  it  is,  a  bag  of  doub- 
loons, say — all  looking  just  alike,  with  the  head  of  a  king, 
a  Don  Somebody,  and  the  date,  and  the  Latin  and  Greek 
— now  who  can  say  that  '  this  is  my  doubloon  ;"I  lost  it  at 
such  a  time — it  was  taken  from  me  by  such  a  pirate,  in 
such  a  sea  ;  and  I  was  whipped  till  I  told  the  thieves  where 
I  had  hid  the  gold  ? '  No,  no,  Mary  ;  depend  on't,  no  action 
of  'plevy  would  lie  ag'in  a  single  one  of  all  them  pieces. 
They  are  lost,  one  and  all,  to  their  former  owners,  and  will 
belong  to  the  man  that  succeeds  in  getting  hold  on  'em 
ag'in  ;  who  will  become  a  rightful  owner  in  his  turn.  '  All 
property  comes  from  law  ;  and  if  the  law  won't  'plevy 
money  got  in  this  way,  nobody  can  maintain  a  claim  to  it." 

"  I  should  be  very,  very  sorry,  my  dear  uncle,  to  have 
Roswell  enrich  himself  in  this  way." 

"  You  talk  like  a  silly  young  woman,  and  .  one  that 
doesn't  know  her  own  rights.  We  had  no  hand  in  robbing 
the  folks  of  their  gold.  They  lost  it  years  ago,  and  maybe 
dead — probably  are,  or  they  would  make  some  stir  about 
it — or  have  forgotten  it,  and  couldn't  for  their  lives  tell  a 
single  one  of  the  coins  they  once  had  in  their  possession  ; 
and  don't  know  whether  what  they  lost  was  thrown  into 
the  sea,  or  buried  in  the  sand  on  a  key.  Mary,  child,  you 
must  never  mention  anything  I  tell  you  on  this  subject !  " 

"You  need  fear  nothing,  sir,  from  me.  But  I  do  most 
earnestly  hope  Roswell  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  any 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  259" 

such  ill-gotten  wealth.  He  is  too  noble-hearted  and  gen- 
erous to  get  rich  in  this  way." 

"  Well,  well,  say  no  more  about  it,  child  ;  you're  roman- 
tic and  notional.  Just  pour  out  my  drops  ;  for  all  this 
talking  makes  me  breathe  thick.  I'm  not  what  I  was,  Mary, 
and  cannot  last  long  ;  but  was  it  the  last  breath  I  drew,  I 
would  stand  to  it,  that  treasure  desarted  and  found  in  this 
way  belongs  to  the  last  holder.  I  go  by  the  law,  however  ; 
let  Gar'ner  only  find  it — well,  well,  I'll  say  no  more  about 
it  now  ;  for  it  distresses  you,  and  that  I  don't  like  to  see. 
Go  and  hunt  .up  the  Spectator,  child,  and  look  for  the 
whaling  news — perhaps  there  may  be  suthin'  about  the 
sealers  too." 

Mary  did  not  require  to  be  told  twice  to  do  as  her  uncle 
requested.  The  paper  was  soon  found,  and  the  column 
that  contained  the  marine  intelligence  consulted.  The 
niece  read  a  long  account  of  whalers  spoken,  with  so 
many  hundred  or  so  many  thousand  barrels  of  oil  on 
board,  but  could  discover  no  allusion  to  any  sealer.  At 
length  she  turned  her  eyes  into  the  body  of  the  journal, 
which  being  semi-weekly,  or  tri-weekly,  was  crowded  with 
matter,  and  started  at  seeing  a  paragraph  to  the  following 
effect  : 

"  By  the  arrival  of  the  Twin  Sisters  at  Stonington,  we 
learn  that  the  ice  nas  been  found  farther  north  in  the 
southern  hemisphere  this  season,  than  it  has  been  known 
to  be  for  many  years.  The  sealers  have  had  a  great  deal 
of  difficulty  in  making  their  way  through  it ;  and  even 
vessels  bound  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  have  been 
much  embarrassed  by  its  presence." 

"  That's  it! — Yes,  Mary,  that's  just  it!"  exclaimed  the 
deacon.  "  It's  that  awful  ice.  If  'twasn't  for  the  ice,  sealin' 
would  be  as  pleasant  a  calling  as  preachin'  the  gospel !  It 
is  possible  that  this  ice  has  turned  Gar'ner  back,  when  he 
has  been  on  his  way  home,  and  that  he  has  been  waiting 
for  a  better  time  to  come  north.  There's  one  good  p'int 
in  this  news — they  tell  me  that  when  the  ice  is  seen  drift- 
ing about  in  low  latitudes,  it's  a  sign  there's  less  of  it  in 
the  higher." 

"The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  is  certainly,  in  one  sense,  in 
a  low  latitude,  uncle  ;  if  I  remember  right,  it  is  not  as  far 
south  as  we  are  north  ;  and,  as  you  say,  it  is  a  good  sign 
if  the  ice  has  come  anywhere  near  it." 

"  I  don't  say  it  has,  child  ;  I  don't  say  it  has.  But  it 
may  have  come  to  the  northward  of  Cape  Horn,  and  that 


26o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

will  be  a  great  matter  ;  for  all  the  ice  that  is  drifting  about 
there  comes  from  the  polar  seas,  and  is  so  much  taken  out 
of  Gar'ner's  track." 

"  Still  he  must  come  through  it  to  get  home,"  returned 
Mary,  in  her  sweet,  melancholy  tones.  "  Ah  !  why  cannot 
men  be  content  with  the  blessings  that  Providence  places 
within  our  immediate  reach,  that  they  must  make  distant 
voyages  to  accumulate  others  !  " 

"You  like  your  tea,  I  fancy,  Mary  Pratt — and  the  sugar 
in  it,  and  your  silks  and  ribbons  that  I've  seen  you  wear  ; 
how  are  you  to  get  such  matters  if  there's  to  be  no  goin^ 
on  v'y'ges  ?  Tea  and  sugar,  and  silks  and  satins  don't  grow 
along  with  the  clams  on  '  Yster  Pond  '  " — for  so  the  deacon 
uniformly  pronounced  the  word  "oyster." 

Mary  acknowledged  the  truth  of  what  was  said,  but 
changed  the  subject.  The  journal  contained  no  more  that 
related  to  sealing  or  sealers,  and  it  was  soon  laid  aside. 
.  "  It  may  be  that  Gar'ner  is  digging  for  the  buried  treas- 
ure all  this  time,"  the  deacon  at  length  resumed.  "That 
may  be  the  reason  he  is  so  late.  If  so,  he  has  nothing  to 
dread  from  ice." 

"  I  understand  you,  sir,  that  this  money  is  supposed  to 
be  buried  on  a  key — in  the  West  Indies,  of  course." 

"Don't  speak  so  loud,  Mary — there's  no  need  of  letting 
all  'Yster  Pond  know  where  the  treasure  is.  It  may  be  in 
the  West  Ingees,  or  it  may  not  ;  there's  keys  all  over  the 
'arth,  I  take  it." 

"  Do  you  not  think,  uncle,  that  Roswell  would  write,  if 
detained  long  among  those  keys  ?  " 

"  You  wouldn't  hear  to  post-offices  in  the  antarctic  ocean, 
and  now  you  want  to  put  them  on  the  sand-keys  of  the 
West  Ingees !  Woman's  always  a  sailin'  ag'in  wind  and  tide." 

"  I  do  not  think  so,  sir,  in  this  case  at  least.  There 
must  be  many  vessels  passing  among  the  keys  of  the 
West  Indies,  and  nothing  seems  to  me  to  be  easier  than 
to  send  letters  by  them.  I  am  quite  sure  Roswell  would 
write,  if  in  a  part  of  the  world  where  he  thought  what 
he  wrote  would  reach  us." 

"  Not  he — not  he — Gar'ner's  not  the  man  I  take  him  for, 
if  he  let  any  one  know  what  he  is  about  in  them  keys,  un- 
til he  had  done  up  all  his  business  there.  No,  no,  Mary. 
We  shall  never  hear  from  him  in  that  quarter  of  the  world. 
It  may  be  that  Gar'ner  is  a-digging  about,  and  has  difficulty 
in  finding  the  place  ;  for  Daggett's  account  had  some  weak 
spots  in  it." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  261 

Mary  made  no  reply,  though  she  thought  it  very  little 
likely  that  Rosweli  would  pass  months  in  the  West  Indies 
employed  in  such  a  pursuit,  without  finding  the  means  of 
letting  her  know  where  he  was,  and  what  he  was  about. 
The  intercourse  between  these  young  people  was  some- 
what peculiar,  and  ever  had  been.  In  listening  to'the  suit 
of  Rosweli,  Mary  had  yielded  to  her  heart ;  in  hesitating 
about  accepting  him,  she  deferred  to  her  principle.  Usu- 
ally, a  mother — not  a  managing,  match-making,  inter- 
ested parent,  but  a  prudent,  feminine,  well-principled 
mother — is  of  the  last  importance  to  the  character  and 
well-being  of  a  young  woman.  It  sometimes  happens, 
however,  that  a  female  who  has  no  parent  of  her  own  sex, 
and  who  is  early  made  to  be  dependent  on  herself,  if  the 
bias  of  her  mind  is  good,  becomes  as  careful  and  prudent 
of  herself  and  her  conduct,  as  the  advice  and  solicitude  of 
the  most  tender  mother  could  make  her.  Such  had  been 
the  case  with  Mary  Pratt.  Perfectly  conscious  of  her  own 
deserted  situation,  high  principled,  and  early  awake  to  the 
defects  in  her  uncle's  character,  she  had  laid  down  severe 
rules  for  the  government  of  her  own  conduct ;  and  from 
these  rules  she  never  departed.  Thus  it  was  that  she  per- 
mitted Rosweli  to  write,  though  she  never  answered  his 
letters.  She  permitted  him  to  write,  because  she  had  prom- 
ised not  to  shut  her  ears  to  his  suit,  so  long  as  he  prac- 
tised toward  her  his  native  and  manly  candor  ;  concealing 
none  of  his  opinions,  and  confessing  his  deficiency  on  the 
one  great  point  that  formed  the  only  obstacle  to  their  union. 

A  young  woman  who  has  no  mother,  if  she  escapes  the 
ills  attendant  on  thexprivation  while  her  character  is  form- 
ing, is  very  apt  to  acquire  qualities  that  are  of  great  use 
in  her  future  life.  She  learns  to  rely  on  herself,  gets  ac- 
customed to  think  and  act  like  an  accountable  being,  and 
is  far  more  likely  to  become  a  reasoning  and  useful  head 
of  a  family,  than  if  brought  up  in  dependence,  and  under 
the  control  of  even  the  best  maternal  government.  In  a 
word,  the  bias  of  the  mind  is  sooner  obtained  in  such  cir- 
cumstances than  when  others  do  so  much  of  the  thinking; 
whether  that  bias  be  in  a  right  or  a  wrong  direction.  But 
Mary  Pratt  had  early  taken  the  true  direction  in  all  that 
relates  to  opinion  and  character,  and  had  never  been  want- 
ing to  herself  in- any  of  the  distinctive  and  discreet  deport- 
ment of  her  sex. 

Our  heroine  hardly  knew  whether  or  not  to  seek  for 
consolation  in  her  uncle's  suggestion  of  Rosweli  being  de- 


262  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

tained  among  the  keys,  in  order  to  look  for  the  hidden 
treasure.  The  more  she  reflected  on  this  subject,  the 
more  did  it  embarrass  her.  Few  persons  who  knew  of 
the  existence  of  such  a  deposit  would  hesitate  about  tak- 
ing possession  of  it ;  and,  once  reclaimed,  in  what  \vay 
were  the  best  intentions  to  be  satisfied  with  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  gold  ?  To  find  the  owners  would  probably  be 
impossible  ;  and  a  question  in  casuistry  remained.  Mary 
pondered  much  on  this  subject,  and  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that,  were  she  the  person  to  whom  such  a  treasure 
were  committed,  she  would  set  aside  a  certain  period  for 
advertising  ;  and  failing  to  discover  those  who  had  the  best 
claim  to  the  money,  that  she  would  appropriate  every  dol- 
lar to  a  charity. 

Alas !  Little  did  Mary  understand  the  world.  The  fact 
that  money  was  thus  advertised  would  probably  have 
brought  forward  a  multitude  of  dishonest  pretenders  to 
having  been  robbed  by  pirates  ;  and  scarce  a  doubloon 
would  have  found  its  way  into  the  pocket  of  its  right  own- 
er, even  had  she  yielded  all  to  the  statements  of  such  claim- 
ants. 

All  this,  however,  did  not  bring  back  the  missing  Ros- 
well.  Another  winter  was  fast  approaching,  with  its  chill- 
ing storms  and  gales,  to  awaken  apprehensions  by  keeping 
the  turbulence  of  the  ocean,  as  it  might  be,  constantly  be- 
fore the  senses.  Not  a  week  now  passed  that  the  deacon 
did  not  get  a  letter  from  some  wife,  or  parent,  or  sister,  or 
perhaps  from  one  who  hesitated  to  avow  her  relations  to 
the  absent  mariner  ;  all  inquiring  after  the  fate  of  those 
who  had  sailed  in  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond,  under  the 
orders  of  Captain  Roswell  Gardiner. 

Even  those  of  the  Vineyard  sent  across  questions,  and 
betrayed  anxiety  and  dread,  in  the  very  manner  of  putting 
their  interrogatories.  Each  day  did  the  deacon's  appre- 
hensions increase,  until  it  was  obvious  to  all  around  him 
that  this  cause,  united  to  others  that  were  more  purely 
physical,  perhaps,  was  seriously  undermining  his  health, 
and  menacing  his  existence.  It  is  a  sad  commentary  on 
the  greediness,  for  gain  manifested  by  this  person,  that 
ere  the  adventure  he  had  undertaken  on  the  strength  of 
Daggett's  reluctant  communications  was  brought  to  any  ap- 
parent result,  he  himself  was  nearly  in  the  condition  of  that 
diseased  seaman,  with  as  little  prospect  of  being  benefited 
by  his  secrets  as  was  the  man  himself  who  first  communi- 
cated their  existence.  Mary  saw  all  this  clearly,  and 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  263 

mourned  almost  as  much  over  the  blindness  .and  world- 
liness  of  her  uncle  as  she  did  over  the  now  nearly  assured 
fate  of  him  whom  she  had  so  profoundly  loved  in  her 
heart's  core. 

Day  by  day  did  time  roll  on,  without  bringing  any  tid- 
ings of  either  of  the  Sea  Lions.  The  deacon  grew  weak 
fast,  until  he  seldom  left  his  room,  and  still  more  rarely  the 
house.  It  was  now  that  he  was  induced  to  make  his  will, 
and  this  by  an  agency  so  singular  as  to  deserve  being 
mentioned.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  broached  the  subject 
one  day,  not  with  any  interested  motive  of  course,  but 
simply  because  the  "  meeting-house  "  wanted  some  mate- 
rial repairs,  and  there  was  a  debt  on  the  congregation  that 
it  might  be  a  pleasure  to  one  who  had  long  stood  in  the 
relation  to  it  that  Deacon  Pratt  filled,  to  pay  off,  when  he 
no  longer  had  any  occasion  for  the  money  for  himself. 
It  is  probable  the  deacon  at  length  felt  the  justice  of  this 
remark  ;  for  he  sent  to  Riverhead  for  a  lawyer,  and  made 
a  will  that  would  have  stood  even  the  petulant  and  envious 
justice  of  the  present  day  ;  a  justice  that  inclines  to  divide 
a  man's  estate  infinitesimally,  lest  some  heir  become  a  lit- 
tle richer  than  his  neighbors.  After  all,  no  small  portion 
of  that  which  struts  about  under  the  aspects  of  right,  and 
liberty,  and  benevolence,  is  in  truth  derived  from  some  of 
the  most  sneaking  propensities  of  human  nature  ! 


CHAPTER  XXL 

"  I,  too,  have  seen  thee  on  thy  surging  path, 

When  the  night-tempest  met  thee ;  thou  didst  dash 
Thy  white  arms  high  in  heaven,  as  if  in  wrath, 

Threatening  the  angry  sky  ;  thy  waves  did  lash 

The  laboring  vessel,  and  with  deadening  crash 
Rush  madly  forth  to  scourge  its  groaning  sides  ; 

Onward  thy  billows  came,  to  meet  and  clash 

In  a  wild  warfare,  till  the  lifted  tides 
Mingled  their  yesty  tops,  where  the  dark  storm-cloud  rides." 

— PERCIVAL. 

THE  first  movement  of  the  mariner,  when  his  vessel  has 
been  brought  in  collision  with  any  hard  substance,  is  to 
sound  the  pumps.  This  very  necessary  duty  was  in  the 
act  of  performance  by  Daggett,  in  person,  even  while  the 
boats  of  Roswell  Gardiner  wrere  towing  his  strained  and 


264  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

roughly-treated  craft  into  the  open  water.  The  result  of 
this  examination  was  waited  for  by  all  on  board,  including 
Rosvvell,  with  the  deepest  anxiety.  The  last  held  the 
lantern  by  which  the  height  of  .the  water  in  the  well  was 
to  be  ascertained  ;  the  light  of  the  moon  scarce  sufficing 
for  such  a  purpose.  Daggett  stood  on  the  top  of  the  pump 
himself,  while  Gardiner  and  Macy  were  at  its  side.  At 
length  the  sounding-rod  came  up,  and  its  lower  end  was 
held  out,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  high  up  it  was  wet. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  make  of  it,  Gar'ner  ? "  Daggett  de- 
manded, a  little  impatiently.  "  Water  there  must  be  ;  for 
no  craft  that  floats  could  have  stood  such  a  squeeze,  and 
not  have  her  sides  open." 

"  There  must  be  near  three  feet  of  water  in  your  hold," 
answered  Roswell,  shaking  his  head.  "  If  this  goes  on, 
Captain  Daggett,  it  will  be  hard  work  to  keep  your 
schooner  afloat !  " 

"Afloat  she  shall  be,  while  a  pump-break  can  work. 
Here,  rig  this  larboard-pump  at  once,  and  get  it  in  motion." 

"It  is  possible  that  your  seams  opened  under  the  nip, 
and  have  closed  again,  as  soon  as  the  schooner  got  free. 
In  such  a  case,  ten  minutes  at  the  pump  will  let  us  know 
it," 

Although  there  is  no  duty  to  which  seamen  are  so  averse 
as  pumping — none,  perhaps,  that  is  actually  so  exhausting 
and  laborious — it  often  happens  that  they  have  recourse  to 
it  with  eagerness,  as  the  only  available  means  of  saving 
their  lives.  Such  was  now  the  case,  the  harsh  but  familiar 
strokes  of  the  pump-break  being  audible  amid  the  more 
solemn  and  grand  sounds  of  the  grating  of  icebergs,  the 
rushing  of  floes,  and  the  occasional  scuffling  and  howling 
of  the  winds.  The  last  appeared  to  have  changed  in  their 
direction,  however  ;  a  circumstance  that  was  soon  noted, 
there  being  much  less  of  biting  cold  in  the  blasts  than  had 
been  felt  in  the  earlier  hours  of  the  night. 

"  I  do  believe  that  the  wind  has  got  round  here  to  the 
northeast,"  said  Roswell,  as  he  paced  the  quarter-deck  with 
Daggett,  still  holding  in  his  hand  the  well  wiped  and  dried 
sounding-rod,  in  readiness  for  another  trial.  "That  last 
puff  was  right  in  our  teeth  !  " 

"Not  in  our  teeth,  Gar'ner;  no,  not  in  my  teeth,"  an- 
swered Daggett,  "whatever  it  may  be  myour'n.  I  shall 
try  to  get  back  to  the  island,  where  I  shall  endeavor  to 
beach  the  schooner,  and  get  a  look  at  her  leaks.  This  is 
the  most  I  can  hope  for.  It  would  never  do  to  think  of 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  265 

carrying  a  craft,  after  such  a  nip,  as  far  as  Rio,  pumping 
every  foot  of  the  way  !  " 

"  That  will  cause  a  great  delay,  Captain  Daggett,"  said 
Roswell,  doubtingly.  "We  are  now  well  in  among  the 
first  great  body  of  the  ice  ;  it  may  be  as  easy  to  work  our 
way  to  the  northward  of  it,  as  to  get  back  into  clear  water 
to  the  southward." 

"  I  dare  say  it  would  ;  but  back  I  go.  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  accompany  us,  Gar'ner  ;  by  no  means.  A'ter  the  hand- 
some manner  in  which  you've  waited  for  us  so  long,  I 
couldn't  think  of  such  a  thing  !  If  the  wind  has  r'ally  got 
round  to  northeast,  and  I  begin  to  think  it  has,  I  shall  get 
the  schooner  into  the  cove  in  four-and-twenty  hours  ;  and 
there's  as  pretty  a  spot  to  beach  her,  just  under  the  shelf 
where  we  kept  our  spare  casks,  as  a  body  can  wish.  In  a 
fortnight  we'll  have  her  leaks  all  stopped,  and  be  jogging 
along  .in  your  wake.  You'll  tell  the  folks  on  Oyster  Pond 
that  we're  a-coming,  and  they'll  be  sure  to  send  the  news 
across  to  the  Vineyard." 

This  was  touching  Roswell  on  a  point  of  honor,  and 
Daggett  knew  it  very  well.  Generous  and  determined, 
the  young  man  was  much  more  easily  influenced  by  a  silent 
and  indirect  appeal  to  his  liberal  qualities,  than  he  could 
possibly  have  been  by  any  other  consideration.  The  idea 
of  deserting  a  companion  in  distress,  in  a  sea  like  that  in 
which  he  was,  caused  him  to  shrink  from  what,  under  other 
circumstances,  he  would  regard  as  an  imperative  duty. 
The  deacon,  and  still  more,  Mary,  called  him  north  ;  but 
the  necessities  of  the  Vineyarders  would  seem  to  chain  him 
to  their  fate. 

"Let  us  see  what  the  pump  tells  us  now,"  cried  Roswell, 
impatiently.  "  Perhaps  the  report  may  make  matters 
better  than  we  have  dared  to  hope  for.  If  the  pump  gains 
on  the  leak,  all  may  yet  be  well." 

"  It's  encouraging  and  hearty  to  hear  you  say  this  ;  but 
no  one  who  was  in  that  nip,  as  a  body  might  say,  can  ever 
expect  the  schooner  to  make  a  run  of  two  thousand  miles 
without  repairs.  To  my  eye,  Gar'ner,  these  bergs  are  sepa- 
rating, leaving  us  a  clearer  passage  back  to  the  open  water." 

"  l"do  believe  you  are  right;  but  it  seems  a  sad  loss  of 
time,  and  a  great  risk,  to  go  through  these  mountains 
again,"  returned  Roswell.  "The  wind  has  shifted;  and 
the  nearest  bergs,  from  some  cause  or  other,  are  slowly 
opening  ;  but  recollect  what  a  mass  of  floe-ice  there  is 
outside.  Let  us  sound 


266  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

The  process  was  renewed  this  time  much  easier  than 
before,  the  boxes  being  already  removed.  The  result  was 
soon  known. 

"Well,  what  news,  Ciar'ner  ?"  demanded  Daggett,  leaning 
down,  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  perceive  the  almost  imper- 
ceptible marks  that  distinguished  the  wet  part  of  the  rod 
from  that  which  was  dry.  "  Do  we  gain  on  the  leak,  or 
does  the  leak  gain  on  us  ?  God  send  it  may  be  the  first !  " 

"God  has  so  sent  it,  sir,"  answered  Stimson,  reverently; 
for  he  was  holding  the  lantern,  having  remained  on  board 
the  damaged  vessel  by  the  order  of  his  officer.  "It  is  He 
alone,  Captain  Daggett,  who  could  do  this  much  to  seamen 
in  distress." 

"  Then  to  God  be  thanks,  as  is  due  !  If  we  can  but  keep 
the  leak  under,  the  schooner  may  yet  be  saved." 

"I  think  it  may  be  done,  Daggett,"  added  Roswell. 
"That  one  pump  has  brought  the  water  down  more  than 
two  inches  ;  and,  in  my  judgment,  the  two  together  would 
clear  her  entirely." 

"We'll  pump  her  till  she  sucks  !  "  cried  Daggett.  "  Rig 
the  other  pump,  men,  and  go  to  the  work  heartily." 

This  was  done,  though  not  until  Roswell  ordered  fully 
half  of  his  own  crew  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  his  consort. 
By  this  time  the  two  vessels  had  filled  away,  made  more 
sail,  and  were  running  off  before  the  new  wind,  retracing 
tlieir  steps,  so  far  as  one  might  judge  of  the  position  of  the 
great  passage.  Daggett's  vessel  led,  and  Hazard  followed  ; 
Roswell  still  remaining  on  board  the  injured  craft.  Thus 
passed  the  next  few  hours.  The  pumps  soon  sucked,  and 
it  was  satisfactorily  ascertained  that  the  schooner  could  be 
freed  from  the  water  by  working  at  them  about  one-fourth 
of  the  time.  This  was  a  bad  leak,  and  one  that  would 
have  caused  any  crew  to  become  exhausted  in  the  course 
of  a  few  days.  As  Roswell  ascertained  the  facts  more 
clearly,  he  became  better  satisfied  with  a  decision  that,,  in 
a  degree,  had  been  forced  on  him.  He  was  passively  con- 
tent to  return  with  Daggett,  convinced  that  taking  the 
injured  vessel  to  Rio  was  out  of  the  question,  until  some 
attention  had  been  paid  to  her  damages. 

Fortune— or  as  Stimson  would  say,  Providence— favored 
our  mariners  greatly  in  the  remainder  of  their  run  among 
the  bergs.  There  were  several  avalanches  of  snow  quite 
near  to  them,  and  one  more  berg  performed  a  revolution 
at  no  great  distance  ;  but  no  injury  was  sustained  by  either 
vessel.  As  the  schooners  s;ot  once  more  near  to  the  field- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  267 

ice,  Roswell  went  on  board  his  own  craft ;  and  all  the 
boats,  which  had  been  towing  in  the  open  passage,  were 
run  up  and  secured.  Gardiner  now  led,  leaving  his  con- 
sort to  follow  as  closely  in  his  wake  as  she  could  keep. 

Much  greater  difficulty,  and  dangers  indeed,  were  en- 
countered among  the  broken  and  grating  floes,  than  had 
been  expected,  or  previously  met  with.  Notwithstanding 
fenders  were  got  out  on  all  sides,  many  a  rude  shock  was 
sustained,  and  the  copper  suffered  in  several  places.  Once 
or  twice  Roswell  apprehended  that  the  schooners  would  be 
crushed  by  the  pressure  on  their  sides.  The  hazards  were 
in  some  measure  increased  by  the  bold  manner  in  which 
our  navigators  felt  themselves  called  on  to  push  ahead  ; 
for  time  was  very  precious  in  every  sense,  not  only  on  ac- 
count of  the  wraning  season,  but  actually  on  account  of  the 
fatigue  undergone  by  men  who  were  compelled  to  toil  at 
the  pumps  one  minute  in  every  four. 

At  the  return  of  day,  now  getting  to  be  later  than  it  had 
been  during  the  early  months  of  their  visit  to  these  seas, 
our  adventurers  found  themselves  in  the  centre  of  vast 
fields  of  floating  ice,  driving  away  from  the  bergs,  which, 
influenced  by  under-currents,  were  still  floating  north, 
while  the  floes  drove  to  the  southward  It  was  very  de- 
sirable to  get  clear  of  all  this  cake-ice,  though  the  grind- 
ing among  it  was  by  no  means  so  formidable  as  when  the 
seas  were  running  high  and  the  whole  of  the  frozen  ex- 
panse was  in  violent  commotion.  Motion,  however,  soon 
became  nearly  impossible,  except  as  the  schooners  drifted 
in  the  midst  of  the  mass,  which  was  floating  south  at  the 
rate  of  about  two  knots. 

Thus  passed  an  entire  day  and  night.  So  compact  was 
the  ice  around  them  that  the  mariners  passed  from  one 
vessel  to  the  other  on  it,  with  the  utmost  confidence.  No 
apprehension  was  felt  so  long  as  the  wind  stood  in  its 
present  quarter,  the  fleet  of  bergs  actually  forming  as  good 
a  lee  as  if  they  had  been  so  much  land.  On  the  morning 
of  the  second  day,  all  this  suddenly  changed.  The  ice 
began  to  open  ;  why,  was  matter  of  conjecture,  though  it 
was  attributed  to  a  variance  between  the  wind  and  the  cur- 
rents. This,  in  some  measure,  liberated  the  schooners, 
and  they  began  to  move  independently  of  the  floes.  About 
noon,  the  smoke  of  the  volcano  became  once  more  visible; 
and  before  the  sun  went  down  the  cap  of  the  highest  ele* 
vation  in  the  group  was  seen,  amid  flurries  of  snow. 

Every  one   was  glad  to  see  these  familiar  landmarks, 


268  THE   S£A    LIONS.' 

dreary  and  remote  from  the  haunts  of  men  as  they  were 
known  to  be  ;  for  there  was  a  promise  in  them  of  a  tem- 
porary termination  of  their  labors.  Incessant  pumping — 
one  minute  in  four  being  thus  employed  on  board  the 
Vineyard  craft — was  producing  its  customary  effect ;  and 
the  men  looked  jaded  and  exhausted.  No  one  who  has 
not  stood  at  a  pump-break  on  board  a  vessel,  can  form  any 
notion  of  the  nature  of  the  toil,  or  of  the  extreme  dislike 
with  which  seamen  regard  it.  The  tread-mill,  as  we  con- 
ceive— for  our  experience  extends  to  the  first,  though  not 
to  the  last  of  these  occupations — is  the  nearest  approach 
to  the  pain  of  such  toil,  though  the  convict  does  not  work 
for  his  life. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  our  mariners  found 
themselves  in  the  great  bay,  in  clear  water,  about  a  league 
from  the  cove,  and  nearly  dead  to  windward  of  their 
port.  The  helms  were  put  up,  and  the  schooners  were 
soon  within  the  well-known  shelter.  As  they  ran  in, 
Roswell  gazed  around  him,  in  regret,  awe,  and  admira- 
tion. He  could  not  but  regret  being  compelled  to  lose 
so  much  precious  time,  at  that  particular  season.  Short  as 
bad  been  his  absence  from  the  group,  sensible  changes  in 
the  aspect  of  things  had  already  occurred.  Every  sign  of 
summer — and  they  had  ever  been  few  and  meagre — was 
now  lost  ;  a  chill  and  dreary  autumn  having  succeeded. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  nothing  was  altered  about  the  dwell- 
ing ;  the  piles  of  wood  and  other  objects  placed  there  by 
the  hands  of  man,  remaining  just  as  they  had  been  left  ; 
but  even  these  looked  less  cheering,  more  unavailable,  than 
when  last  seen.  To  the  surprise  of  all,  not  a  seal  was  visi- 
ble. From  some  cause  unknown  to  -the  men,  all  of  these 
animals  had  disappeared,  thereby  defeating  one  of  Dag- 
gett's  secret  calculations  ;  this  provident  master  having 
determined,  in  his  own  mind,  to  profit  by  his  accident  and 
seize  the  occasion  to  fill  up.  Some  said  that  the  creatures 
had  gone  north  to  winter  ;  others  asserted  that  they  had 
been  alarmed  and  had  taken  refuge  on  one  of  the  other 
islands  ;  but  all  agreed  in  saying  that  they  were  gone. 

It  is  known  that  a  seal  will  occasionally  wander  a  great 
distance  from  what  may  be  considered  his  native  waters  ; 
but  we  are  not  at  all  aware  that  they  are  to  be  considered  as 
migratory  animals.  The  larger  species  usually  take  a 
wide  range  of  climate  to  dwell  in,  and  even  the  little  fur- 
seal  sometimes  gets  astray ^ and  is  found  on  coasts  that  do 
not  usually  come  within  his  haunts.  As  respects  the  ani- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  269 

mais  that  so  lately  abounded  on  Sealer's  Land,  we  shall 
hazard  no  theory,  our  business  being  principally  with  facts: 
but  a  conversation  that  took  place  between  the  two  chief 
mates  on  this  occasion  may  possibly  assist  some  inquiring 
mind  in  its  speculations. 

"  Well,  Macy,"  said  Hazard,  pointing  along  the  deserted 
rocks,  "  what  do  you  think  of  that  ?  Not  an  animal  to  be 
seen,  where  there  were  lately  thousands !  " 

"  What  do  I  think  of  it  ?  Why,  I  think  they  are  off,  and 
I've  knovv'd  such  things  to  happen  afore." — The  sealers  of 
1819  were  not  very  particular  about  their  English,  even 
among  their  officers. — ''Any  man  who  watches  for  signs 
and  symptoms  may  know  how  to  take  this." 

"  I  should  like  to  hear  it  explained  ;  to  me  it  is  quite 
new." 

"  The  seals  are  off,  and  that  is  a  sign  we  should  be  off 
too.  There's  my  explanation,  and  you  mny  make  what 
you  please  of  it.  Natur'  gives  sich  hints,  and  no  prudent 
seaman  ought  to  overlook  'em.  I  say,  that  when  the  seal 
go,  the  sealers  should  go  likewise." 

"  And  you  set  this  down  as  a  hint  from  natur',  as  you 
call  it?" 

"  I  do  ;  and  a  useful  hint  it  is.  If  we  was  in  sailing 
trim,  I'd  ha'nt  the  old  man,  but  I'd  get  him  off  this  blessed 
night.  Now,  mark  my  words,  Hazard — no  good  will  come 
of  that  nip,  and  of  this  return  into  port  ag'in  ;  and  of  all 
this  veering  and  hauling  upon  cargo." 

The  other  mate  laughed  ;  but  a  call  from  his  command- 
ing officer  put  a  stop  to  the  dialogue.  Hazard  was  wanted 
to  help  secure  the  schooner  of  Daggett  in  the  berth  in 
which  she  was  now  placed.  The  tides  do  not  appear  to 
rise  and  fall  in  very  high  latitudes,  by  any  means,  as  much 
as  they  do  in  about  50°.  In  the  antarctic  sea  they  are  re- 
ported to  be  of  medium  elevation  and  force.  This  fact 
our  navigators  had  noted  ;  and  Daggett  had,  at  once,  car- 
ried his  schooner  on  the  only  thing  like  a  beach  that  was 
to  be  found  on  any  part  of  that  wild  coast.  His  craft  was 
snug  within  the  cove' and  quite  handy  for  discharging  and 
taking  in.  Beach,  in  a  proper  sense,  it  was  not  ;  being, 
with  a  very  trifling  exception,  nothing  but  a  shelf  of  rock 
that  was  a  little  inclined,  and  which  admitted  of  a  vessel's 
being  placed  upon  it,  as  on  the  floor  of  a  dock. 

-Into  this  berth  Daggett  took  his  schooner,  while  the 
other  vessel  anchored.  There  was  nearly  a  whole  day  be- 
fore them,  and  all  the  men  were  at  once  set  to  work  to 


270  THE  SEA   LIONS. 

discharge  the  cargo  of  the  injured  vessel.  To  get  rid  of 
the  pumps,  they  would  cheerfully  have  worked  the  twenty- 
four  hours  without  intermission.  As  fast  as  the  vessel  was 
lightened  she  was  hove  further  and  further  on  the  rock, 
until  she  was  got  so  high  as  to  be  perfectly  safe  from  sink- 
ing, or  from  injuring  anything  on  board  her  ;  when  the 
pumps  were  abandoned.  Before  night  came,  however,  the 
schooner  was  so  secured  by  means  of  shores,  and  pur- 
chases aloft  that  were  carried  out  to  the  rocks,  as  to  stand 
perfectly  upright  on  her  keel.  She  was  thus  protected 
when  the  tide  left  her.  At  low  water  it  was  found  that  she 
wanted  eight  feet  of  being  high  and  dry,  having  already 
been  lightened  four  feet.  A  good  deal  of  cargo  was  still 
in,  on  this  the  first  night  after  her  return. 

The  crew  of  Daggett's  vessel  carried  their  mattresses 
ashore,  took  possession  of  the  bunks,  lighted  a  fire  in  the 
stove,  and  made  their  preparations  to  get  the  caboose 
ashore  next  day,  and  do  their  cooking  in  the  house,  as 
had  been  practised  previously  to  quitting  the  island.  Ros- 
well,  and  all  his  people,  remained  on  board  their  own 
vessel. 

The  succeeding  day  the  injured  schooner  was  cleared  of 
everything,  even  to  her  spars,  the  lower  masts  and  bow- 
sprit excepted.  Two  large  sealing  crews  made  quick 
work  with  so  small  a  craft.  Empty  casks  were  got  under 
her,  and  at  the  top  of  the  tide  she  was  floated  quite  up  to 
the  small  beach  that  was  composed  of  the  debris  of  rock, 
already  mentioned.  As  the  water  left  her,  she  fell  over  a 
little,  of  course  ;  and  at  half-tide  her  keel  lay  high  and  dry. 

The  prying  eyes  of  all  hands  were  now  busy  looking 
out  for  the  leaks.  As  might  have  been  expected,  none 
were  found  near  the  garboard  streak,  a  fact  that  was  clearly 
enough  proved  by  a  quantity  of  the  water  remaining 
in  the  vessel  after  she  lay,  entirely  bare,  nearly  on  her 
bilge. 

"  Her  seams  have  opened  a  few  streaks  below  the  bends," 
said  Roswell,  as  he  and  Daggett  went  under  the  vessel's  bot- 
tom, looking  out  for  injuries;  "and  you  had  better  set 
about  getting  off  the  copper  at  once.  Has  there  been  an 
examination  made  inside?" 

None  had  yet  been  made,  and  our  two  masters  clam- 
bered up  to  the  main  hatch,  and  got  as  good  a  look  at  the 
state  of  things  in  the  hold,  as  could  be  thus  obtained.  So 
tremendous  had  been  the  pressure,  that  three  of  the  deck 
beams  were  broken.  They  would  have  been  driven  quite 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  271 

clear  of  their  fastenings,  had  not  the  wall  of  ice  at  each  end 
prevented  the  possibility  of  such  a  thing.  As  it  was,  the 
top-timbers  had  slightly  given  way,  and  the  seams  must 
have  been  opened  just  below  the  water-line.  When  the 
tide  came  in  again,  the  schooner  righted  of  course  ;  and  the 
opportunity  was  taken  to  pump  her  dry.  There  was  then 
no  leak  ;  another  proof  that  the  defective  places  must  be 
sought  above  the  present  water-line. 

With  the  knowledge  thus  obtained,  the  copper  was  re- 
moved, and  several  of  the  seams  examined.  The  condition 
of  the  pitch  and  oakum  pointed  out  the  precise  spots  that 
needed  attention,  and  the  calking-irons  were  immediately 
set  at  work.  In  about  a  week  the  job  was  completed,  as 
was  fancied,  the  copper  replaced,  and  the  schooner  was  got 
afloat  again.  Great  was  the  anxiety  to  learn  the  eifect  of 
what  had  been  done,  and  quite  as  great  the  disappoint- 
ment, when  it  was  found  that  there  was  still  a  serious  leak, 
that  admitted  too  much  water  to  think  of  going  to  sea  un- 
til it', was  stopped.  A  little  head-work,  however,  and  that 
on  the  part  of  Roswell,  speedily  gave  a  direction  to  the 
search  that  was  immediately  set  on  foot. 

11  This  leak  is  not  as  low  down  as  the  vessel's  bilge,"  he 
said  ;  "  for  the  water  did  not  run  out  of  her,  nor  into  her, 
until  we  got  her  afloat.  It  is  somewhere,  then,  between 
her  light-water  load-line  and  her  bilge.  Now  we  have  had 
all  the  copper  off,  and  the  seams  examined  in  the  wake  of 
this  section  of  the  vessel's  bottom,  from  the  fore-chains 
to  the  main  ;  and,  in  my  judgment,  it  will  be  found  that 
something  is  wrong  about  her  stem,  or  her  stern-post. 
Perhaps  one  of  her  wood  ends  has  started.  Such  a  thing 
might  very  well  have  happened  under  so  close  a  squeeze.' 

"  In  which  case  we  shall  have  to  lay  the  craft  ashore 
again,  and  go  to  work  anew,"  answered  Daggett.  "  I  see 
how  it  is  ;  you  do  not  like  the  delay,  and  are  thinking  of 
Deacon  Pratt  and  Oyster  Pond.  I  do  not  blame  you,  Gar'- 
ner ;  and  shall  never  whisper  a  syllable  ag'in  you,  or  your 
people,  if  you  sail  for  home  this  very  a'ternoon,  leaving  me 
and  mine  to  look  out  for  ourselves.  You've  stood  by  us 
nobly  thus  far ;  and  I  am  too  thankful  for  what  you  have 
done  already,  to  ask  for  more." 

Was  Daggett  sincere  in  these  professions  ?  To  a  certain 
point  he  was  ;  while  he  was  only  artful  on  others.  He 
wished  to  appear  jus't  and  magnanimous  ;  while,  in  secret, 
it  was  his  aim  to  work  on  the  better  feelings,  as  well  as  on 
the  pride  of  Gardiner,  and  thus  secure  his  services  in  get- 


272  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

ting  his  own  schooner  ready,  as  well  as  keep  him  in  sight 
until  a  certain  key  had  been  examined,  in  the  proceeds  of 
which  he  conceived  he  had  a  share,  as  well  as  in  those  of 
Sealer's  Land.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  even  in  the  strait 
in  which  he  was  now  placed,  with  so  desperate  a  prospect 
of  ever  getting  his  vessel  home  again,  this  man  clung  like 
a  leech  to  th'e  remotest  chance  of  obtaining  property,, 
There  is  a  bull-dog  tenacity  on  this  subject  among  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  great  American  family — the  god-like 
Anglo-Saxon — that  certainly  leads  to  great  results  in  one 
respect ;  but  which  it  is  often  painful  to.  regard,  and  never 
agreeable  to  any  but  themselves,  to  be  subject  to.  Of  this 
school  was  Daggett,  whom  no  dangers,  no  toil,  no  thoughts 
of  a  future,  could  divert  from  a  purpose  that  was  colored 
by  gold.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  other  nations  are  not 
just  as  mercenary  ;  many  are  more  so  ;  those  in  particular 
that  have  long  been  corrupted  by  vicious  governments. 
You  may  buy  half  a  dozen  Frenchmen,  for  instance,  more 
easily  than  one  Yankee  ;  but  let  the  last  actually  get  his 
teeth  into  a  dollar,  and  the  muzzle  of  the  ox  fares  worse  in 
the  jaws  of  the  bull-dog. 

Roswell  was  deeply  reluctant  to  protract  his  stay  in  the 
group  ;  but  professional  pride  would  have  prevented  him 
from  deserting  a  consort  under  such  circumstances,  had 
not  a  better  feeling  inclined  him  to  remain  and  assist  Dag- 
gett. It  is  true  the  last  had,  in  a  manner,  thrust  himself 
on  him,  and  the  connection  had  been  strangely  continued 
down  to  that  moment  ;  but  this  he  viewed  as  a  dispensa- 
tion of  Providence,  to  which  he  was  bound  to  submit.  The 
result  was  a  declaration  of  a  design  to  stand  by  his  com- 
panion as  long  as  there  was  any  hope  of  getting  the  in- 
jured craft  home. 

This  decision  pointed  at  once  to  the  delay  of  another 
week.  No  time  was  lost  in  vain  regrets,  however  ;  but  all 
hands  went  to  work  to  get  the  schooner  into  shallow 
water  again,  and  to  look  further  for  the  principal  leak. 
Accurate  trimming  and  pumping  showed  that  a  good  deal 
of  the  water  was  already  stopped  out ;  but  too  much  still 
entered  to  render  it  prudent  to  think  of  sailing  until  the 
injury  was  repaired.  This  time  the  schooner  was  not  suf- 
fered to  lie  on  her  bilge  at  all.  She  was  taken  into  water 
just  deep  enough  to  permit  her  to  stand  upright,  sustained 
by  shores,  while  the  tide  left  two  or  three  streaks  dry  for- 
ward ;  it  being  the  intention  to  wind  her,  should  the  ex* 
amination  forward  not  be  successful. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  273 

On  stripping  off  the  copper,  it  was  found  that  a  wood- 
end  had  indeed  started,  the  inner  edge  of  the  plank  having 
got  as  far  from  its  bed  as  where  the  outer  had  been  origi- 
nally placed.  This  opened  a  crack  through  which  a 
small  stream  of  water  must  constantly  pour,  each  hour 
rendering  the  leak  more  dangerous  by  loosening  the 
oakum,  and  raising  the  plank  from  its  curvature.  Once 
discovered,  however,  nothing  was  easier  than  to  repair  the 
damage.  It  remained  merely  to  butt-bolt  anew  the  wood- 
end,  drive  a  few  spikes,  calk,  and  replace  the  copper. 
Roswell,  who  was  getting  each  moment  more  and  more 
impatient  to  sail,  was  much  vexed  at  a  delay  that  really 
seemed  unavoidable,  as  it  arose  from  the  particular  posi- 
tion of  the  leak.  Placed  as  it  was,  in  a  manner,  between 
wind  and  water,  it  was  not  possible  to  work  at  it  more 
than  an  hour  each  tide  ;  and  the  staging  permitted  but 
two  hands  to  be  busy  at  the  same  time.  As  a  consequence 
of  these  embarrassments,  no  less  than  six  tides  came  in 
and  went  out,  before  the  stem  was  pronounced  tight  again. 
The  schooner  was  then  pumped  out,  and  the  vessel  was 
once  more  taken  into  deep  water.  This  time  it  was  found 
that  the  patience  and  industry  of  our  sealers  were  re- 
warded with  success  ;  no  leak  of  any  account  existing. 

"  She's  as  tight  as  a  bottle  with  a  sealed  cork,  Gar'ner,*" 
cried  Daggett,  a  few  hours  after  his  craft  was  at  her  an- 
chor, meeting  his  brother-master  at  his  own  gangway,  and 
shaking  hands  with  him  cordially.  "  I  owe  much  of  this 
to  you,  as  all  on  the  Vineyard  shall  know,  if  we  ever  get 
home  ag'in." 

"  I  am  rejoiced  that  it  turns  out  so,  Captain  Daggett," 
was  Roswell's  reply  ;  "  for  to  own  the  truth  to  you,  the 
fortnight  we  have  lost,  or  shall  lose,  before  we  get  you 
stowed  and  ready  to  sail  again,  has  made  a  great  change 
in  our  weather.  The  days  are  shortening  with  frightful 
rapidity,  and  the  great  bay  was  actually  covered  with  a 
skim  of  ice  this  very  morning.  The  wind  has  sent  in  a  sea 
that  has  broken  it  up  ;  but  look  about  you,  in  the  cove 
here — a  boy  might  walk  on  that  ice  near  the  rocks." 

"There'll  be  none  of  it  left  by  night,  and  the  two  crews 
will  fill  me  up  in  twenty-four  hours.  Keep  a  good  heart, 
Gar'ner  ;  I'll  take  you  clear  of  the  bergs  in  the  course  of 
a  week." 

"I  have  less  fear  of  the  bergs  now  than  of  the  new  ice 
and  the  floes.  The  islands  must  have  got  pretty  well  to 
the  northward  by  this  time  ;  but  each  night  gets  colder. 


«74  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

and  the  fields  seem  to  be  setting  back  toward  the  group, 
instead  of  away  from  it." 

Daggett  cheered  his  companion  by  a  good  deal  of  confi- 
dent talk  ;  but  Roswell  was  heartily  rejoiced  when,  at  the 
end  of  four-and-twenty  hours  more,  the  Vineyard  craft 
was  pronounced  entirely  ready.  It  was  near  the  close  of 
the  day,  and  Gardiner  was  for  sailing,  or  moving  at  once  : 
but  Daggett  offered  several  very  reasonable  objections. 
In  the  first  place,  there  was  no  wind  ;  and  Roswell's  prop- 
osition to  tow  the  schooners  out  into  the  middle  of  the  bay, 
was  met  by  the  objection  that  the  people  had  been  hard  at 
work  for  several  days,  and  thaf,  they  needed  some  rest.  All 
that  could  be  gained  by  moving  the  schooners  then,  was  to 
get  them  outside  of  the  skim  of  ice  that  now  regularly 
formed  every  still  night  near  the  land,  but  which  was  as 
regularly  broken  and  dispersed  by  the  waves,  as  soon 
as  the  wind  returned.  Roswell,  however,  did  not  like  the 
appearance  of  things  ;  and  he  determined  to  take  his  own 
craft  outside,  let  Daggett  do  as  he  might.  After  discuss- 
ing the  matter  in  vain,  therefore,  and  finding  that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  other  schooner  had  eaten  their  suppers  and 
turned  in,  he  called  all  hands,  and  made  a  short  address  to 
his  own  crew,  leaving  it  to  their  discretion  whether  to  man 
the  boats  or  not.  As  Roswell  had  pointed  out  the  perfect 
absence  of  wind,  the  smoothness  of  the  water,  and  the  ap- 
pearances of  a  severe  frost,  or  cold,  for  frost  there  was 
now,  almost  at  mid-day,  the  men  came  reluctantly  over  to 
his  view  of  the  matter,  and  consented  to  work  instead  of 
sleeping.  The  toil,  however,  could  be  much  lessened,  by 
dividing  the  crew  into  the  customary  watches.  All  that 
Roswell  aimed  at  was  to  get  his  schooner  about  a  league 
from  the  cove,  which  would  be  taking  her  without  a  line 
drawn  from  cape  to  cape,  the  greatest  danger  of  new  ice 
being  within  the  curvature  of  the  crescent.  This  he 
thought  might  easily  be  done  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  ; 
and  should  there  come  any  wind,  much  sooner.  On  ex- 
plaining this  to  the  crew,  the  men  were  satisfied. 

Roswell  Gardiner  felt  as  if  a  load  were  taken  off  his 
spirits,  when  his  schooner  was  clear  of  the  ground,  and  his 
mainsail  was  hoisted.  A  boat  was  got  ahead,  and  the  craft 
was  slowly  towed  out  of  the  cove,  the  canvas  doing  neither 
good  nor  harm.  As  the  vessel  passed  that  of  Daggett,  the 
last  was  on  deck,  the  only  person  visible  in  the  Vineyard 
craft.  He  wished  his  brother-master  a  good  night,  prom- 
ising to  be  out  as  soon  as  there  was  any  light  next  morning. 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  2-75 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  imagine  a  more  dreary  scene 
than  that  in  which  Deacon  Pratt's  schooner  moved  out 
into  the  waters  that  separated  the  different  islands  of  this 
remote  and  sterile  group.  Roswell  could  just  discern  the 
frowning  mass  of  rocks  that  crowned  the  centre  of  Sealer's 
Land  ;  and  that  was  soon  lost  in  the  increasing  obscurity. 
The  cold  was  getting  to  be  severe,  and  the  men  soon  com- 
plained that  ice  was  forming  on  the  blades  of  their  oars. 
Then  it  was  that  a  thought  occurred  to  our  young  mariner, 
which  had  hitherto  escaped  him.  Of  what  use  would  it  be 
for  his  vessel  to  be  beyond  the  ice,  if  that  of  Daggett  should 
be  shut  in  the  succeeding  day  ?  So  sensible  did  he  become 
to  the  importance  of  this  idea,  that  he  called  in  his  boat, 
and  pulled  back  into  the  cove,  in  order  to  make  one  more 
effort  to  persuade  Daggett  to  follow  him  out. 

Gardiner  found  all  of  the  Vineyarders  turned  in,  even  to 
their  officers.  The  fatigue  they  had  lately  undergone, 
united  to  the  cold,  rendered  the  berths  very  agreeable  ; 
and  even  Daggett  begged  his  visitor  would  excuse  him  for 
not  rising  to  receive  his  guest.  Argument  with  a  man 
thus  circumstanced,  and  so  disposed,  was  absolutely  use- 
less. After  remaining  a  short  time  with  Daggett,  RoswelL 
returned  to  his  own  schooner.  As  he  pulled  back,  he 
ascertained  that  ice  was  fast  making  ;  and  the  boat  actu- 
ally cut  its  way  through  a  thin  skim,  ere  it  reached  the 
vessel. 

Our  hero  was  now  greatly  concerned  lest  he  should  be 
frozen  in  himself,  ere  he  could  get  into  the  more  open 
water  of  the  bay.  Fortunately  a  light  air  sprung  up  from 
the  northward,  and  trimming  his  sails,  Gardiner  succeeded 
in  carrying  his  craft  to  a  point  where  the  undulations  of 
the  ground-swell  gave  the  assurance  of  her  being  outside 
the  segment  of  the  crescent  Then  he  brailed  his  foresail, 
hauled  the  jib-sheet  over,  lowered  his  gaff,  and  put  his 
helm  hard  down.  .After  this,  all  the  men  were  permitted 
to  seek  their  berths  ;  the  officers  locking  out  for  the  craft 
in  turns. 

It  wanted  but  an  hour  of  day,  when  the  second  mate 
gave  Roswell  a  call,  according  to  orders.  The  young  mas- 
ter found  no  wind,  but  an  intensely  cold  morning,  on  going 
on  deck.  Ice  had  formed  on  every  part  of  the  rigging 
and  sides  of  the  schooner  where  water  had  touched  them  ; 
though  the  stillness  of  the  night,  by  preventing  the  spray 
from  flying,  was  much  in  favor  of  the  navigators  in  this 
respect.  On  thrusting  a  boat-hook  down,  Roswell  ascer- 


*76  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

tained  that  the  bay  around  him  had  a  skim  of  ice  nearly 
an  inch  in  thickness.  This  caused  him  great  uneasiness  ; 
and  he  waited  with  the  greatest  anxiety  for  the  return  of 
light,  in  order  to  observe  the  condition  of  Daggett. 

Sure  enough,  when  the  day  came  out  distinctly,  it  was 
seen  that  ice  of  sufficient  thickness  to  bear  men  on -it,  cov- 
ered the  entire  surface  within  the  crescent.  Daggett  and 
his  people  were  already  at  work  on  it,  using  the  saw.  They 
must  have  taken  the  alarm  before  the  return  of  day  ;  for 
the  schooner  was  not  only  free  from  the  ground,  but  had 
been  brought  fully  a  cable's  length  without  the  cove.  Gar- 
diner watched  the  movements"  of.  Daggett  and  his  crew 
with  a  glass  for  a  short  time,  when  he  ordered  all  hands 
called.  The  cook  was  already  in  the  galley,  and  a  warm 
breakfast  was  soon  prepared.  After  eating  this,  the  two 
whale-boats  were  lowered,  and  Roswell  and  Hazard  both 
rowed  as  far  as  the  ice  would  permit  them,  when  they 
walked  the  rest  of  the  way  to  the  imprisoned  craft,  taking 
with  them  most  of  their  hands,  together  with  the  saw. 

It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for  Daggett  that  it  soon  began 
to  blow  fresh  from  the  northward,  sending  into  the  bay  a 
considerable  sea,  which  soon  broke  up  the  ice,  and  en- 
abled the  Vineyard  craft  to  force  her  way  through  the 
fragments,  and  join  her  consort  about  noon. 

Glad  enough  was  Roswell  to  regain  his  own  vessel  ;  and 
he  made  sail  on  a  wind,  determined  to  beat  out  of  the  nar- 
row waters  at  every  hazard,  the  experience  of  that  night 
having  told  him  that  they  had  remained  in  the  cove  too 
long.  Daggett  followed  willingly,  but  not  like  a  man  who 
had  escaped  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth,  from  wintering  near 
the  antarctic  circle. 


CHAPTER  XXII.    • 

"Beside  the  Moldau's  rushing  stream, 
With  the  wan  moon  overhead, 
There  stood,  as  in  an  awful  dream, 
The  army  of  the  dead." — LONGFELLOW. 

MOST  of  our  readers  will  understand  what  was  meant  by 
Mary  Pratt's  "  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane 
of  its  orbit  ;"  but  as  there  may  be  a  few  who  do  not,  and 
as  the  consequences  of  this  great  physical  fact  are  ma- 
terially connected  with  the  succeeding  events  of  the  narra- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  277 

tive,  we  propose  to  give  such  a  homely  explanation  of  the 
phenomenon  as  we  humbly  trust  will  render  it  clear  to  the 
most  clouded  mind.  The  orbit  of  the  earth  is  the  path 
which  it  follows  in  space  in  its  annual  revolution  around 
the  sun.  To  a  planet  there  is  no  up  or  down,  except  as 
ascent  and  descent  are  estimated  from  and  toward  itself. 
In  all  other  respects  it  floats  in  vacuum,  or  what  is  so 
nearly  so  as  to  be  thus  termed.  Now  let  the  uninstructed 
reader  imagine  a  large  circular  table,  with  a  light  on  its 
surface,  and  near  to  its  centre.  The  light  shall  represent 
the  sun,  the  outer  edge  of  the  circle  of  the  table  the  earth's 
orbit,  and  its  surface  the  plane  of  that  orbit.  In  nature 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  plane  at  all,  the  space  within 
the  orbit  being  vacant ;  but  the  surface  of  the  table  gives 
a  distinct  notion  of  the  general  position  of  the  earth  as  it 
travels  around  the  sun.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that 
the  axis  of  the  earth  is  an  imaginary  line  drawn  through 
the  planet,  from  one  pole  to  the  other  ;  the  name  being 
derived  from  the  supposition  that  our  daily  revolution  is 
made  on  this  axis. 

Now  the  first  thing  that  the  student  is  to  fix  in  his  mind, 
in  order  to  comprehend  the  phenomenon  of  the  seasons,  is 
the  leading  fact  that  the  earth  does  not  change  its  attitude 
in  space,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  when  it  changes  its  posi- 
tion. If  the  axis  were  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  the  or 
bit,  this  circumstance  would  not  affect  the  temperature,  as 
the  simplest  experiment  will  show.  Putting  the  equator 
of  a  globe  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  table,  and  holding  it 
perfectly  upright,  causing  it  to  turn  on  its  axis  as  it  passes 
round  the  circle,  it  would  be  found  that  the  light  from  the 
centre  of  the  table  would  illumine  just  one-half  of  the 
globe,  at  all  times  and  in  all  positions,  cutting  the  two 
poles.  Did  this  movement  correspond  with  that  of  nature, 
the  days  and  nights  would  be  always  of  the  same  length, 
and  there  would  be  no  changes  of  the  seasons,  the  warm- 
est weather  being  nearest  to  the  equator,  and  the  cold  in- 
creasing as  the  poles  were  approached.  Nowhere,  how- 
ever, would  the  cold  be  so  intense  as  it  now  is,  nor  would 
the  heat  be  so  great  as  at  present,  except  at  or  quite  near 
to  the  equator.  The  first  fact  would  be  owing  to  the  reg- 
ular return  of  the  sun,  once  in  twenty-four  hours  ;  the  last 
to  the  oblique  manner  in  which  its  rays  struck  this  orb,  in 
all  places  but  near  its  centre. 

But  the  globe  ought  not  to  be  made  to  move  around  the 
table  with  its  axis  perpendicular  to  its  surface,  or  to  the 


278  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

"plane  of  the  earth's  orbit"  In  point  of  fact,  the  earth  is 
inclined  to  this  plane,  and  the  globe  should  be  placed  at  a 
corresponding  inclination.  Let  the  globe  be  brought  to 
the  edge  of  the  table,  at  its  south  side,  and  with  its  upper 
or  north  pole  inclining  to  the  sun,  and  then  commence  the 
circuit,  taking  care  always  to  keep  this  north  pole  of  the 
globe  pointing  in  the  same  direction,  or  to -keep  the  globe 
itself  in  what  we  have  termed  a  fixed  attitude.  As  one 
half  of  the  globe  must  always  be  in  light,  and  the  other 
half  in  darkness,  this  inclination  from  the  perpendicular 
will  bring  the  circle  of  light  some  distance  beyond  the 
north  pole,  when  the  globe  is  due-south  from  the  light,  and 
will  leave  an  equal  space  around  the  opposite  pole  without 
any  light  at  all,  or  any  light  directly  received.  Now  it  is 
that  what  we  have  termed  the  fixed  attitude  of  the  globe  be- 
gins to  tell.  If  the  north  pole  inclined  toward  the  orbit 
facing  the  rim  of  the  table,  the  light  would  still  cut  the 
poles,  the  days  and  nights  would  still  be  equal,  and  there 
would  be  no  changes  in  the  seasons,  though  there  would 
be  a  rival  revolution  of  the  globe  by  causing  it  to  turn 
once  a  year,  shifting  the  poles  end  for  end.  The  inclina- 
tion being  to  the  surface  of  the  table,  or  to  \he  plane  of  the 
orbit,  the  phenomena  that  are  known  to  exist  are  a  conse- 
quence. Thus  it  is  that  the  change  in  the  seasons  is  as 
much  owing  to  the  fixed  attitude  of  the  earth  in  space,  as 
we  have  chosen  to  term  its  polar  directions,  as  to  the  in- 
clination of  its  axis.  Neither  would  produce  the  phenom- 
ena without  the  assistance  of  the  other,  as  our  experiment 
with  the  table  will  show. 

Place,  then,  the  globe  at  the  south  side  of  the  rim  of  the 
table,  with  its  axis  inclining  toward  its  surface,  and  its 
poles  always  pointing  in  the  same  general  direction,  not 
following  the  circuit  of  the  orbit,  and  set  it  in  motion 
toward  the  east,  revolving  rapidly  on  its  axis  as  it  moves. 
While  directly  south  of  the  light,  it  would  be  found  that 
the  north  pole  would  be  illuminated,  while  no  revolution 
on  the  axis  would  bring  the  south  pole  within  the  circle 
of  the  light.  This  is  when  a  line  drawn  from  the  axis  of 
the  globe  would  cut  the  lamp,  were  the  inclination  brought 
as  low  as  the  surface  of  the  table.  Next  set  the  globe  in 
motion,  following  the  rim  of  the  table,  and  proceeding  to 
the  east  or  right  hand,  keeping  its  axis  always  looking  in 
the  same  general  direction,  or  in  an  attitude  that  would 
be  parallel  to  a  north  and  south  line  drawn  through  the 
sun,  were  the  inclination  as  low  as  the  surface  of  the 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  279 

table.  This  movement  would  be,  in  one  sense,  sideways, 
the  circle  of  light  gradually  lessening  around  the  north 
pole,  and  extending  toward  the  south,  as  the  globe  pro- 
ceeded east  and  north,  diminishing  the  length  of  the  days 
in  the  northern  hemisphere,  and  increasing  them  in  the 
southern.  When  at  east,  the  most  direct  rays  of  the  light 
would  fall  on  the  equator,  and  the  light  would  cut  the  two 
poles,  rendering  the  days  and  nights  equal.  As  the  globe 
moved  north,  the  circle  of  light  would  be  found  to  increase 
around  the  south  pole,  while  none  at  all  touched  the  north. 
When  on  the  north  side  of  the  table,  the  northern  pole  of 
the  globe  would  incline  so  far  from  the  sun  as  to  leave  a 
space  around  it  in  shadow  that  would  be  of  precisely  the 
same  size  as  had  been  the  space  of  light  when  it  was  placed 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table.  Going  round  the  circle 
west,  the  same  phenomena  would  be  seen,  until  coming 
directly  south  of  the  lamp,  the  north  pole  would  again  come 
into  light  altogether,  and  the  south  equally  into  shadow. 

Owing  to  this  very  simple  but  very  wonderful  provision 
of  divine  power  and  wisdom,  this  earth  enjoys  the  relief 
of  the  changes  ih  the  seasons,  as  well  as  the  variations  in 
the  length  of  the  days.  For  one  half  the  year,  or  from 
equinox  to  equinox,  from  the  time  when  the  globe  is  at  a 
due-west  point  of  the  table  until  it  reaches  the  east,  the 
north  pole  would  always  receive  the  light,  in  a  circle 
around  it,  that  would  gradually  increase  and  diminish  ;  and 
for  the  other  half,  the  same  would  be  true  of  the  other 
hemisphere.  Of  course  there  is  a  precise  point  on  the 
earth  where  this  polar  illumination  ceases.  The  shape  of 
the  illuminated  part  is  circular ;  and  placing  the  point  of 
a  pencil  on  ftie  globe  at  the  extremest  spot  on  the  circle, 
holding  it  there  while  the  globe  is  turned  on  its  axis,  the 
lines  made  would  just  include  the  portions  of  the  earth 
around  the  globe  that  thus  receives  the  rays  of  the  sun  at 
midsummer.  These  lines  compose  what  are  termed  the 
arctic  and  antarctic  circles,  with  the  last  of  which  our 
legend  has  now  a  most  serious  connection.  After  all,  we 
are  by  no  means  certain  that  we  have  made  our  meaning 
as  obvious  as  we  could  wish,  it  being  very  difficult  to  ex- 
plain phenomena  of  this  nature  clearly,  without  actually 
experimenting. 

It  is  usual  to  say  that  there  are  six  months  day  and  six 
months  night  in  the  polar  basins.  This  is  true,  literally, 
at  the  poles  only ;  but,  approximately,  it  is  true  as  a  whole. 
We  apprehend  that  few  persons — none,  perhaps,  but  those 


28o  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

who  fire  in  habits  of  study — form  correct  notions  of  the 
extent  of  what  may  be  termed  the  icy  seas.  As  the  polar 
circles  are  in  23°  28'',  a  line  drawn  through  the  south  pole, 
for  instance,  commencing  on  one  side  of  the  earth  at  the 
antarctic  circle,  and  extending  to  the  other,  would  traverse 
a  distance  materially  exceeding  that  between  New  York 
and  Lisbon.  This  would  make  those  frozen  regions  coyer 
a  portion  of  this  globe  that  is  almost  as  large  as  the  whole 
of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  as  far  south  as  the  equator.  Any 
one  can  imagine  what  must  be  the  influence  of  frost  over 
so  vast  a  surface,  in  reproducing  itself,  since  the  presence 
of  icebergs  is  thought  to  affect  our  climate,  when  many  of 
them  drift  far  south  in  summer.  As  power  produces 
power,  riches  wealth,  so  does  cold  produce  cold.  Fill,  then, 
in  a  certain  degree,  a  space  as  large  as  the  North  Atlantic 
Ocean  with  ice  in  all  its  varieties,  fixed,  mountain  and 
field,  berg  and  floe,  and  one  may  get  a  tolerably  accurate 
notion  of  the  severity  of  its  winters,  when  the  sun  is 
scarce  seen  above  the  horizon  at  all,  and  then  only  to  shed 
its  rays  so  obliquely  as  to  be  little  better  than  a  chill-look- 
ing orb  of  light,  placed  in  the  heavens  simply  to  divide 
the  day  from  the  night. 

This,  then,  was  the  region  that  Roswell  Gardiner  was  so 
very  anxious  to  leave  ;  the  winter  he  so  much  dreaded- 
Mary  Pratt  was  before  him,  to  say  nothing  of  his  duty  to 
the  deacon  ;  while  behind  him  was  the  vast  polar  ocean 
just  described,  about  to  be  veiled  in  the  freezing  obscurity 
of  its  long  and  gloomy  twilight,  if  not  of  absolute  night. 
No  wonder,  therefore,  that  when  he  trimmed  his  sails  that 
evening,  to  beat  out  of  the  great  bay,  it  was  done  with  the 
earnestness  with  which  we  all  perform  duties  of  the  highest 
import,  when  they  are  known  to  affect  our  well-being, 
visibly  and  directly. 

"  Keep  her  a  good  full,  Mr.  Hazard,"  said  Roswell,  as  he 
was  leaving  the  deck,  to  take  the  first  sleep  in  which  he 
had  indulged  for  four-and-twenty  hours  ;  "and  let  her  go 
through  the  water.  We  are  behind  our  time,  and  must 
keep  in  motion.  Give  me  a  call  if  anything  like  ice  ap- 
pears in  a  serious  way." 

Hazard  "  ay-ay'd"  this  order,  as  usual,  buttoned  his  pea- 
jacket  tighter  than  ever,  and  saw  his  young  superior- — the 
transcendental  delicacy  of  the  day  is  causing  the  differ- 
ence in  rank  to  be  termed  "senior  and  junior" — but  Hazard 
saw  his  superior  go  below  with  a  feeling  allied  to  envy,  so 
heavv  were  his  evelids  with  the  want  of  rest.  Stimsoo 


THE  SEA    LIONS.  281 

was  in  the  first-mate's  watch,  and  the  latter  approached 
that  old  sea-dog  with  a  wish  to  keep  himself  awake  by 
conversing. 

"You  seem  as  wide  awake,  king  Stephen,"  the  mate  re- 
marked, ''as  if  you  never  felt  drowsy  !  " 

"  This  is  not  a  part  of  the  world  for  hammocks  and 
berths,  Mr.  Hazard,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  can  get  along,  and 
must  get  along,  with  a  quarter  part  of  the  sleep  in  these 
seas  as  would  sarve  me  in  a  low  latitude." 

"  And  I  feel  as  if  I  wanted  all  I  can  get.  Them  fellows 
look  up  well  into  our  wake,  Stephen." 

"  They  do,  indeed,  sir,  and  they  ought  to  do  it ;  for  we 
have  been  longer  than  is  for  our  good  in  their'n." 

"  Well,  now  we  have  got  a  fresh  start,  I  hope  we  may 
make  a  clear  run  of  it.  I  saw  no  ice  worth  "speaking  of  to 
the  nor'ard  here,  before  we  made  sail." 

"Because  you  see'd  none,  Mr.  Hazard,  is  no  proof  there 
is  none.  Floe-ice  can't  be  seen  at  any  great  distance, 
though  its  blink  may.  But  it  seems  to  me,  it's  all  blink  in 
these  here  seas  !  " 

"There  you're  quite  right,  Stephen  ;  for  turn  which  way 
vou  will,  the  horizon  has  a  show  of  that  sort — 

"  Starboard  !  "  called  out  the  lookout  forward — "  keep 
her  away — keep  her  away — there  is  ice  ahead." 

"  Ice  in  here  !  "  exclaimed  Hazard,  springing  forward — 
"  That  is  more  than  we  bargained  for  !  Where  away  is 
your  ice,  Smith? " 

"  Off  here,  sir,  on  our  weather  bow — and  a  mortal  big 
field  of  it — jist  sich  a  chap  as  nipped  the  Vineyard  Lion, 
when  she  first  came  in  to  join  us.  Sich  a  fellow  as  that 
would  take  the  sap  out  of  our  bends,  as  a  squeezer  takes 
the  juice  from  a  lemon  !  " 

Smith  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  which  was  probably  the 
reason  why  he  introduced  this  figure.  Hazard  saw  the 
ice  with  regret,  for  he  had  hoped  to  work  the  schooner 
fairly  out  to  sea  in  his  watch  ;  but  the  field  was  getting 
down  through  the  passage  in  a  way  that  threatened  to  cut 
off  the  exit  of  the  two  schooners  from  the  bay.  Daggett 
kept  close  in  his  wake,  a  proof  that  this  experienced  navi- 
gator in  such  waters  saw  no  means  to  turn  farther  to  wind- 
ward. As  the  wind  was  now  abeam,  both  vessels  drove 
rapidly  ahead  ;  and  in  half  an  hour  the  northern  point  of 
the  land  they  had  so  lately  left  came  into  view  close  aboard 
of  them.  Just  then  the  moon  rose,  and  objects  became 
more  clearly  visible. 


282  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Hazard  haiied  the  Vineyard  Lion  and  demanded  what 
was  to  be  done.  It  was  possible,  by  hauling  close  on  a 
wind,  to  pass  the  cape  a  short  distance  to  windward  of  it, 
and  seemingly  thus  clear  the  floe.  Unless  this  were  done 
both  vessels  would  be  compelled  to  wear,  and  run  for  the 
southern  passage,  which  would  carry  them  many  miles  to 
leeward,  and  might  place  them  a  long  distance  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the  group. 

"  Is  Captain  Gar'ner  on  deck  ?  "  asked  Daggett,  who  had 
now  drawn  close  up  on  the  lee-quarter  of  his  consort, 
Hazard  having  brailed  his  foresail  and  laid  his  topsail  sharp 
aback,  to  enable  him  to  do  so — "  If  he  isn't,  I'd  advise  you 
to  give  him  a  call  at  once." 

This  was  done  immediately  ;  and  while  it  was  doing 
the  Vineyard  tion  swept  past  the  Oyster  Pond  schooner. 
Roswell  announced  his  presence  on  deck  just  as  the  other 
vessel  cleared  his  bows. 

"  There's  no  time  to  consult,  Gar'ner,"  answered  Dag- 
gett. "  There's  our  road  before  us.  Go  through  it  we 
must,  or  stay  where  we  are  until  that  field-ice  gives  us  a 
jam  down  yonder  in  the  crescent.  I  will  lead,  and  you  can 
follow  as  soon  as  your  eyes  are  open." 

One  glance  let  Roswell  into  the  secret  of  his  situation. 
He  liked  it  little,  but  he  did  not  hesitate. 

"  Fill  the  topsail  and  haul  aft  the  foresheet,"  were  the 
quiet  orders  that  proclaimed  what  he  intended  to  do. 

Both  vessels  stood  on.  By  some  secret  process  every 
man  on  board  the  two  craft  became  aware  of  what  was  go- 
ing on,  and  appeared  on  deck.  All  hands  were  not  called, 
nor  was  there  any  particular  noise  to  attract  attention  ; 
but  the  word  had  been  whispered  below  that  there  was  & 
great  risk  to  run.  A  risk  it  was,  of  a  verity  !  It  was  neces- 
sary to  stand  close  along  that  iron-bound  coast  where  the 
seals  had  so  lately  resorted,  for  a  distance  of  several  miles. 
The  wind  would  not  admit  of  the  schooners  steering  much 
more  than  a  cable's  length  from  the  rocks  for  quite  a 
league  ;  after  which  the  shore  trended  to  the  southward, 
and  a  little  sea-room  would  be  gained.  But  on  those  rocks 
the  waves  were  then  beating  heavily,  and  their  bellowings 
as  they  rolled  into  the  cavities  were  at  almost  all  times 
terrific.  There  was  some  relief,  however,  in  the  knowl- 
edge obtained  of  the  shore,  by  having  frequently  passed 
up  and  down  it  in  the  boats.  It  was  known  that  the  water 
was  deep  close  to  the  visible  rocks,  and  that  there  was  no 
danger  so  long  as  a  vessel  could  keep  off  them. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  283 

No  one  spoke.  Every  eye  was  strained  to  discern  ob- 
jects ahead,  or  was  looking  astern  to  trace  the  expected 
collision  between  the  ice-floe  and  the  low  promontory  of 
the  cape.  The  ear  soon  gave  notice  that  this  meeting  had 
already  taken  place  ;  for  the  frightful  sound  that  attended 
the  cracking  and  rending  of  the  field  might  have  been 
heard  fully  a  league.  Now  it  was  that  each  schooner  did 
her  best.  Yards  were  braced  up,  sheets  flattened,  and  the 
helm  tended.  The  close  proximity  of  the  rocks  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  secret  presentiment  of  there  being  more 
field-ice  on  the  other,  kept  every  one  wide  awake.  The 
two  masters,  in  particular,  were  all  eyes  and  ears.  It  was 
getting  to  be  very  cold  ;  and  the  sort  of  shelter  aloft  that 
goes  by  the  quaint  name  of  "crow's-nest,"  had  been  fitted 
up  in  each  vessel.  A  mate  was  now  sent  irlto  each,  to  as- 
certain what  might  be  discovered  to  windward.  Almost  at 
the  same  instant  these  young  seamen  hailed  their  respective 
decks,  and  gave  notice  that  a  wide  field  was  coming  in 
upon  them,  and  must  eventually  crush  them  unless  avoided. 
This  startling  intelligence  reached  the  two  commanders  in 
the  very  same  moment.  The  emergency  demanded  de- 
cision, and  each  man  acted  for  himself.  Roswell  ordered 
his  helm  put  doum,  and  his  schooner  tacked.  The  water 
was -not  rough  enough  to  prevent  the  success  of  the  ma- 
noeuvre. On  the  other  hand,  Daggett  kept  a  rap  full,  and 
stood  on.  Roswell  manifested  the  most  judgment  and  sea- 
manship. He  was  now  far  enough  from  the  cape  to  beat 
to  windward  ;  and,  by  going  nearer  to  the  enemy,  he  might 
always  run  along  its  southern  boundary,  profit  by  any 
opening,  and  would  be  by  as  much  as  he  could  thus  gain 
to  windward  of  the  coast.  Daggett  had  one  advantage. 
By  standing  on,  in  the  event  of  a  return  becoming  neces- 
sary, he  would  gain  in  time.  In  ten  minutes  the  two 
schooners  were  a  mile  asunder.  We  shall  first  follow  that 
of  Roswell  Gardiner's  in  his  attempt  to  escape. 

The  first  floe,  which  was  ripping  and  tearing  one  of  its 
angles  into  fragments,  as  it  came  grinding  down  on  the 
cape,  soon  compelled  the  vessel  to  tack.  Making  short 
reaches,  Roswell  ere  long  found  himself  fully  a  mile  to 
windward  of  the  rocks,  and  sufficiently  near  to  the  new  floe 
to  discern  its  shape,  drift,  and  general  character.  Its  east- 
ern end  had  lodged  upon  the  field  that  first  came  in,  and 
was  adding  to  the  vast  momentum  with  which  that  enor- 
mous floe  was  pressing  down  upon  the  cape.  Large  as 
was  the  first  visitor  to  the  bay,  this  was  of  at  least  twice  if 


284  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

not  of  thrice  its  dimensions.  What  gave  Roswell  the  most 
concern  was  the  great  distance  that  this  field  extended  to 
the  westward.  He  went  up  into  the  crow's-nest  himself, 
and  aided  by  the  light  of  a  most  brilliant  moon,  and  a  sky 
without  a  cloud,  he  could  perceive  the  blink  of  ice  in  that 
direction,  as  he  fancied,  for  fully  two  leagues.  What  was 
unusual,  perhaps,  at  that  early  season  of  the  year,  these 
Hoes  did  not  consist  of  a  vast  collection  of  numberless 
cakes  of  ice  ;  but  the  whole  field,  so  far  as  could  then  be 
ascertained,  was  firm  and  united.  The  nights  were  now  so 
cold  that  ice  made  fast  wherever  there  was  water  ;  and  it 
occurred  to  our  young  master  that,  possibly,  fragments 
that  had  once  been  separated  and  broken  by  the  waves, 
might  have  become  reunited  by  the  agency  of  the  frost. 
Roswell  descended  from  the  crow's-nest  half  chilled  by  a 
cutting  wind,  though  it  blew  from  a  warm  quarter.  Sum 
moning  his  mates,  he  asked  their  advice. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  Hazard  replied, 
"  there's  very  little  choice.  Here  we  are,  so  far  as  I  can 
make  it  out,  embayed,  and  we  have  only  to  box  about  until 
daylight  comes,  when  some  chance  may  turn  up  to  help 
us.  If  so,  we  must  turn  it  to  account ;  if  not,  we  must 
make  up  our  minds  to  winter  here." 

This  was  coolly  and  calmly  said  ;  though  it  was  clear 
enough  that  Hazard  was  quite  in  earnest. 

"You  forget  there  may  be  an  open  passage  to  the  west- 
ward, Mr.  Hazard,"  Roswell  rejoined,  "and  that  we  may 
yet  pass  out  to  sea  by  it.  Captain  Daggett  is  already  out 
of  sight  in  the  western  board,  and  we  may  do  well  to  stand 
on  after  him." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir — I  know  all  that,  Captain  Gar'ner,  and  it 
may  be  as  you  say  ;  but  when  I  was  aloft,  half  an  hour 
since,  if  there  wasn't  the  blink  of  ice  in  that  direction,  quite 
round  to  the  back  of  the  island,  there  wasn't  the  blink  of 
ice  nowhere  hereabouts.  I'm  used  to  the  sight  of  it,  and 
can't  well  be  mistaken." 

"  There  is  always  ice  on  that  side  of  the  land,  Hazard, 
and  you  may  have  seen  the  blink  of  the  bergs  which  have 
hugged  the  cliffs  in  that  quarter  all  summer.  Still  that  is 
not  proving  we  shall  find  no  outlet.  This  craft  can  go 
through  a  very  small  passage,  and  we  must  take  care  and 
find  one  in  proper  time.  Wintering  here  is  out  of  the 
question.  A  hundred  reasons  tell  us  not  to  think  of  such 
a  thing,  besides  the  interests  of  our  owners.  We  are 
walking  along  this  floe  pretty  fast,  though  I  think  the 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  285 

vessel  is  tuo  much  by  the  head  ;  don't  it  strike  you  so, 
Hazard  ? " 

"Lord,  sir,  it's  nothing  but  the  ice  that  has  made,  and 
is  making  for'ard  !  Before  we  got  so  near  the  field  as  to 
find  a  better  lee,  the  little  lipper  that  came  athwart  our 
bows  froze  almost  as  soon  as  it  wet  us.  I  do  suppose,  sir, 
there  are  now  several  tons  of  ice  on  our  bows,  counting 
from  channel  to  channel,  forward." 

On  an  examination  this  proved  to  be  true,  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  circumstance  did  not  at  all  contribute 
to  Gardiner's  feeling  of  security.  Fie  saw  there  was  no 
time  to  be  lost,  and  he  crowded  sail  with  a  view  of  forcing 
the  vessel  past  the  dangers  if  possible,  and  of  getting  her 
into  a  milder  climate.  But  even  a  fast-sailing  schooner 
will  scarcely  equal  our  wishes  under  such  circumstances. 
There  was  no  doubt  that  the  Sea  Lion's  speed  was  getting 
to  be  affected  by  the  manner  in  which  her  bows  were 
weighed  down  by  ice,  in  addition  to  the  discomfort  pro- 
duced by  cold,  damp,  and  the  presence  of  a  slippery  sub- 
stance on  the  deck  and  rigging.  Fortunately  there  was 
not  much  spray  flying,  or  matters  would  have  been  much 
worse.  As  it  was,  they  were  bad  enough,  and  very  omi- 
nous of  future  evil. 

While  the  Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  was  running  along 
the  margin  of  the  ice  in  the  manner  just  described,  and 
after  the  blink  to  the  westward  had  changed  to  a  visible 
field,  making  it  very  uncertain  whether  any  egress  was  to 
be  found  in  that  quarter  or  not,  an  opening  suddenly  ap- 
peared trending  to  the  northward,  and  sufficiently  wide,  as 
Roswell  thought,  to  enable  h'im  to  beat  through  it.  Put- 
ting his  helm  down,  his  schooner  came  heavily  round,  and 
was  filled  on  a  course  that  soon  carried  her  half  a  mile  into 
this  passage.  At  first,  everything  seemed  propitious,  the 
channel  rather  opening  than  otherwise,  while  the  course 
was  such — north-northwest — as  enabled  the  vessel  to  make 
very  long  legs  on  one  tack,  and  that  the  best.  After  going 
about  four  or  five  times,  however,  all  these  flattering 
symptoms  suddenly  changed,  by  the  passage  terminating 
in  a  cul  de  sac.  Almost  at  the  same  instant  the  ice  closed 
rapidly  in  the  schooner's  wake.  An  effort  was  made  to 
run  back,  but  it  failed  in  consequence  of  an  enormous 
floe's  turning  on  its  centre  having  met  resistance  from  a 
field  closer  in,  that  was,  in  its  turn,  stopped  by  the  rocks. 
Roswell  saw  at  once  that  nothing  could  be  done  at  the 
moment.  He  took  in  all  his  canvas,  as  well  as  the  frozen 


286  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

cloth  could  be  handled,  got  out  ice-anchors  and  hauled 
his  vessel  into  a  species  of  cove  where  there  would  be  the 
least  danger  of  a  nip,  should  the  fields  continue  to  close. 

All  this  time  Daggett  was  as  busy  as  a  bee.  He  rounded 
the  headland,  and  flattered  himself  that  he  was  about  to 
.slip  past  all  the  rocks  and  get  out  into  open  water,  when 
the  vast  fields  of  which  the  blink  had  been  seen  even  by 
those  in  the  other  vessels,  suddenly  stretched  themselves 
across  his  course  in  a  way  that  set  at  defiance  all  attempts 
to  go  any  further  in  that  direction.  Daggett  wore  round 
and  endeavored  to  return.  This  was  by  no  means  so  easy 
as  it  was  to  go  down  before  the  wind,  and  his  bows  were 
also  much  encumbered  with  ice  ;  more  so,  indeed,  than 
those  of  the  other  schooner.  Once  or  twice  his  craft 
missed  stays  in  consequence  of  getting  so  much  by  the 
head,  and  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  heave-to  and  take 
to  the  axes.  A  great  deal  of  extra  and  cumbrous  weight 
was  gotten  rid  of,  but  an  hour  of  most  precious  time  was 
lost. 

By  the  time  Daggett  was  ready  to  make  sail  again,  he 
found  his  return  round  the  headland  was  entirely  cut  off, 
oy  the  field's  having  come  in  absolute  contact  with  the 
rocks. 

It  was  now  midnight,  and  the  men  on  board  both  vessels 
required  rest.  A\vatch  was  set  in  each,  and  most  of  the 
people  were  permitted  to  turn  in.  Of  course,  proper 
look-outs  were  had,  but  the  light  of  the  moon  was  not 
sufficiently  distinct  to  render  it  safe  to  make  any  final 
efforts  under  its  favor.  No  great  alarm  was  felt,  there 
being  nothing  unusual  in  the  vessel's  being  embayed  in 
the  ice  ;  and  so  long  as  she  was  not  nipped  or  pressed 
upon  by  actual  contact,  the  position  was  thought  safe 
rather  than  the  reverse.  It  was  desirable,  moreover,  for 
the  schooners  to  communicate  with  each  other  ;  for  some 
advantage  might  be  known  to  one  of  the  masters  that  was 
concealed  by  distance  from  his  companion.  Without  con- 
cert, therefore,  Roswell  and  Daggett  came  to  the  same 
general  conclusions,  and  waited  patiently. 

The  day  came  at  last,  cold  and  dreary,  though  not  al- 
together without  the  relief:  of  an  air  that  blew  from  regions 
far  warmer  than  the  ocean  over  which  it  was  now  travelling. 
Then  the  two  schooners  became  visible  from  each  other, 
and  Roswell  saw  the  jeopardy  of  Daggett,  and  Daggett  saw 
the  jeopardy  of  Roswell.  The  vessels  were  little  more 
than  a  mile  apart,  but  the  situation  of  the  Vineyard  Lion 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  2^7 

was  much  the  most  critical.  She  had  made  fast  to  the  floe, 
but  her  support  itself  was  in*  a  steady  and  most  imposing 
motion.  As  soon  as  Roswell  saw  the  manner  in  which  his 
consort  was  surrounded,  and  the  very  threatening  aspect 
of  the  danger  that  pressed  upon  him,  his  first  impulse  was 
to  hasten  to  him,  with  a  party  of  his  own  people,  to  offer 
any  assistance  he  could  give.  After  looking  at  the  ice  im- 
mediately around  his  own  craft,  where  all  seemed  to  be 
right,  he  called  over  the  names  of  six  of  his  men,  ordered 
them  to  eat  a  warm  breakfast,  and  to  prepare  to  accompany 
him. 

In  twenty  minutes,  Roswell  was  leading  his  little  party 
across  the  ice,  each  man  carrying  an  axe,  or  some  other  im- 
plement that  it  was  supposed  might  be  of  use.  It  was  by 
no  means  difficult  to  proceed  ;  for  the  surface  of  the  floe, 
one  seemingly  more  than  a  league  in  extent,  was  quite 
smooth,  and  the  snow  on  it  wras  crusted  to  a  strength  that 
would  have  borne  a  team. 

"The  water  between  the  ice  and  the  rocks  is  a  much 
narrower  strip  than  I  had  thought,"  said  Roswell,  to  his 
constant  attendant  Stimson.  "Here  it  does  not  appear  to 
be  a  hundred  yards  in  width." 

"  Nor  is  it,  sir — whew — this  trotting  in  so  cold  a  climate 
makes  a  man  puff  like  a  whale  blowing — but,  Captain  Gar'- 
ner,  that  schooner  will  be  cut  in  two  before  we  can  get  to 
her.  Look,  sir;  the  floe  has  reached  the  rocks  already, 
quite  near  her,  and  it  does  not  stop  the  drift  at  all,  seem- 
ingly." 

Roswell  made  no  reply  ;  the  state  of  the  Vineyard  Lion 
did  appear  to  be  much  more  critical  than  he  had  previous- 
ly imagined.  Until  he  came  nearer  to  the  land,  he  had 
formed  no  notion  of  the  steady  power  with  which  the  field 
was  setting  down  on  the  rocks  on  which  the  broken  frag- 
ments were  now  creeping  like  creatures  endowed  with 
life.  Occasionally,  there  would  be  loud  disruptions,  and 
the  movement  of  the  floe  would  become  more  rapid  ;  then, 
again,  a  sort  of  pause  would  succeed,  and  for  a  moment 
the  approaching  party  felt  a  gleam  of  hope.  But  all  ex- 
pectations of  this  sort  were  doomed  to  be  disappointed. 

"  Look,  sir,"  exclaimed  Stimson — "  she  went  down  afore 
it  twenty  fathoms  at  that  one  set.  She  must  be  awful  near 
the  rocks,  sir." 

All  the  men  now  stopped.  They  knew  they  were  pow- 
erless ;  and  intense  anxiety  rendered  them  averse  to  move. 
Attention  appeared  to  interfere  with  their  walking  on  the 


288  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

ice  ;  and  each  held  his  breath  in  expectation.'  They  saw 
that  the  schooner,  then  less  than  a  cable's  length  from 
them,  was  close  to  the  rocks  ;  and  the  next  ^shock,  if  any- 
thing like  the  last,  must  overwhelm  her.  To  their  aston- 
ishment, instead  of  being  nipped,  the  schooner  rose  by  a 
stately  movement  that  was  not  without  grandeur,  upheld 
by  broken  cakes  that  had  got  beneath  her  bottom,  and 
fairly  reached  the  shelf  of  rocks  almost  unharmed.  Not 
a  man  had  left  her  ;  but  there  she  was,  placed  on  the 
shore,  some  twenty  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea,  on 
rocks  worn  smooth  by  the  action  of  the  waves  !  Had  the 
season  been  propitious,  and  did  the  injury  stop  here,  it 
might  have  been  possible  to  get  the  craft  into  the  water 
again,  and  still  carry  her  to  America. 

But  the  floe  was  not  yet  arrested.  Cake  succeeded  cake, 
one  riding  over  another,  until  a  wall  of  ice  rose  along  the 
shore,  that  Roswell  and  his  companions,  with  all  their 
activity  and  courage,  had  great  difficulty  in  crossing. 
They  succeeded  in  getting  over  it,  however ;  but  when 
they  reached  the  unfortunate  schooner,  she  was  literally 
buried.  The  masts  were  broken,  the  sails  torn,  rigging 
scattered,  and  sides  stove.  The  Sea  Lion  of  Martha's  Vine- 
yard was  a  worthless  wreck — worthless  as  to  all  purposes 
but  that  of  being  converted  into  materials  for  a  smaller 
craft,  or  to  be  used  as  fuel. 

All  this  had  been  done  in  ten  minutes  !  Then  it  was 
that  the  vast  superiority  of  nature  over  the  resources  of 
man  made  itself  apparent.  The  people  of  the  two  vessels 
stood  aghast  with  this  sad  picture  of  their  own  insignifi- 
cance before  their  eyes.  The  crew  of  the  wreck,  it  is  true, 
had  escaped  without  difficulty  ;  the  movement  having 
been  as  slow  and  steady  as  it  was  irresistible.  But  there 
they  were,  in  the  clothes  they  had  on,  with  all  their  effects 
buried  under  piles  of  ice  that  were  already  thirty  or  forty 
feet  in  height. 

"  She  looks  as  if  she  was  built  there,  Gar'ner  !  "  Daggett 
coolly  observed,  as  he  stood  regarding  the  scene  with  eyes 
as  intently  riveted  on  the  wreck  as  human  organs  were 
ever  fixed  on  any  object.  "  Had  a  man  told  me  this  could 
happen,  I  would  not  have  believed  him  !  " 

"  Had  she  been  a  three-decker,  this  ice  would  have 
treated  her  in  the  same  way.  There  is  a  force  in  such  a 
field  that  walls  of  stone  could  not  withstand." 

"Captain  Gar'ner — Captain  Gar'ner,"  called  out  Stim- 
son,  hastily  ;  "  we'd  better  go  back,  sir  ;  our  own  craft  is 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  289 

in  danger.  She  is  drifting  fast  in  toward  the  cape,  and 
may  reach  it  afore  v\e  can  get  to  her  1 '' 

Sure  enough,  it  was  so.  In  one  of  the  changes  that  are 
so  unaccountable  among  the  ice,  the  floe  had  taken  a  sud- 
den and  powerful  direction  toward  the  entrance  of  the 
Great  Bay.  It  was  probably  owing  to  the  circumstance 
that  the  inner  field  had  forced  its  way  past  the  cape,  and 
made  room  for  its  neighbor  to  follow.  A  few  of  Dag- 
gett's  people,  with  Daggett  himself,  remained  to  see  what 
might  yet  be  saved  from  the  wreck  ;  but  all  the  rest  of  the 
men  started  for  the  cape,  toward  which  the  Oyster  Pond 
craft  was  now  directly  setting.  The  distance  was  less  than 
a  league  ;  and,  as  yet,  there  was  not  mucb  snow  on  the 
rocks.  By  taking  an  upper  shelf,  it  was  possible  to  make 
pretty  good  progress  ;  and  such  was  the  manner  of  Ros- 
well's  present  march. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  sight  to  see  the  coast  along 
which  our  party  was  hastening,  just  at  that  moment.  As 
the  cakes  of  ice  were  broken  from  the  field,  they  were 
driven  upward  by  the  vast  pressure  from  without,  and  the 
whole  line  of  the  shore  seemed  as  if  alive  with  creatures 
that  were  issuing  from  the  ocean  to  clamber  on  the  rocks. 
Roswell  had  often  seen  that  very  coast  peopled  with  seals, 
as  it  now  appeared  to  be  in  activity  with  fragments  of  ice, 
that  were  writhing,  and  turning,  and  rising,  one  upon 
another,  as  if  possessed  of  the  vital  principle. 

In  half  an  hour  Roswell  and  his  pgrty  reached  the 
house.  The  schooner  was  then  less  than  half  a  mile  from 
the  spot,  still  setting  in,  along  with  the  outer  field,  but  not 
nipped.  So  far  from  being  in  danger  of  such  a  calamity, 
the  little  basin  in  which  she  lay  had  expanded,  instead  of 
closing  ;  and  it  would  have  been  possible  to  handle  a 
quick-working  craft  in  it,  under  her  canvas.  An  exit,  how- 
ever, was  quite  out  of  the  question  ;  there  being  no  sign 
of  any  passage  to  or  from  that  icy  dock.  There  the  craft 
still  lay,  anchored  to  the  weather-floe,  while  the  portion  of 
her  crew  which  remained  on  board  was  as  anxiously  watch- 
ing the  coast  as  those  who  were  on  the  coast  watched  her. 
At  first,  Roswell  gave  his  schooner  up  ;  but  on  closer  ex- 
amination found  reason  to  hope  that  she  might  pass  the 
rocks,  and  enter  the  inner,  rather  than  the  Great  Bay. 

19 


290  THE   SEA   LIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

"  To  prayer  ;--for  the  glorious  sun  is  gone, 
And  the  gathering  darkness  of  night  comes  on  ; 
Like  a  curtain  from  God's  kind  hand  it  flows, 
To  shade  the  couch  where  his  children  repose. 
Then  kneel,  while  the  watching  stars  are  bright, 
And  give  your  last  thoughts  to  the  guardian  of  night." — WARE. 

DESOLATED  indeed,  and  nearly  devoid  of  hope,  had  the  - 
situation  of  our  sealers  now  become.  It  was  midday,  and 
it  was  freezing  everywhere  in  the  shade.  A  bright  genial 
sun  was  shedding  its  glorious  rays  on  the  icy  panorama  ; 
but  it  was  so  obliquely  as  to  be  of  hardly  any  use  in  dis- 
pelling the  frosts.  Far  as  the  eye  could  see,  even  from 
the  elevation  of  the  cape,  there  was  nothing  but  ice,  with 
the  exception  of  that  part  of  the  Great  Bay  into  which  the 
floe  had  not  yet  penetrated.  To  the  southward  there 
stood  clustering  around  the  passage  a  line  of  gigantic 
bergs,  placed  like  sentinels,  as  if  purposely  to  stop  all 
egress  in  that  direction.  The  water  had  lost  its  motion  in 
the  shift  of  wind,  and  new  ice  had  formed  over  the  whole 
bay,  as  was  evident  by  a  white  sparkling  line  that  preceded 
the  irresistible  march  of  the  floe. 

As  Roswell  gazed  on  this  scene,  serious  doubts  darkened 
his  mind  as  to  his  escaping  from  this  frozen  chain  until 
the  return  of  another  summer.  It  is  true  that  a  south 
wind  might  possibly  produce  a  change,  and  carry  away 
the  blockading  mass  ;  but  every  moment  rendered  this  so 
much  the  less  probable.  Winter,  or  what  would  be  deemed 
winter  in  most  regions,  was  already  setting  in ;  and  should 
the  ice  really  become  stationary  in  and  around  the  group,  all 
hope  of  its  moving  must  vanish  for  the  next  eight  months. 

Daggett  reached  the  house  about  an  hour  before  sunset. 
He  had  succeeded  in  cutting  a  passage  through  the  ice  as 
far  as  the  cabin-door  of  his  unfortunate  schooner,  when 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  descending  into  the  interior  parts 
of  the  vessel.  The  whole  party  came  in  staggering  under 
heavy  loads.  Pretty  much  as  a  matter  of  course,  each 
man  brought  his  own  effects.  Clothes,  tobacco,  rum,  small- 
stores,  bedding,  quadrants,  and  similar  property,  was  that 
first  attended  to.  At  that  moment,  little  was  thought  of 
the  skins  and  oil.  The  cargo  was  neglected,  while  the' 
minor  articles  had  been  eagerly  sought. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  291 

Roswell  was  on  board  his  own  schooner,  now  again  in 
dangerous  proximity  to  the  cape.  She  was  steadily  setting 
in  when  Daggett  rejoined  him.  The  crew  of  the  lost 
vessel  remained  in  the  house,  where  they  lighted  a  fire  and 
deposited  their  goods,  returning  to  the  wreck  for  another 
load,  taking  the  double  sets  of  wheels  along  with  them. 
When  the  two  masters  met  they  conferred  together  ear- 
nestly, receiving  into  their  councils  such  of  the  officers  as 
were  on  board.  The  security  of  the  remaining  vessel  was 
now  all-important ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  concealed  that  she 
was  in  imminent  jeopardy.  The  course  taken  by  the  floe 
was  directly  toward  the  most  rugged  part  of  Cape  Hazard  ; 
and  the  rate  of  the  movement  such  as  to  threaten  a  very 
speedy  termination  of  the  matter.  There  was  one  circum- 
stance, however,  and  only  that  one,  which  offered  a  single 
chance  to  escape.  The  opening  around  the  schooner  still 
existed  in  part,  about  half  of  it  having  been  lost  in  the 
collision  with  the  outermost  point  of  the  rocks.  It  was 
this  species  of  vacuum  that,  by  removing  all  resistance  at 
that  particular  spot,  indeed,  which  had  given  the  field  its 
most  dangerous  cant,  turning  the  movement  of  the  vessel 
toward  the  rocks.  The  chance,  therefore,  existed  in  the 
possibility— and  it  was  little  more  than  a  bare  possibility 
— of  moving  the  schooner  in  that  small  area  of  open  water, 
and  of  taking  her  far  enough  south  to  clear  the  most 
southern  extremity  of  the  wall  of  stone  that  protected  the 
cove.  As  yet,  this  open  water  did  not  extend  far  enough 
to  admit  of  the  schooner's  being  taken  to  the  point  in 
question  ;  but  it  was  slowly  tending  in  that  direction,  and 
did  not  the  basin  close  altogether  ere  that  desirable  object 
was  achieved,  the  vessel  might  yet  be  saved.  In  order, 
however,  to  do  this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  cut  a  sort  of 
dock  or  slip  in  the  ice  of  the  cove,  into  which  the  craft 
might  shoot,  as  a  place  of  refuge.  Once  within  the  cove, 
fairly  behind  the  point  of  the  rocks,  there  would  be  per- 
fect safety ;  if  suffered  to  drift  to  the  southward  of  that 
shelter,  this  schooner  would  probably  be  lost  like  her 
consort,  and  very  much  in  the  same  manner. 

Gardiner  now  sent  a  gang  of  hands  to  the  desired  point, 
armed  with  saws,  and  the  slip  was  commenced.  The  ice 
in  the  cove  was  still  only  two  or  three  inches  thick,  and 
the  work  went  bravely  on.  Instead  of  satisfying  himself 
with  cutting  a  passage  merely  behind  the  point  of  rock, 
Hazard  opened  one  quite  up  into  the  cove,  to  the  precise 
place  where  the  schooner  had  so  long  been  at  anchor. 


292  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  the  crisis  arrived.  So  heavy  had 
been  the  movement  toward  the  rock,  that  Roswell  saw  he 
could  delay  no  longer.  Were  he  to  continue  where  he  was, 
a  projection  on  the  cape  would  prevent  his  passage  to  the 
entrance  of  the  cove  ;  he  would  be  shut  in,  and  he  might  be 
certain  that  the  Sea  Lion  would  be  crushed  if  the  floe 
pressed  home  upon  the  shore.  The  ice-anchors  were  cut  out 
accordingly,  the  jib  was  hoisted,  and  the  schooner  wore 
short  round  on  her  heel.  The  space  between  the  floe  and 
the  projection  in  the  rocks  just  named  did  not  now  exceed 
a  hundred  feet ;  and  it  was  lessening  fast.  Much  more  room 
existed  on  each  side  of  this  particular  excrescence  in  the 
rugged  coast,  the  space  north  being  still  considerable, 
while  that  to  the  southward  might  be  a  hundred  yards  in 
width  ;  the  former  of  these  areas  being  owing  to  the  form 
of  the  basin,  and  the  latter  to  the  shape  of  the  shore. 

In  the  first  of  the  basins  named  the  schooner  wore  short 
round  on  her  heel,  her  foresail  being  set  to  help  her.  A 
breathless  moment  passed  as  she  ran  down  toward  the 
narrow  strait.  It  was  quickly  reached,  and  that  none  too 
soon  ;  the  opening  now  not  exceeding  sixty  feet.  The 
yards  of  the  vessel  almost  brushed  the  rocks  in  passing; 
but  she  went  clear.  As  soon  as  in  the  lower  basin,  as  one 
might  call  it,  the  jib  and  foresail  were  taken  in,  and  the 
head  of  the  mainsail  was  got  on  the  craft.  This  helped 
her  to  luff  up  toward  the  slip,  which  she  reached  under 
sufficient  headway  fairly  to  enter  it.  Lines  were  thrown 
to  the  people  on  the  ice,  who  soon  hauled  the  schooner  up 
to  the  head  of  her  frozen  dock.  Three  cheers  broke  spon- 
taneously out  of  the  throats  of  the  men,  as  they  thus 
achieved  the  step  which  assured  them  of  the  safety  of  the 
vessel  so  far  as  the  ice  was  concerned  !  In  this  way  do 
we  estimate  our  advantages  and  disadvantages  by  com- 
parison. In  the  abstract,  the  situation  of  the  sealers  was 
still  sufficiently  painful  ;  though  compared  with  what  it 
would  have  been  with  the  other  schooner  wrecked,  it  was 
security  itself. 

By  this  time  it  was  quite  dark  ;  and  a  day  of  excitement 
and  fatigue  required  a  night  of  rest.  After  supping,  the 
men  turned  in  ;  the  Vineyarders  mostly  in  the  house,  where 
they  occupied  their  old  bunks.  When  the  moon  rose,  the 
party  from  the  wreck  arrived  with  their  carts  well  loaded, 
and  themselves  half  frozen,  notwithstanding  their  toil.  In 
a  short  time  all  were  buried  in  sleep. 

When  Roswell  Gardiner  came  on  deck   next  morning 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  293 

his  first  glance  told  him  how  little  was  the  chance,  of  his 
party's  returning  north  that  season.  The  strange  floe 
had  driven  into  the  Great  Bay,  completely  covering  its 
surface,  lining  the  shores  far  and  near  with  broken  and 
glittering  cakes  of  ice  ;  and,  as  it  were,  hermetically  seal- 
ing the  place  against  all  egress.  New  ice,  an  inch  or  two 
thick,  or  even  six  or  eight  inches  thick,  might  have  been 
sawed  through,  and  a  passage  cut  even  for  a  league,  should 
it  be  necessary.  Such  things  were  sometimes  done,  and 
great  as  would  have  been  the  toil,  our  sealers  would  have 
attempted  it,  in  preference  to  running  the  risk  of  passing  a 
winter  in  that  region.  But  almost  desperate  as  would 
have  been  even  that  source  of  refuge,  the  party  was  com- 
pletely cut  off  from  its  possession.  To  think  of  sawing 
through  ice  as  thick  as  that  of  the  floe,  for  any  material 
distance,  would  be  like  a  project  to  tunnel  the  Alps. 

Melancholy  was  the  meeting  between  Roswell  and  Dag- 
gett  that  morning.  The  former  was  too  manly  and  gener- 
ous to  indulge  in  reproaches,  else  might  he  well  have  told 
the  last  that  all  this  was  owing  to  him.  There  is  a  singu- 
lar propensity  in  us  all  to  throw  the  burden  of  our  own 
blunders  on  the  shoulders  of  other  folk.  Roswell  had  a 
little  of  this  weakness,  overlooking  the  fact  that  he  was 
his  own  master  ;  and  as  he  had  come  to  the  group  by  him- 
self, he  ought  to  have  left  it  in  the  same  manner,  as  soon 
as  his  own  particular  task  was  accomplished.  But  Roswell 
did  not  see  this  "quite  as  distinctly  as  he  saw  the  fact  that 
Daggett's  detentions  and  indirect  appeals  to  his  better  feel- 
ings had  involved  him  in  all  these  difficulties.  Still,  while 
thus  he  felt,  he  made  no  complaint. 

All  hope  of  getting  north  that  season  now  depended  *bn 
the  field-ice  drifting  away  from  the  Great  Bay  before  it 
got  fairly  frozen  in.  So  jammed  and  crammed  with  it  did 
every  part  of  the  bay  appear  to  be,  however,  that  little 
could  be  expected  from  that  source  of  relief.  This  Dag- 
gett  admitted  in  the  conversation  he  held  with  Roswell,  as 
soon  as  the  latter  joined  him  on  the  rocky  terrace  beneath 
the  house. 

"  The  wisest  thing  we  can  do,  then,"  replied  our  hero, 
"  will  be  to  make  as  early  preparations  as  possible  to  mee^t 
the  winter.  If  we  are  to  remain  here,  a  day  gained  now 
will  be  worth  a  week  a  month  hence.  If  we  should  hap- 
pily escape,  the  labor  thus  expended  will  not  kill  us." 

u  Quite  true — very  much  as  you  say,  certainly,"  answered 
Daggett,  musing.  "  I  was  thinking  as  you  came  ashore, 


294  THE   SEA   LION'S. 

Gar'ner,  if  a  lucky  turn  might  not  be  made  in  this  wise : 
I  have  a  good  many  skins  in  the  wreck,  you  see,  and  you 
have  a  good  deal  of  ile  in  your  hold — now,  by  starting 
some  of  that  ile,  and  pumping  it  out,  and  shooking  the 
casks,  room  might  be  made  aboard  of  you  for  all  my  skins. 
I  think  we  could  run  all  of  the  last  over  on  them  wheels  in 
the  course  of  a  week." 

"  Captain  Daggett,  it  is  by  yielding  so  much  to  your  skins 
that  we  have  got  into  all  this  trouble."  , 

"  Skins,  measure  for  measure,  in  the  way  of  tonnage, 
will  bring  a  great  deal  more  than  ile." 

Roswell  smiled,  and  muttered  something  to  himself,  a 
little  bitterly.  He  was  thinking  of  the  grievous  disap- 
pointment and  prolonged  anxiety  that,  it  pained  him  to 
believe,  Mary  would  feel  at  his  failure  to  return  home  at 
the  appointed  time  ;  though  it  would  probably  have  pained 
him  more  to  believe  she  would  not  thus  be  disappointed 
and  anxious.  Here  his  displeasure,  or  its  manifestation, 
ceased ;  and  the  young  man  turned  his  thoughts  on  the 
present  necessities  of  his  situation. 

Daggett  appearing  very  earnest  on  the  subject  of  remov- 
ing his  skins  before  the  snows  came  to  impede  the  path, 
Roswell  could  urge  no  objections  that  would  be  likely  to 
prevail  ;  but  his  acquiescence  was  obtained  by  means  of  a 
hint  from  Stimson,  who  by  this  time  had  gained  his  offi- 
cer's ear. 

"Let  him  do  it,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  the  boat-steerer, 
in  an  aside,  speaking  respectfully,  but  earnestly.  "  He'll 
never  stow  'em  in  our  hold,  this  season  at  least ;  but  they'll 
make  excellent  filling-in  for  the  sides  of  this  hut." 

"You  think  then,  Stephen,  that  we  are  likely  to  pass  the 
winter  here  ?" 

"  We  are  in  the  hands  of  Divine  Providence,  sir,  which 
will  do  with  us  as  seems  the  best  in  the  eyes  of  never-fail- 
ing wisdom.  At  all  events,  Capttun  Gar'ner,  I  think  'twill 
be  safest  to  act  at  once  as  if  we  had  the  winter  afore  us. 
In  my  judgment,  this  house  might  be  made  a  good  deal 
more  comfortable  for  us  all,  in  such  a  case,  than  our  craft  ; 
for  we  should  not  only  have  more  room,  but  might  have 
as  many  fires  as  we  want,  arid  more  than  we  can  find  fuel 
for." 

"  Ay,  there's  the  difficulty,  Stephen.  Where  are  we  to 
find  wood,  throughout  a  polar  winter,  for  even  one  fire  ?" 

"  We  must  be  saving,  sir,  and  thoughtful,  and  keep  our- 
selves warm  as  much  as  we  can  by  exercise.  I  have  had  a 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  295 

taste  of  this  once,  in  a  small  way,  already  ;  and  know  what 
ought  to  be  done,  in  many  partic'lars.  In  the  first  place, 
the  men  must  keep  themselves  as  clean  as  water  will  make 
them — dirt  is  a  great  helper  of  cold — and  the  water  must 
be  just  as  frosty  as  human  natur'  can  bear  it.  This  will 
set  everything  into  actyve  movement  inside,  and  bring  out 
warmth  from  the  heart,  as  it  might  be.  That's  my  princi- 
ple of  keeping  warm,  Captain  Gar'ner." 

"  I  dare  say  it  may  be  a  pretty  good  one,  Stephen,"  an- 
swered Roswell,  "  and  we'll  bear  it  in  mind.  As  for  stoves 
we  are  wrell  enough  off,  for  there  is  one  in  the  house,  and 
a  good  large  one  it  is ;  then,  there  is  a  stove  in  each  cabin, 
and  there  are  the  two  cabooses.  If  we  had  fuel  for  them 
all,  I  should  feel  no  concern  on  the  score  of  warmth." 

"  Ther's  the  wrack,  sir.  By  cutting  her  up  at  once 
we  should  get  wood  enough,  in  my  judgment,  to  see  it 
out." 

Roswell  made  no  reply  ;  but  he  looked  intently  at  the 
boat-steerer  for  half  a  minute.  The  idea  was  new  to  him  ; 
and  the  more  he  thought  on  the  subject,  the  greater  was 
the  confidence  it  gave  him  in  the  result.  Daggett,  he  well 
knew,  would  not  consent  to  the  mutilation  of  his  schooner, 
wreck  as  it  was,  so  long  as  the  most  remote  hope  existed 
of  getting  her  again  into  the  water.  The  tenacity  with 
which  this  man  clung  to  property  was  like  that  which 
is  imputed  to  the  life  of  the  cat  ;  and  it  was  idle  to  expect 
any  concessions  from  him  on  a  subject  like  that.  Never- 
theless, necessity  is  a  hard  master  ;  and  if  the  question 
were  narrowed  down  to  one  of  burning  the  materials  of  a 
vessel  that  was  in  the  water,  and  in  good  condition,  and  of 
burning  those  of  one  that  was  out  of  the  water,  with  holes 
cut  through  her  bottom  in  several  places,  and  otherwise  so 
situated  as  to  render  repairs  extremely  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible, even  Daggett  would  be  compelled  to  submit  to 
circumstances. 

It  was  accordingly  suggested  to  the  people  of  the  Vine- 
yard Lion  that  they  could  do  no  better  than  to  begin  a£ 
once  to  remove  everything  they  could  come  at,  and  which 
could  be  transported  from  the  wreck  to  the  house.  As 
there  was  little  to  do  on  board  the  vessel  afloat,  her  crew 
cheerfully  offered  to  assist  in  this  labor.  The  days  were 
shortening  sensibly  and  fast,  and  no  time  was  to  be  lost, 
the  distance  being  so  great  as  to  make  two  trips  a  day  a 
matter  of  great  labor.  No  sooner  was  the  plan  adopted, 
therefore,  than  steps  were  taken  to  set  about  its  execution. 


296  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  dwell  minutely  on  everything 
that  occurred  during  the  succeeding  week  or  ten  days.  The 
wind  shifted  to  southwest  the  very  day  that  the  Sea  Lion 
got  back  into  her  little  harbor  ;  and  this  seemed  to  put  a 
sudden  check  on  the  pressure  of  the  vast  floe.  Nevertheless, 
there  was  no  counter-movement,  the  ice  remaining  in  the 
Great  Bay  seemingly  as  firmly  fastened  as  if  it  had  origi- 
nally been  made  there.  Notwithstanding  this  shift  of  the 
wind  to  a  cold  point  of  the  compass,  the  thermometer  rose, 
and  it  thawed  freely  about  the  middle  of  the  day,  in  all 
places  to  which  the  rays  of  the  sun  had  access.  This  en- 
abled the  men  to  work  with  more  comfort  than  they  could 
have  done  in  the  excessively  severe  weather,  as  it  was 
found  that  respiration  became  difficult  when  it  was  so  very 
cold. 

Access  was  now  obtained  to  the  wreck  by  cutting  a  reg- 
ular passage  to  the  main  hatch  through  the  ice.  The 
schooner  stood  nearly  upright,  sustained  by  fragments  of 
the  floe  ;  and  there  were  extensive  caverns  all  around  her, 
produced  by  the  random  manner  in  which  the  cakes  had 
come  up  out  of  their  proper  element  like  so  many  living 
things.  Among  these  caverns  one  might  have  wandered 
for  miles  without  once  coming  out  into  the  open  air, 
though  they  were  cold  and  cheerless,  and  had  little  to  at- 
tract the  adventurer  after  the  novelty  was  abated. 

In  rising  from  the  water  the  schooner  had  been  roughly 
treated,  but  once  sustained  by  the  ice  her  transit  had  been 
easy  and  tolerably  safe.  Several  large  cakes  lay  on  or 
over  her,  sustained  more  by  other  cakes  that  rested  on  the 
rocks  than  by  the  timbers  of  the  vessel  herself.  These 
cakes  formed  a  sort  of  roof,  and,  as  they  did  not  drip,  they 
served  to  make  a  shelter  against  the  wind  ;  for,  at  the 
point  where  the  wreck  lay,  the  southwest  gales  came 
howling  round  the  base  of  the  mountain,  piercing  the 
marrow  itself  in  the  bones.  At  the  hut  it  was  very  differ- 
ent. There  the  heights  made  a  lee  that  extended  all  over 
the  cape,  and  for  some  distance  to  the  westward  ;  while 
the  whole  power  the  sun  possessed  in  that  high  latitude 
was  cast,  very  obliquely  it  is  true,  but  clearly,  and  without 
any  other  drawback  than  its  position  in  the  ecliptic,  fairly 
on  the  terrace,  the  hut  above,  and  the  rocks  around  it. 
On  the  natural  terrace,  indeed,  it  was  still  pleasant  to 
walk  and  work,  and  even  to  sit  for  a  few  hours  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day  ;  for  winter  was  not  yet  come  in  earnest  in 
that  frozen  world. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  297 

One  of  Roswell's  first  objects  was  to  transport  most  of 
the  eatables  from  the  wreck  ;  for  he  foresaw  the  need  there 
would  be  for  everything  of  the  sort.  Neither  vessel  had 
laid  in  a  stock  of  provisions  for  a  longer  period  than  about 
twelve  months,  of  which  nearly  half  were  now  gone.  This 
allowance  applied  to  salted  meats  and  bread,  which  are 
usually  regarded  as  the  base  of  a  ship's  stores.  There  were 
several  barrels  of  flour,  a  few  potatoes,  a  large  quantity  of 
onions,  a  few  barrels  of  corn-meal,  or  "  injin,"  as  it  is  usu- 
ally termed  in  American  parlance,  an  entire  barrel  of 
pickled  cucumbers,  another  about  half  full  of  cabbage  pre- 
served in  the  same  way,  and  an  entire  barrel  of  molasses. 
In  addition,  there  was  a  cask  of  whiskey,  a  little  wine  and 
brandy  to  be  used  medicinally,  sugar,  brown,  whitey-brown, 
and  browny-white,  and  a  pretty  fair  allowance  of  tea  and 
coffee  ;  the  former  being  a  Hyson-skin,  and  the  latter  San 
Domingo  of  no  very  high  quality.  Most  of  these  articles 
were  transported  from  the  wreck  to  the  house  in  the  course 
of  the  few  days  that  succeeded,  though  Daggett  insisted  on 
a  certain  portion  of  the  supplies  being  left  in  his  stranded 
craft.  Not  until  this  was  done  would  Roswell  listen  to  any 
proposal  of  Daggett's  to  transfer  the  skins.  Twice  during 
these  few  days,  indeed,  did  the  Vineyard  master  come  to  a 
pause  in  his  proceedings,  as  the  weather  grew  milder,  and 
gleams  of  a  hope  of  being  able  to  get  away  that  season 
crossed  his  mind.  On  the  last  of  these  occasions  of  mis- 
givings, Roswell  was  compelled  to  lead  his  brother  master 
up  on  the  plain  of  the  island,  to  an  elevation  of  some  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  and  more  than 
half  that  distance  higher  than  the  house,  and  point  out  to 
him  a  panorama  of  field-ice  that  the  eye  could  not  com- 
mand. -Until  that  vast  plain  opened,  or  became  riven  by 
the  joint  action  of  the  agitated  ocean  and  the  warmth  of  a 
sun  from  which  the  rays  did  not  glance  away  from  the 
frozen  surface,  like  light  obliquely  received  and  as  oblique* 
ly  reflected  from  a  mirror,  it  was  useless  to  think  of  releas- 
ing even  the  uninjured  vessel ;  much  less  that  which  lay 
riven  and  crushed  on  the  rocks. 

"  Were  every  cake  of  this  ice  melted  into  water,  Dag-, 
gett,"  Roswell  continued,  "it  would  not  float  off  your 
schooner.  The  best  supplied  ship-yard  in  America  could 
hardly  furnish  the  materials  for  ways  to  launch  her;  and  I 
never  knew  of  a  vessel's  being  dropped  into  the  water  some 
twenty  feet  nearly  perpendicular." 

"  I  don't  know  that,"  answered  Daggett,  stoutly.     "  See 


298  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

what  they're  doing  nowadays,  and  think  nothing  of  it.  1 
have  seen  a  whole  row  of  brick  houses  turned  round  by 
the  use  of  jack-screws  ;  and  one  building  actually  taken 
down  a  hill  much  higher  than  the  distance  you  name.  Com- 
modore Rodgers  has  just  hauled  a  heavy  frigate  out  of  the 
water,  and  means  to  put  her  back  again,  when  he  has  done 
with  her.  What  has  been  done  once  can  be  done  twice.  I 
do  not  like  giving  up  'till  I'm  forced  to  it." 

"That  is  plain  enough,  Captain  Daggett,"  returned  Ros- 
well,  smiling.  "That  you  are  game,  no  one  can  deny  ;  but 
it  will  all  come  to  nothing.  Neither  Commodore  Rodgers 
nor  Commodore  anybody  else  could  put  your  craft  into  the 
water  again  without  something  to  do  it  with." 

"You  think  it  would  be  asking  too  much  to  take  your 
schooner,  and  go  across  to  the  main  next  season  a'ter  tim- 
ber to  make  ways?"  put  in  Daggett,  inquiringly.  "She 
stands  up  like  a  church,  and  nothing  would  be  easier  than 
to  lay  down  ways  under  her  bottom." 

"  Or  more  difficult  than  to  make  them  of  any  use,  after 
you  had  put  them  there.  No,  no,  my  good  sir,  you  must 
think  no  more  of  this  ;  though  it  may  be  possible  to  make 
a  cover  for  the  cargo,  and  return  and  recover  it  all,  by 
freighting  a  craft  from  Rio,  on  our  way  north." 

Daggett  gave  a  quick,  inquisitive  glance  at  his  com- 
panion, and  Roswell's  color  mounted  to  his  cheeks  ;  for, 
while  he  really  thought  the  plan  just  mentioned  quite 
feasible,  he  was  conscious  of  foreseeing  that  it  might 
be  made  the  means  of  throwing  off  his  troublesome  com- 
panion, as  he  himself  drew  near  to  the  West  Indies  and 
their  keys. 

This  terminated  the  discussion  for  the  time.  Both  of 
the  masters  busied  themselves  in  carrying  on  the  duty 
which  had  now  fallen  into  a  regular  train.  As  much  of 
the  interest  of  what  is  to  be  related  will  depend  on  what 
was  done  in  these  few  days,  it  may  be  well  to  be  a  little 
more  explicit  in  stating  the  particulars. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  the  house,  of  which  so 
much  had  already  been  made  by  our  mariners,  was  nothing 
but  a  shell.  It  had  a  close  roof,  one  that  effectually 
turned  water,  and  its  siding,  though  rough,  was  tight  and 
rather  thicker  than  is  usual ;  being  made  of  common  inch 
boards,  roughly  planed,  and  originally  painted  red.  There 
were  four  very  tolerable  windows,  and  a  decent  substan- 
tial floor  of  planed  plank.  All  this  had  been  well  put 
together,  rather  more  attention  than  is  often  bestowed  on 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  299 

such  structures  having  been  paid  by  the  carpenter  to  the 
cracks  and  joints  on  account  of  the  known  sharpness  of 
the  climate,  even  in  the  warm  months.  StilL  all  this  made 
a  mere  shell.  The  marrow-freezing  winds  which  would 
soon  come — had  indeed  corne — might  be  arrested  by  such 
a  covering,  it  is  true  ;  but  the  little  needle-like  particles 
of  the  frost  would  penetrate  such  a  shelter,  as  their  coun- 
terparts of  steel  pierce  cloth.  It  was  a  matter  of  life  and 
death,  therefore,  to  devise  means  to  exclude  the  cold,  in 
order  that  the  vital  heat  might  be  kept  in  circulation 
during  the  tremendous  season  that  was  known  to  be  ap- 
proaching. 

Stimson  had  much  to  say  on  the  subject  of  the  arrange- 
ments taken.  He  was  the  oldest  man  in  the  two  crews, 
and  the  most  experienced  sealer.  It  happened  that  he  had 
once  passed  a  winter  at  Orange  Harbor,  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Cape  Horn.  It  is  true  that  it  is  an  inhabited 
country,  if  the  poor  degraded  creatures  who  dwell  there 
can  be  termed  inhabitants  ;  and  has  its  trees  and  vegeta- 
tion, such  as  they  are.  The  difference  between  Orange 
Harbor  and  Sealer's  Land,  in  this  respect,  must  be  some- 
thing like  that  which  all  the  travelling  world  knows  to 
exist  between  a  winter's  residence  at  the  Hospital  of  the 
Great  St.  Bernard,  and  a  winter's  residence  at  one  of  the 
villages  a  few  leagues  lower  down  the  mountain.  At  Seal- 
er's Land,  if  there  was  literally  no  vegetation,  there  was 
so  little  as  scarcely  to  deserve  the  name.  Of  fuel  there 
was  none,  with  the  exception  of  that  which  had  been 
brought  there.  Nevertheless,  the  experience  of  a  winter 
passed  in  such  a  place  as  Orange  Harbor  must  count  for 
a  great  deal.  Cape  Horn  is  in  nearly  56°,  and  Sealer's  Land 
— we  may  as  well  admit  this  much — is  by  no  means  10°  to 
the  southward  of  that.  There  must  be  a  certain  general 
resemblance  in  the  climates  of  the  two  places  ;  and  he  who 
had  gone  through  a  winter  at  one  of  them  must  have  had 
a  very  tolerable  foretaste  of  what  was  to  be  suffered  at  the 
other.  This  particular  experience,  therefore,  added  to  his 
general  knowledge,  as  well  as  to  his  character,  contributed 
largely  to  Stephen's  influence  in  the  consultations  that 
took  place  between  the  two  masters,  at  which  he  was 
usually  present. 

"  It's  useless  to  be  playing  off  in  an  affair  like  this, 
Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  Stephen,  on  one  occasion.  "  Away 
from  this  spot  all  the  navies  of  the  'arth  could  not  now 
carry  us,  until  God's  sun  comes  back  in  his  course  to  drive 


300  THE    SEA    LfO.VS. 

the  winter  afore  it.  I  have  my  misgivin's,  gentlemen, 
touching  this  great  floe  that  has  got  jammed  in  among 
these  islands,  whether  it  will  ever  move  ag'in  ;  for  I  don't 
think  its  coming  in  here  is  a  common  matter." 

"  In  which  case,  what  would  become  of  us,  Stephen  ?  " 

"Why,  sir,  we  should  be  at  God's  mercy  then,  jist  as  we 
be  now;  or  would  be,  was  we  on  the  east  eend  itself.  1 
won't  say  that  two  resolute  and  strong  arms  might  not  cut 
a  way  through  for  one  little  craft  like  our'n,  if  they  had 
summer  fully  afore  'em,  and  know'd  they  was  a-workin' 
toward  a  fri'nd  instead  of  toward  an  inimy.  There's  a  great 
deal  in  the  last;  every  man  is  encouraged  when  he  thinks 
he's  nearer  to  the  eend  of  his  journey  a'ter  a  hard  day's  work, 
than  he  was  when  he  set  out  in  the  mornin'.  But  to  un~ 
dertake  sich  an  expedition  at  this  season  would  be  sartain 
destruction.  No,  sir  ;  all  we  can  do  now  is  to  lay  up  for 
the  winter,  and  that  with  great  care  and  prudence.  We 
must  turn  ourselves  into  so  many  ants,  and  show  their  fore- 
thought and  care." 

"What  would  you  recommend  as  our  first  step,  Stim- 
son  ? "  asked  Daggett,  who  had  been  an  attentive  listener. 

"  I  would  advise,  sir,  to  begin  hardening  the  men  as  soon 
as  I  could.  We  have  too  much  fire  in  the  stove,  both  for 
our  stock  of  wood  and  for  the  good  of  the  people.  Make 
the  men  sleep  under  fewer  clothes,  and  don't  let  any  on 
'em  hang  about  the  galley  fire,  as  some  on  'em  love  to  do, 
even  now,  most  desperately.  Them  'ere  men  wiii  be  good 
for  nothin'  ten  weeks  hence,  unless  they're  taken  off  the 
fires,  as  a  body  would  take  off  a  pot  or  a  kettie,  and  are  set 
out  to  harden." 

"  This  is  a  process  that  may  be  easier  advised  than  per- 
formed,- perhaps,"  Roswell  quietly  observed. 

"  Don't  you  believe  that,  Captain  Gardner.  I've  known 
the  most  shiverin',  smoke-dried  hands  in  a  large  crew  hard- 
ened and  brought  to  an  edge,  a'ter  a  little  trouble,  as  a 
body  would  temper  an  axe  with  steel.  The  first  thing  to 
be  done  is  to  make  'em  scrub  one  another  every  mornin' 
in  cold  water.  This  gives  a  life  to  the  skin  that  acts  much 
the  same  as  a  suit  of  clothes.  Yes,  gentlemen  ;  put  a  fel- 
low in  a  tub  for  a  minute  or  two  of  a  mornin',  and  you 
may  do  almost  anything  you  please  with  him  all  day  a'ter- 
ward.  One  pail  of  water  is  as  good  as  a  pea-jacket.  And 
above  all  things,  keep  the  stoves  clear.  The  cooks  should 
be  told  not  to  drive  their  fires  so  hard  ;  and  we  can  do  with- 
out the  stove  in  the  sleeping- room  a  great  deal  better  now 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  301 

than  most  on  us  think.  It  will  help  to  save  much  wood,  if 
we  begin  at  once  to  calk  and  thicken  our  siding,  and  make 
the  house  warmer.  Was  the  hut  in  a  good  state,  we  might 
do  without  any  other  fire  than  that  in  the  caboose  for  two 
months  yet." 

Such  was  the  general  character  of  Stephen's  counsel,  and 
very  good  advice  it  was.  Not  only  did  Roswell  adopt  the 
scrubbing  process,  which  enabled  him  to  thrpw  aside  a 
great  many  clothes  in  the  course  of  a  week,  but  he  kept 
aloof  from  the  fires,  to  harden,  as  Stimson  had  called  it. 
That  which  was  thus  enforced  by  example  was  additionally 
enjoined  by  precept.  Several  large,  hulking,  idle  fellows, 
who  greatly  loved  the  fire,  were  driven  away  from  it  by 
shame  ;  and  the  heat  was  allowed  to  diffuse  itself  more 
equally  through  the  building. 

Any  one  who  has  ever  had  occasion  to  be  a  witness  of 
the  effect  of  the  water-cure  process  in  enabling  even  deli- 
cate women  to  resist  cold  and  damp,  may  form  some  notion 
of  the  great  improvement  that  was  made  among  our  seal- 
ers, by  adopting  and  rigidly  adhering  to  Stimson's  cold- 
water  and  no-fire  system.  Those  who  had  shivered  at  the 
very  thoughts  of  ice-water,  soon  dabbled  in  it  like  ycung 
ducks  ;  and  there  was  scarcely  an  hour  in  the  day  when  the 
half-hogshead,  that  was  used  as  a  bath,  had  not  its  tenant 
This  tub  was  placed  on  the  ice  of  the  cove,  with  a  tent  over 
it ;  and  a  well  was  made  through  which  the  water  was  drawn. 
Of  course,  the  axe  was  in  great  request,  a  new  hole  being 
required  each  morning,  and  sometimes  two  or  three  times 
in  the  course  of  the  day.  The  effect  of  these  ablutions 
was  very  soon  apparent  The  men  began  to  throw  aside 
their  pea-jackets,  and  worked  in  their  ordinary  clothing, 
which  was  warm  and  suited  to  a  high  latitude,  with  a  spirit 
and  vigor  at  which  they  were  themselves  surprised.  The 
fire  in  the  caboose  sufficed  as  yet ;  and,  at  evening,  the 
pea-jacket,  with  the  shelter  of  the  building,  the  crowded 
rooms,  and  the  warm  meals,  for  a  long  time  enabled  them 
to  get  on  without  consuming  anything  in  the  largest  stove. 
Stimson's  plans  for  the  protection  of  the  hut,  moreover, 
soon  began  to  tell.  The  skins,  sails,  and  much  of  the  rig- 
ging were  brought  over  from  the  wreck  ;  by  means  of  the 
carts,  so  long  as  there  was  no  snow,  and  by  means  of 
sledges  when  the  snow  fell  and  rendered  wheeling  diffi- 
cult. Luckily,  the  position  of  the  road  along  the  rocks 
caused  the  upper  snow  to  melt  a  little  at  noon-day,  while 
it  froze  again,  firmer  and  firmer,  each  night.  The  crust  soon 


502  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

bore,  and  it  was  found  that  the  sledges  furnished  even  bet* 
ter  means  of  transportation  than  the  wheels. 

There  was  a  little  controversy  about  the  use  of  the  skins, 
Daggett  continuing  to  regard  them  as  cargo.  Necessity 
and  numbers  prevailed  in  the  end,  and  the  whole  building 
was  lined  with  them,  four  or  five  deep,  by  placing  them 
inside  of  beckets  made  of  the  smaller  rigging.  By  stuffing 
these  skins  compactly,  within  ropes  so  placed  as  to  keep 
all  snug,  a  very  material  defence  against  the  entrance  of 
cold  was  interposed.  But  this  was  not  all.  Inside  of  the 
skins  Stimson  got  up  hangings  of  canvas,  using  the  sails 
of  the  wreck  for  that  purpose.  It  was  not  necessary  to 
cut  these  sails — Daggett  would  not  have  suffered  it — but 
they  were  suspended,  and  cramped  into  openings,  and 
otherwise  so  arranged  as  completely  to  conceal  and  shelter 
every  side,  as  well  as  the  ceilings  of  both  rooms.  Portions 
were  fitted  with  such  address  as  to  fall  before  the  windows, 
to  which  they  formed  very  warm  if  not  very  ornamental 
curtains.  Stephen,  however,  induced  Roswell  to  order 
outside  shutters  to  be  made  and  hung  ;  maintaining  that 
one  such  shutter  would  soon  count  as  a  dozen  cords  of  wood. 

Much  of  the  wood,  too,  was  brought  over  from  the 
wreck  ;  and  that  which  had  been  carelessly  abandoned  on 
the  rocks  was  all  collected  and  piled  carefully  and  conveni- 
ently near  the  outer  door  of  the  hut ;  which  door,  by  the 
way,  looked  inward,  or  toward  the  rocks  in  the  rear  of 
the  building,  where  it  opened  on  a  sort  of  yard,  that  Ros- 
well hoped  to  be  able  to  keep  clear  of  ice  and  snow 
throughout  the  winter.  He  might  as  well  have  expected 
to  melt  the  glaciers  of  Grindewald  by  lighting  a  fire  on 
the  meadows  at  their  base  ! 

Stephen  had  another  project  to  protect  the  house,  and  to 
give  facilities  for  moving  outside,  when  the  winter  should 
be  at  the  hardest.  In  his  experience  at  Orange  Harbor,  he 
had  found  that  great  inconvenience  was  sustained  in  con- 
sequence of  the  snow's  melting  around  the  building  he  in- 
habited, which  came  from  the  warmth  of  the  fire  within. 
To  avoid  this,  a  very  serious  evil,  he  had  spare  sails  of 
heavy  canvas  laid  across  the  roof  of  the  warehouse,  a  build- 
ing of  no  great  height,  and  secured  them  to  the  rocks 
below  by  means  of  anchors,  kedges,  and  various  other  de- 
vices ;  in  some  instances,  by  lashings  to  projections  in  the 
cliffs.  Spare  spars,  leaning  from  the  roof,  supported  this 
tent-like  covering,  and  props  beneath  sustained  the  spars. 
This  arrangement  was  made  on  only  two  sides  of  the  build- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  303 

ing — one  end,  and  the  side  which  looked  to  the  north  ;  ma- 
terials failing  before  the  whole  place  was  surrounded.  The 
necessity  for  admitting  light,  too,  admonished  the  sealers 
of  the  inexpediency  of  thus  shrouding  all  their  windows. 
The  bottom  of  this  tent  was  only  ten  feet  from  the  side  of 
the  house,  which  gave  it  greater  security  than  if  it  had 
been  more  horizontal,  while  it  made  a  species  of  verandah 
in  which  exercise  could  be  taken  with  greater  freedom 
than  in  the  rooms.  Everything  was  done  to  strengthen 
the  building  in  all  its  parts  that  the  ingenuity  of  seamen 
could  suggest ;  and  particularly  to  prevent  the  tent-veran- 
dah from  caving  in. 

Stephen  intimated  that  their  situation  possessed  one 
great  advantage,  as  well  as  disadvantage."  Inconsequence 
of  standing  on  a  shelf  with  a  lower  terrace  so  close  as  to 
be  within  the  cast  of  a  shovel,  the  snow  might  be  thrown 
below,  and  the  hut  relieved.  The  melted  snow,  too,  would 
be  apt  to  take  the  same  direction,  under  the  law  that  gov- 
erns the  course  of  all  fluids.  The  disadvantage  was  in  the 
barrier  of  rock  behind  the  hut,  which,  while  it  served  ad- 
mirably to  break  the  piercing  south  winds,  would  very  nat- 
urally tend  to  make  high  snow-banks  in  drifting  storms. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

'•My  foot  on  the  iceberg  has  lighted, 
When  hoarse  the  wild  winds  veer  about 
My  eye.  when  the  bark  is  benighted, 
Sees  the  lamp  of  the  lighthouse  go  out. 
I'm  the  sea-bird,  sea-bird,  sea-bird, 

Lone  looker  on  despair  ; 
The  sea-bird,  sea-bird,  sea-bird, 
The  only  witness  there." — BRAINARD. 

Two  months  passed  rapidly  away  in  the  excitement  and 
novelty  of  the  situation  and  pursuits  of  the  men.  In  that 
time,  all  was  done  that  the  season  would  allow ;  the  house 
being  considered  as  complete,  and  far  from  uncomfortable. 
The  days  had  rapidly  lessened  in  length,  and  the  nights 
increased  proportionably,  until  the  sun  was  visible  only 
for  a  few  hours  at  a  time,  and  then  merely  passing  low 
along  the  northern  horizon.  The  cold  increased  in  propor- 
tion, though  the  weather  varied  almost  as  mucl>  in  that 
high  latitude  as  it  does  in  our  own.  It  had  ceased  to  thaw 


304  THE  SEA   LIONS. 

much,  however ;  and  the  mean  of  the  thermometer  was 
not  many  degrees  above  zero.  Notwithstanding  this  low 
range  of  the  mercury,  the  men  found  that  they  were  fast 
getting  acclimated,  and  that  they  could  endure  a  much 
greater  intensity  of  cold  than  they  had  previously  supposed 
possible.  As  yet,  there  had  been  nothing  to  surprise  na- 
tives of  New  York  and  New  England,  there  rarely  occur- 
ring a  winter  in  which  weather  quite  as  cold  as  any  they 
had  yet  experienced  in  the  antarctic  sea,  does  not  set  in, 
and  last  for  some  little  time.  Even  while  writing  this  very 
chapter  of  our  legend,  here  in  the  mountains  of  Otsego, 
one  of  these  Siberian  visits  has  been  paid  to  our  valley. 
For  the  last  three  days  the  thermometer  has  ranged,  at 
sunrise,  between  17°  and  22°  below  zero  ;  though  there  is 
every  appearance  of  a  thaw,  and  we  may  have  the  mercury 
up  to  40°  above  in  the  course  of  the  next  twenty-four 
hours.  Men  accustomed  to  such  transitions,  and  such  ex- 
treme cold,  are  not  easily  laid  up  or  intimidated. 

A  great  deal  of  snow  fell  about  this  particular  portion  of 
the  year  ;  more,  indeed,  than  at  a  later  period.  This  snow 
produced  the  greatest  inconvenience  ;  for  it  soon  became 
so  deep  as  to  form  high  banks  around  the  house,  and  to 
fill  all  the  customary  haunts  of  the  men.  Still,  there  were 
places  that  were  in  a  great  measure  exempt  from  this  white 
mantle.  The  terrace  immediately  below  the  hut,  which 
has  so  often  been  mentioned,  was  one  of  these  bare  spots. 
It  was  so  placed  as  to  be  swept  by  both  the  east  and  the 
west  winds,  which  generally  cleared  it  of  everything  like 
snow,  as  fast  as  it  fell  ;  and  this  more  effectually  than  could 
be  done  by  a  thousand  brooms.  The  level  of  rock  usually 
travelled  in  going  to  or  from  the  wreck  was  another  of  these 
clear  places.  It  was  a  sort  of  shelf,  too  narrow  to  admit  of 
the  snow's  banking,  and  too  much  raked  by  the  winds  that 
commonly  accompanied  snow,  to  suffer  the  last  to  lodge  to 
any  great  depth.  Snow  there  was,  with  a  hard  crust,  as 
has  already  been  mentioned  ;  but  it  was  not  snow  ten  or 
fifteen  feet  deep,  as  occurred  in  many  other  places.  There 
were  several  points,  however,  where  banks  had  formed, 
even  on  this  ledge,  through  which  the  men  were  compelled 
to  cut  their  way  by  the  use  of  shovels,  an  occupation  that 
gave  them  exercise,  and  contributed  to  keep  them  in  health 
if  it  was  of  no  other  service.  It  was  found  that  the  humar. 
frame  could  not  endure  one-half  the  toil,  in  that  low  state 
of  the  mercury,  that  it  could  bear  in  one  a  few  degrees 
higher. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  305 

Daggett  had  not,  by  any  means,  abandoned  his  craft  as 
much  as  he  had  permitted  her  to  be  dismantled.  Every 
day  or  two  he  had  some  new  expedient  for  getting  the 
schooner  off  in  the  spring  ;  though  all  who  heard  them 
were  perfectly  convinced  of  their  impracticableness.  This 
feeling  induced  him  to  cause  his  own  men  to  keep  open  the 
communication  ;  and  scarce  a  day  passed  in  which  he  did 
not  visit  the  poor  unfortunate  craft.  Nor  was  the  place 
without  an  interest  of  a  very  peculiar  sort.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  fragments  of  ice,  some  of  which  were  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  all  of  which  were 
eight  or  ten  feet  in  thickness,  had  been  left  on  their  edges, 
inclining  in  a  way  to  form  caverns  that  extended  a  great 
distance.  Now  it  happened  that  just  around  the  wreck 
the  cakes  were  so  distributed  as  to  intercept  the  first  snows 
which  filled  the  outer  passages,  got  to  be  hardened,  and, 
covered  anew  by  fresh  storms,  thus  interposed  an  effectual 
barrier  to  the  admission  of  any  more  of  the  frozen  element 
within  the  ice.  The  effect  was  to  form  a  vast  range  of 
natural  galleries  amid  the  cakes,  that  were  quite  clear  of 
any  snow  but  that  which  had  adhered  to  their  surfaces,  and 
which  offered  little  or  no  impediment  to  motion — nay, 
which  rather  aided  it,  by  rendering  the  walking  less  slip- 
pery. As  the  deck  of  the  schooner  had  been  cleared,  leav- 
ing an  easy  access  to  all  its  entrances,  cabin,  hold,  and  fore- 
castle, this  put  the  Vineyard  Lion  under  cover,  while  it 
admitted  of  all  her  accommodations  being  used.  A  por- 
tion of  her  wood  had  been  left  in  her,  it  will  be  remembered, 
as  well  as  her  caboose.  The  last  was  got  into  the  cabin, 
and  Daggett,  attended  by  two  or  three  of  his  hands,  would 
pass  a  good  deal  of  his  time  there.  One  reason  given  for 
this  distribution  of  the  forces,  was  the  greater  room  it  al- 
lowed those  who  remained  at  the  hut  for  motion.  The 
deck  of  this  vessel  being  quite  clear,  it  offered  a  very  fav- 
orable spot  for  exercise  ;  better,  in  fact,  than  the  terrace 
beneath  the  hut,  being  quite  sheltered  from  the  winds,  and 
much  warmer  than  it  had  been  originally,  or  ever  since 
the  heavy  fall  of  snows  commenced.  Daggett  paced  his 
quarter-deck  hour  after  hour,  almost  deluding  himself  with 
the  expectation  of  sailing  for  home  as  soon  as  the  return 
of  summer  would  permit  him  to  depart. 

Around  the  hut  the  snow  early  made  vast  embankments. 
Every  one  accustomed  to  the  action  of  this  particular  con- 
dition of  one  of  the  great  elements,  will  understand  that  a 
bend  in  the  rocks  outward,  or  a  curve  inward,  must  neces- 

20 


306  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

sariiy  affect  the  manner  in  which  these  banks  were  formed 
The  wind  did  not,  by  any  means,  blow  from  any  one  point 
of  the  compass  ;  though  the  southwestern  cliffs  might  be 
almost  termed  the  weather-side  of  the  island,  so  much 
more  frequently  did  the  gales  come  from  that  quarter  than 
from  any  other.  The  cape  where  the  cove  lay,  and  where 
the  house  had  been  set  up,  being  at  the  northeastern  point, 
and  much  protected  by  the  high  table-land  in  its  rear,  it 
occupied  the  warmest  situation  in  the  whole  region.  The 
winds  that  swept  most  of  the  north  shore,  but  which,  ow- 
ing to  a  curvature  in  its  formation,  did  not  of  ten  blow  home 
to  the  hut,  even  when  they  whistled  along  the  terrace  only 
a  hundred  feet  beneath,  and  more  salient,  were  ordinarily 
from  the  southwest  outside  ;  though  they  got  a  more  west- 
erly inclination  by  following  the  land  under  the  cliffs. 

A  bank  of  snow  may  be  either  a  cause  of  destruction  or 
a  source  of  comfort.  Of  course,  a  certain  degree  of  cold 
must  exist  wherever  snow  is  to  be  found  ;  but  unless  in 
absolute  contact  with  the  human  body,  it  does  not  usually 
affect  the  system  beyond  a  certain  point  On  the  other 
hand,  it  often  breaks  the  wind,  and  it  has  been  known  to 
form  a  covering  to  flocks,  houses,  etc.,  that  has  contributed 
essentially  to  their  warmth.  We  incline  to  the  opinion 
that  if  one  slept  in  a  cavern  formed  in  the  snow,  provided 
he  could  keep  himself  dry,  and  did  not  come  in  absolute 
contact  with  the  element,  he  would  not  find  his  quarters 
very  uncomfortable,  so  long  as  he  had  sufficient  clothing 
to  confine  the  animal  warmth  near  his  person.  Now  our 
sealers  enjoyed  some  such  advantage  as  this  ;  though  not 
literally  in  the  same  degree.  Their  house  was  not  covered 
with  snow,  though  a  vast  bank  was  already  formed  quite 
near  it,  and  a  good  deal  had  begun  to  pile  against  the  tent. 
Singular  as  it  may  seem,  on  the  east  end  of  the  building, 
and  on  the  south  front,  which  looked  in  toward  the  cliff 
next  the  cove,  there  was  scarcely  any  snow  at  all.  This 
was  in  part  owing  to  the  constant  use  of  the  shovel  and 
broom,  but  more  so  to  the  currents  of  air,  which  usually 
carried  everything  of  so  light  a  nature  as  a  flake  to  more 
quiet  spots,  before  it  was  suffered  to  settle  on  the  ground. 

Roswell  early  found,  what  his  experience  as  an  Ameri- 
can might  have  taught  him,  that  the  melting  of  the  snow, 
in  consequence  of  the  warmth  of  the  fires,  caused  much 
more  inconvenience  than  the  snow  itself.  The  latter,  when 
dry,  was  easily  got  along  with  ;  but,  when  melted  in  the 
day,  and  converted  into  icicles  at  night,  it  became  a  most 


THE   SEA    LION'S,  307 

unpleasant  and  not  altogether  a  safe  neighbor  ;  inasmuch 
as  there  was  really  danger  from  the  sort  of  damp  atmos- 
phere it  produced. 

The  greatest  ground  of  Roswell  Gardiner's  apprehen- 
sions, however,  was  for  the  supply  of  fuel.  Much  of  that 
brought  from  home  had  been  fairly  used  in  the  caboose, 
and  in  the  stove  originally  set  up  in  the  hut.  Large  as 
that  stock  had  been,  a  very  sensible  inroad  had  been  made 
upon  it ;  and,  according  to  a  calculation  he  had  made,  the 
wood  regularly  laid  in  would  not  hold  out  much  more  than 
half  the  time  that  it  would  be  indispensable  to  remain  on 
the  island.  This  was  a  grave  circumstance,  and  one  that 
demanded  very  serious  consideration.  Without  fuel  it 
would  be  impossible  to  survive  ;  no  hardening  process  be- 
ing sufficient  to  fortify  the  human  frame  to  a  degree  that 
\vould  resist  the  influence  of  an  antarctic  winter. 

From  the  moment  it  was  probable  the  party  would  be 
obliged  to  pass  the  winter  at  Sealer's  Land,  therefore, 
Roswell  had  kept  a  vigilant  eye  on  the  wood.  Stimson 
had  more  than  once  spoken  to  him  on  the  subject,  and 
with  great  prudence. 

"  Warmth  must  be  kept  among  us,"  said  the  old  boat- 
steerer,  "  or  there  will  be  no  hope  for  the  stoutest  man  in 
either  crew.  We've  a  pretty  good  stock  of  coffee,  and 
that  is  better,  any  day,  than  all  the  rum  and  whiskey  that 
was  ever  distilled.  Good  hot  coffee  of  a  morning  will  put 
life  into  us  the  coldest  day  that  ever  come  out  of  either 
pole  ;  and  they  do  say  the  south  is  colder  than  the  north, 
though  I  never  could  understand  why  it  should  be  so." 

"You  surely  understand  the  reason  why  it  grows  warmer 
as  we  approach  the  equator,  and  colder  as  we  go  from  it, 
whether  we  go  north  or  south  ? " 

Stimson  assented  ;  though  had  the  truth  been  said,  he 
would  have  been  obliged  to  confess  that  he  knew  no  more 
than  the  facts. 

"All  sailors  know  sich  things,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  though 
they  know  it  with  very  diiferent  degrees  of  exper'ence. 
But  few  get  as  far  south  as  I  have  been  to  pass  a  winter. 
A  good  pot  of  hot  coffee  of  a  morning  will  go  as  far  as  a 
second  pee-jacket,  if  a  man  has  to  go  out  into  the  open  air 
when  the  weather  is  at  the  hardest." 

"Luckily,  our  small  stores  are  quite  abundant,  and  we 
are  better  off  for  coffee  and  sugar  than  for  anything  else. 
I  laid  in  of  both  liberally  when  we  were  at  Rio." 

"  Yes,  Rio  is  a  good  place  for  the  articles.     But  coffee 


3o8  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

must  be  hot  to  do  a  fellow  much  good  in  one  of  these 
high-latitude  winters  ;  and  to  be  hot  there  must  be  fuel  to 
heat  it  " 

."  I  am  afraid  the  wood  will  not  hold  out  much  more  than 
half  the  time  we  shall  be  here.  Fortunately,  we  had  a  large 
supply  ;  but  the  other  schooner  was  by  no  means  as  well 
furnished  with  fuel  as  she  ought  to  have  been  for  such  a 
voyage." 

"Well,  sir,  I  suppose  you  know  what  must  be  done  next 
in  such  a  case.  Without  warm  food,  men  can  no  more  live 
through  one  of  these  winters,  than  they  can  live  without 
food  at  all.  If  the  Vineyard  craft  has  no  proper  fuel  aboard 
her,  we  must  make  fuel  of  her." 

Rosweli  regarded  Stephen  with  fixed  attention  for  some 
time.  The  idea  was  presented  to  his  mind  for  the  second 
time,  and  he  greatly  liked  it. 

"  That  might  do,"  he  said;  "though  it  will  not  be  an 
easy  matter  to  make  Captain  Daggett  consent  to  such  a 
thing." 

"Let  him  go  two  or  three  mornings  without  his  warm 
meal  and  hot  coffee,"  answered  Stimson,  shaking  his  head, 
"and  he  will  be  glad  enough  to  come  into  the  scheme.  A 
man  soon  gets  willing  to  set  fire  to  anything  that  will  burn 
^n  such  a  climate.  A  notion  has  been  floating  about  in  my 
mind,  Captain  Gar'ner,  that  I've  several  times  thought  1 
would  mention  to  you.  D'ye  think,  sir,  any  benefit  could 
be  made  of  that  volcano  over  the  bay,  should  the  worst 
get  to  the  worst  with  us  ? " 

"  I  have  thought  of  the  same  thing,  Stephen  ;  though  I 
fear  in  vain.  I  suppose  no  useful  heat  can  be  given  out 
there,  until  one  gets  too  near  the  bad  air  to  breathe  it. 
What  you  say  about  breaking  up  the  other  schooner,  how- 
ever, is  worthy  of  consideration  ;  and  I  will  speak  to  Cap- 
tain Daggett  about  it." 

Roswell  was  as  good  as  his  word  ;  and  the  Vineyard  mar- 
iner met  the  proposal  as  one  repels  an  injury.  Never  were 
our  two  masters  so  near  a  serious  misunderstanding,  as 
when  Roswell  suggested  to  Daggett  the  expediency  of 
breaking  up  the  wreck,  now  that  the  weather  was  endura- 
ble, and  the  men  could  work  with  reasonable  comfort  and 
tolerable  advantage. 

"  The  man  who  puts  an  axe  or  a  saw  into  that  un- 
fortunate craft,"  said  Daggett,  firmly,  "  I  shall  regard 
as  an  enemy.  It  is  a  hard  enough  bed  that  she  lies  on, 
without  having  her  ribs  and  sides  torn  to  pieces  by  hands." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  309 

This  was  the  strange  spirit  in  which  Daggett  continued 
to  look  at  the  condition  of  the  wreck.  It  was  true  that 
the  ice  prevented  his  actually  seeing  the  impossibility  of 
his  ever  getting  his  scnooner  into  the  water  again  ;  but  no 
man  at  all  acquainted  with  mechanics,  and  who  knew  the 
paucity  of  means  that  existed  on  the  island,  could  for  a 
moment  entertain  the  idle  expectation  that  seemed  to  have 
got  into  the  Vineyard-master's  mind,  unless  subject  to  a 
species  of  one-idea  infatuation.  This  infatuation,  how- 
ever, existed  not  only  in  Daggett's  mind,"  but  in  some  de- 
gree in  those  of  his  men.  It  is  said  that  "in  a  multitude 
of  counsellors  there  is  wisdom;"  and  the  axiom  comes 
from  an  authority  too  venerable  to  be  disputed.  But  it. 
might  almost  with  equal  justice  be  said  that  "  in  a  multi- 
tude of  counsellors  there  is  folly;"  for  men  are  quite  as 
apt  to  sustain  each  other  in  the  wrong  as  in  the  right.  The 
individual  who  would  hesitate  about  advancing  his  fallacies 
and  mistakes  with  a  single  voice,  does  not  scruple  to  pro- 
claim them  on  the  hilltops,  when  he  finds  other  tongues  to 
repeat  his  errors.  Divine  wisdom,  foreseeing  this  conse- 
quence of  human  weakness,  has  provided  a  church-catho- 
lic, and  proceeding  directly  from  its  Great  Head  on  earth, 
as  the  repository  of  those  principles,  facts,  and  laws,  that 
it  has  deemed  essential  to  the  furtherance  of  its  own  scheme 
of  moral  government  on  earth  ;  and  yet  we  see  audacious 
imitators  starting  up  on  every  side,  presuming  in  their  ig- 
norance, longing  in  their  ambition,  and  envious  in  these 
longings,  who  do  not  scruple  to  shout  out  upon  the  house- 
tops crudities  over  which  knowledge  wonders  as  it  smiles, 
and  humility  weeps  as  it  wonders.  Such  is  man,  when 
sustained  by  his  fellows,  in  every  interest  of  life  ;  from  re- 
ligion, the  highest  of  all,  down  to  the  most  insignificant  of 
his  temporal  concerns. 

In  this  spirit  did  Daggett  and  his  crew  now  feel  and  act. 
Roswell  had  early  seen,  with  regret,  that  something  like  a 
feeling  of  party  was  getting  up  among  the  Vineyarders, 
who  had  all  along  regarded  the  better  fortune  of  their 
neighbors  with  an  ill-concealed  jealousy.  Ever  since  the 
shipwreck,  however,  this  rivalry  had  taken  a  new  and  even 
less  pleasant  aspect.  It  was  slightly  hostile,  and  remarks 
had  been  occasionally  made  that  sounded  equivocally  ;  as 
if  the  Vineyarders  had  an  intention  of  separating  from  the 
other  crew,  and  of  living  by  themselves.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  all  this  was  the  fruit  of  disappointment  ; 
and  that,  at  the  bottom,  nothing  very  serious  was  in  con' 


3io  THE  SEA    LIONS. 

templation.  Daggett  had  permitted  his  people  to  aid  in 
transporting  most  of  the  stores  to  the  house  ;  though  a 
considerable  supply  had  been  left  in  the  wreck.  This  last 
arrangement  was  made  seemingly  without  any  hostile  de- 
sign, but  ratheMn  furtherance  of  a  plan  to  pass  as  much 
time  as  circumstances  would  allow  on  board  the  stranded 
vessel.  There  was,  in  truth,  a  certain  convenience  in  this 
scheme  that  commended  it  to  the  good  sense  of  all.  So 
long  as  any  portion  of  the  Vineyarders  could  be  made 
comfortable  in  the  wreck  it  was  best  they  should  remain 
there ;  for  it  saved  the  labor  of  transporting  all  the  pro- 
visions, and  made  more  room  to  circulate  in  and  about  the 
house.  The  necessity  of  putting  so  many  casks,  barrels, 
and  boxes  within  doors,  had  materially  circumscribed  the 
limits  ;  and  space  was  a  great  desideratum  for  several  rea- 
sons, health  in  particular. 

Roswell  was  glad,  therefore,  when  any  of  the  Vineyard- 
ers expressed  a  wish  to  go  to  the  wreck  and  to  pass  a  few 
days  there.  With  a  view  to  encourage  this  disposition,  as 
well  as  to  ascertain  how  those  fared  who  chose  that  abode, 
he  paid  Daggett  a  visit,  and  passed  a  night  or  two  himself 
in  the  cabin  of  the  craft.  This  experiment  told  him  that 
it  was  very  possible  to  exist  there  when  the  thermometer 
stood  at  zero  ;  but  how  it  would  do  when  ranging  a  great 
deal  lower  he  had  his  doubts.  The  cabin  was  small,  and 
a  very  moderate  fire  in  the  caboose  served  to  keep  it  rea- 
sonably warm  ;  though  Daggett,  at  all  times  a  reasonable 
and  reasoning  man,  when  the  "  root  of  all  evil  "  did  not 
sorely  beset  him,  came  fully  into  his  own  views  as  to  the 
necessity  of  husbanding  the  fuel  and  of  hardening  the 
men.  None  of  that  close  stewing  over  stoves,  which  is  so 
common  in  America,  and  which  causes  one-half  of  the 
winter  diseases  of  the  climate,  was  tolerated  in  either  gang. 
Daggett  saw  the  prudence  of  Roswell's,  or  rather  of  Stim- 
son's  system,  and  fell  into  it  freely  and  with  hearty  good- 
will. It  was  during  Gardiner's  visit  to  the  wreck  that  our 
two  masters  talked  over  their  plans  for  the  winter,  while 
taking  their  exercise  on  the  schooner's  deck,  each  well 
muffled  up  to  prevent  the  frost  from  taking  hold  of  the 
more  exposed  parts.  Every  one  had  a  seal-skin  cap,  made 
in  a  way  to  protect  the  ears  and  most  of  the  face  ;  and  our 
two  masters  were  thus  provided,  in  common  with  their 
men. 

"  I  suppose  that  we  are  to  consider  this  as  pleasant  win- 
ter weather,"  Roswell  remarked,,  "the  thermometer  being 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  311 

down  only  at  zero.  Stimson  tells  me  that  even  at  Orange 
Harbor,  the  season  he  was  there,  they  paid  out  mercury 
until  it  all  got  into  the  ball.  A  month  or  two  hence  we 
may  look  out  for  the  season  of  frosts,  as  the  Injuns  call  it. 
You  will  hardly  think  of  staying  out  here  when  the  really 
hard  weather  sets  in." 

"  I  do  not  believe  we  shall  feel  the  cold  much  more  than 
we  do  now.  This  daily  washing  is  a  capital  stove  ;  for  I 
find  all  hands  say  that,  when  it  is  once  over,  they  feel  like 
new  men.  As  for  me,  I  shall  stick  by  my  craft  while  there 
is  a  timber  left  in  her  to  float !  " 

Roswell  thought  how  absurd  it  was  to  cling  thus  to  a 
useless  mass  of  wood,  and  iron,  and  copper  ;  but  he  said 
nothing  on  that  subject. 

"  I  am  now  sorry  that  we  took  over  to  the  house  so  many 
of  our  supplies,"  Daggett  continued,  after  a  short  pause. 
"  I  am  afraid  that  many  of  them  will  have  to  be  brought 
back  again." 

"  That  would  hardly  quit  cost,  Daggett  ;  it  would  be 
better  to  come  over  and  pass  the  heel  of  the  winter  with 
us,  when  the  supplies  get  to  be  short  here.  As  we  eat,  we 
make  room  in  the  hut,  you  know  ;  and  you  will  be  so  much 
the  more  comfortable.  An  empty  pork-barrel  was  broken 
up  for  the  caboose  yesterday  morning." 

"We  shall  see — we  shall  see,  Gar'ner.  My  men  have 
got  a  notion  that  your  people  intend  to  break  up  this 
schooner  for  fuel,  should  they  not  keep  an  anchor-watch 
aboard  her." 

"Anchor-watch!"  repeated  Roswell,  smiling.  "It  is 
well  named — if  there  ever  was  an  anchor-watch,  you  keep 
it  here  ;  for  no  ground  tackle  will  ever  hold  like  this." 

"  We  still  think  the  schooner  may  be  got  off,"  Daggett 
said,  regarding  his  companion  inquiringly. 

While  the  Vineyard-man  had  a  certain  distrust  of  his 
brother-master,  he  had  also  a  high  respect  for  his  fair- 
dealing  propensities,  and  a  strong  disposition  to  put  con- 
fidence in  his  good  faith.  The  look  that  he  now  gave  was 
if  possible,  to  read  the  real  opinion  of  the  other,  in  a  coun- 
tenance that  seldom  deceived. 

"  I  shall  be  grateful  to  God,  Captain  Daggett,"  returned 
Roswell,  after  a  short  pause,  "  if  we  get  through  the  long 
winter  of  this  latitude,  without  burning  too  much  of  both 
craft,  than  will  be  for  our  good.  Surely  it  were  better  to 
begin  on  that  which  is  in  the  least  serviceable  condition  ? " 

*•  I  have  thought  this  matter  over,  Gar'ner,  with  all  my 


312  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

mind — have  dreamt  of  it — slept  on  it — had  it  before  me 
at  all  hours  and  in  all  weathers  ;  and,  look  at  it  as  I  will, 
it  is  full  of  difficulties.  Will  you  agree  to  take  in  a  half  • 
cargo  of  my  skins  and  iles  next  season,  and  make  in  ali 
respects  a  joint  v'y'ge  of  it,  from  home,  home  ag'in,  if  we'll 
consent  to  let  this  craft  be  burned  ?" 

"  It  exceeds  my  power  to  make  any  such  bargain.  I 
have  an  owner  who  looks  sharply  after  his  property,  and 
my  crew  are  upon  lays,  like  the  people  of  all  sealers.  You 
ask  too  much  ;  and  you  forget  that,  should  I  assume  the 
same  power  over  my  own  craft,  as  you  still  claim  in  this 
wreck,  you  might  never  find  the  means  of  getting  away 
from  the  group  at  all.  We  are  not  obliged  to  receive  you 
on  board  our  schooner." 

"I  know  you  think,  Gar'ner,  that  it  will  be  impossible 
for  us  ever  to  get  our  craft  off  ;  but  you  overlook  one  thing 
that  we  may  do — what  is  there  to  prevent  our  breaking  her 
up,  and  of  using  the  materials  to  make  a  smaller  vessel ; 
one  of  sixty  tons  say — in  which  we  might  get  home,  be- 
sides taking  most  of  our  skins  ?  " 

"  I  will  not  say  that  will  be  impossible  ;  but  I  do  say  it 
will  be  very  difficult.  It  would  be  wiser  for  you,  in  my 
judgment,  to  leave  your  cargo  in  the  house,  under  the 
keeping  of  a  few  hands  if  you  see  fit,  and  go  off  with  me. 
I  will  land  you  at  Rio,  where  you  can  almost  always  find 
some  small  American  craft  to  come  south  in  and  pick  up 
your  leavings.  If  you  choose  that  the  men  left  behind 
should  amuse  themselves  in  your  absence  by  building  a 
small  craft,  I  am  certain  they  will  meet  with  no  opposition 
from  me.  There  is  but  one  place  where  a  vessel  can  be 
launched,  and  that  is  the  spot  in  the  cove  where  we  beached 
your  schooner.  There  it  might  possibly  be  done,  though 
I  think  not  without  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  possibly 
not  without  more  means  than  are  to  be  picked  up  along 
shore  in  this  group.  But  there  is  a  very  important  fact 
that  you  overlook,  Daggett,  which  it  may  be  as  well  to 
mention  here  as  to  delay  it.  Your  craft,  or  nrine,  must  be 
used  as  fuel  this  winter,  or  we  shall  freeze  to  death  to  a 
man.  I  have  made  the  calculations  closely  ;  and,  certain 
as  our  existence,  there  is  no  alternative  between  such  a 
death  and  the  use  of  the  fuel  I  have  mentioned." 

"  Not  a  timber  of  mine  shall  be  touched.  I  do  not 
believe  one-half  of  these  stories  about  the  antarctic  winter, 
wkich  cannot  be  much  worse  than  what  a  body  meets  with 
up  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy. " 


77//t    SEA    LIONS.  313 

"A  winter  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  without  fuel  must  be  bad 
enough  ;  but  it  is  a  mere  circumstance  to  one  here.  I 
should  think  that  a  man  who  has  tasted  an  antarctic  summer 
and  autumn  must  get  a  pretty  lively  notion  of  what  is  to 
come  after  them." 

"  The  men  can  keep  in  their  berths  much  of  the  time, 
and  save  wood.  There  are  many  other  ways  of  getting 
through  a  winter  than  burning  a  vessel.  I  shall  never 
consent  to  a  stick  of  this  good  craft's  going  into  the  galley- 
fire  as  long  as  I  can  see  my  way  clear  to  prevent  it.  I 
would  burn  cargo  before  I  would  burn  my  craft." 

Roswell  wondered  at  this  pertinacity ;  but  he  trusted  to 
the  pressure  of  the  coming  season,  and  changed  the  sub- 
ject. Certainly  the  thought  of  breaking  up  his  own  craft 
did  not  cross  his  mind  ;  though  he  could  see  no  sufficient 
objection  to  the  other  side  of  the  proposition.  As  discus- 
sion was  useless,  however,  he  continued  to  converse  with 
Daggett  on  various  practical  subjects,  on  which  his  com- 
panion was  rational  and  disposed  to  learn. 

It  had  been  ascertained  by  experiment  that  the  water,  at 
a  considerable  depth,  was  essentially  warmer  beneath  the 
ice  than  at  its  surface.  A  plan  had  been  devised  by  which 
the  lower  currents  of  the  water  could  be  pumped  up  for 
the  purposes  of  the  bath  ;  thus  rendering  the  process  far 
more  tolerable  than  it  had  previously  been.  Bathing  in 
extremely  cold  weather,  however,  is  not  so  formidable  a 
thing  as  is  generally  supposed,  the  air  being  at  a  lower 
temperature  than  the  water.  As  the  greatest  importance 
was  attached  to  these  daily  ablutions,  the  subject  was  gone 
over  between  the  two  masters  in  all  its  bearings.  There 
were  no  conveniences  for  the  operation  at  the  wreck  ;  and 
this  was  one  reason  why  Roswell  suggested  that  a  resi- 
dence there  ought  to  be  abandoned.  Daggett  dissented, 
and  invited  his  companion  to  take  a  walk  in  his  caverns. 

A  promenade  in  a  succession  of  caves  formed  of  ice, 
witli  the  thermometer  at  zero,  would  naturally  strike  one 
as  a  somewhat  chilling  amusement.  Gardiner  did  not  find 
it  so.  He  was  quite  protected  from  the  wind,  which  gives 
so  much  pungency  to  bitter  cold,  rendering  it  insupport- 
able. Completely  protected  from  this,  and  warmed  by  the 
exertion  of  clambering  among  the  cakes,  Roswell's  blood 
was  soon  in  a  healthful  glow  ;  and,  to  own  the  truth,  when 
he  left  the  wreck,  it  was  with  a  much  better  opinion  of  it,  as  a 
place  of  residence,  than  when  he  had  arrived  to  pay  his  visit. 

As  there  was  now  nothing  for  the  men  to  do  in  the  way 


3 14  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

.of  preparation,  modes  of  amusement  were  devised  that 
might  unite  activity  of  body  with  that  of  the  mind.  The 
snows  ceased  to  fall  as  the  season  advanced,  and  there  were 
but  few  places  on  which  heavy  burdens  might  not  have 
been  transported  over  their  crusts.  It  was,  indeed,  easier 
moving  about  on  the  surface  of  the  frozen  snow  than  it 
had  been  on  the  naked  rocks  ;  the  latter  offering  obstacles 
that  no  longer  showed  themselves.  Sliding  down  the 
declivities,  and  even  skating,  were  practised ;  few  northern 
Americans  being  ignorant  of  the  latter  art.  Various  other 
sources  of  amusement  were  resorted  to  ;  but  it  was  found, 
generally,  that  very  little  exercise  in  the  open  air  exhausted 
the  frame,  and  that  a  great  difficulty  of  breathing  occurred. 
Still,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  health  that  the  men 
should  remain  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  crowded 
house  ;  and  various  projects  were  adopted  to  keep  up  the 
vital  warmth  while  exposed.  Ere  the  month  of  July  had 
passed,  which  corresponds  to  our  January,  it  had  been 
found  expedient  to  make  dresses  of  skins,  for  which  fort- 
unately the  materials  abounded. 

As  the  season  advanced  the  idea  of  preserving  more 
than  the  lives  of  his  men  was  gradually  abandoned  by 
Gardiner,  though  Daggett  still  clung  to  his  wreck,  and 
actually  had  wood  transported  back  to  it,  that  he  might 
stay  as  much  as  possible  near  his  property.  There  was  no 
longer  any  thawing,  though  there  were  very  material  gra- 
dations in  the  intensity  of  the  frosts.  Occasionally  it  was 
quite  possible  to  remain  in  the  open  air  an  hour  or  two  at 
a  time  ;  then  again  there  were  days  in  which  it  exceeded 
the  powers  of  human  endurance  to  remain  more  than  a 
few  minutes  removed  to  any  distance  from  heat  artificially 
procured.  On  the  whole,  however,  it  was  found  that  the 
comparatively  moderate  weather  predominated,  and  it 
was  rare,  indeed,  that  all  the  people  did  not  pursue  their 
avocations  and  amusements  outside,  at  what  was  called 
the  middle  of  the  day. 

And  what  a  meridian  it  was !  The  shortest  day  had 
passed  some  time,  when  Rosweli  and  Stimson  were  walk- 
ing together  on  the  terrace,  then,  as  usual,  as  clear  from 
snow  as  if  swept  by  a  broom,  but  otherwise  wearing 
the  aspect  of  interminable  winter,  in  common  with  all 
around  it.  They  were  conversing  as  had  been  much  their 
wont  of  late,  and  were  watching  the  passage  of  the  sun  as 
he  stole  along  the  northern  horizon,  even  at  high  noon 
rising  but  a  very  few  degrees  above  it ! 


THE   SEA    LiONS.  315 

"  It  lias  a  cold  look,  sir,  but  it  does  give  out  some  heat," 
said  Stephen,  as  he  faced  the  luminary  in  one  of  his  turns. 
"I  can  feel  a  little  warmth  from  it  just  now,  sheltered  as 
we  are  here  under  the  cliffs,  and  with  a  background  of 
naked  rock  to  throw  back  what  reaches  us.  To  me  all 
these  changes  in  the  movements  of  the  sun  seem  very 
strange,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  but  I  know  I  am  ignorant,  and 
that  others  may  well  know  all  about  what  I  do  not  under- 
stand." 

Here  Gardiner  undertook  to  explain  the  phenomena 
that  have  been  slightly  treated  on  in  our  own  pages. 
There  are  few  Americans  so  ignorant  as  not  to  be  fully 
aware  that  the  sun  has  no  sensible  motion,  or  any  motion 
that  has  an  apparent  influence  on  our  own  planet  ;  but 
fewer  still  clearly  comprehend  the  reasons  of  those  very 
changes  that  are  occurring  constantly  before  their  eyes. 
We  cannot  say  that  Captain  Gardiner  succeeded  very  well 
in  his  undertaking,  though  he  imprinted  on  the  old  boat- 
steerer's  mind  the  fact  that  the  sun  would  not  be  seen  at 
all  were  they  only  a  few  degrees  further  south  than  they 
actually  were. 

"  And  now,  sir,  I  suppose  he'll  get  higher  and  higher 
every  dayj"  put  in  Stephen,  "until  he  comes  quite  up 
above  our  heads  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly  that  at  noon  ;  though  abeam,  as  it  might 
be,  mornings  and  evenings." 

"  Still  the  coldest  of  our  weather  is  yet  to  come,  or  I 
have  no  exper'ence  in  such  things.  Why  does  not  the 
heat  come  back  with  the  sun — or  what  seems  to  be  the 
sun  coming  back  ?  though,  as  you  tell  me,  Captain  Gar'- 
ner, it's  only  the  'arth  sheering  this-a-away  and  that-a-way 
in  her  course." 

"  One  may  well  ask  such  a  question — but  cold  produces 
cold,  and  it  takes  time  to  wear  it  out.  February  is  com- 
monly the  coldest  month  in  the  year,  even  in  America  ; 
though  days  occur  in  other  months  that  may  be  colder 
than  any  one  in  February.  March,  and  even  April,  are 
months  I  dread  here  ;  and  that  so  much  the  more,  Stephen, 
because  our  fuel  goes  a  good  deal  faster  than  I  could 
wish." 

"  What  you  say  is  very  true,  sir.  Still  the  people  must 
have  fire.  I  turned  out  this  morning,  while  all  hands  were 
still  in  their  berths,  and  looked  to  the  stove,  and  it  was  as 
much  as  human  natur'  could  bear  to  be  about  without  my 
cap  and  skin-covering,  though  in-doors  the  whole  time. 


3i6  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

If  the  weather  goes  on  as  it  has  begun,  we  shall  have  to 
keep  a  watch  at  the  stove  ;  nor  do  I  think  one  stove  will 
answer  us  much  longer.  We  shall  want  another  in  the 
sleeping-room." 

"  Heaven  knows  where  the  wood  is  to  come  from  !  Un- 
less Captain  Daggett  gives  up  the  wreck,  we  shall  certainly 
be  out  long  before  the  mild  season  returns." 

"  We  must  keep  ourselves  warm,  sir,  by  reading  the 
Bible,"  answered  Stimson,  smiling;  though  the  glance  he 
cast  at  his  officer  was  earnest  and  anxious.  "You  must 
not  forget,  Captain  Gar'ner,  that  you've  promised  one  who 
is  praying  for  you  daily  to  go  through  the  chapters  she 
has  marked,  and  give  the  matter  a  patient  and  attentive 
thought.  No  sealin',  sir,  can  be  half  so  important  as  this 
reading  of  the  good  book  in  the  right  spirit." 

"  So  you  believe  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God  !  "  ex- 
claimed Rosvvell,  half  inquiringly,  and  half  in  a  modified 
sort  of  levity. 

*'  As  much  as  I  believe  that  we  are  here,  sir.  I  wish  I 
was  half  as  certain  of  ever  getting  away." 

"  What  has  caused  you  to  believe  this,  Stimson  ? — reason, 
or  the  talk  of  your  mother  and  of  the  parson  ? " 

"  My  mother  died  afore  I  could  listen  to  her  talk,  sir; 
and  very  little  have  I  had  to  do  with  parsons,  for  the  want 
of  being  where  they  are  to  be  found.  Faith  tells  me  to  be- 
lieve this  ;  and  Faith  comes  from  God." 

"  And  I  could  believe  it,  too,  were  Faith  imparted  to  me 
from  the  same  source.  As  it  is,  I  fear  I  shall  never  be- 
lieve in  what  appears  to  me  to  be  an  impossibility." 

Then  followed  a  long  discussion,  in  which  ingenuity, 
considerable  command  of  language,  human  pride,  and 
worldly  sentiments,  contended  with  that  clear,  intuitive, 
deep  conviction  which  it  is  the  pleasure  of  the  Deity  often 
to  bestow  on  those  who  would  otherwise  seem  to  be  unfitted 
to  become  the  respositories  of  so  great  a  gift.  As  we  shall 
have  to  deal  with  this  part  of  our  subject  more  particularly 
hereafter,  we  shall  not  enlarge  on  it  here  ;  but  pursue  the 
narrative  as  it  is  connected  with  the  advance  of  the  season, 
and  the  influence  the  latter  exerted  over  the  whole  party 
of  the  lost  sealers. 


THE   SEA    LIOXS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  Beyond  the  Jewish  ruler,  banded  close, 
A  company  full  glorious,  I  saw 
The  twelve  apostles  stand.     Oh,  with  what  looks 
Of  ravishment  and  joy,  what  rapturous  tears, 
What  hearts  of  ecstasy,  they  gazed  again 
On  their  beloved  Master." — HILLHOUSE'S  JUDGMENT. 

IT  has  "become  necessary  to  advance  the  season  to  the 
beginning  of  the  month  of  October,  which  corresponds  to 
our  own  April.  In  a  temperate  climate  this  would  mark 
the  opening  of  spring  ;  and  the  reviving  hopes  of  a  new 
and  genial  season  would  find  a  place  in  every  bosom. 
Not  so  at  Sealer's  Land.  So  long  as  the  winter  was  at  its 
height,  and  the  clear,  steady  cold  continued,  by  falling 
into  a  system  so  prepared  as  to  meet  the  wants  of  such  a 
region,  matters  had  gone  on  regularly,  if  not  with  com- 
fort ;  and,  as  yet,  the  personal  disasters  were  confined  to 
a  few  frozen  cheeks  and  noses,  the  results  of  carelessness 
and  wanton  exposure,  rather  than  of  absolute  necessity. 
But  one  who  had  seen  the  place  in  July,  and  who  exam- 
ined it  now,  would  find  many  marks  of  change,  not  to 
say  of  deterioration. 

In  the  first  place,  a  vast  deal  of  snow  had  fallen  ;  fallen, 
indeed,  to  such  a  degree,  as  even  to  cover  the  terrace, 
block  up  the  path  that  communicated  with  the  wreck, 
and  nearly  to  smother  the  house  and  all  around  it.  The 
winds  were  high  ar.d  piercing,  rendering  the  cold  doubly 
penetrating.  The  thermometer  now  varied  essentially, 
sometimes  rising  considerably  above  zero,  though  oftener 
falling  far  below  it.  There  had  been  many  storms  in 
September,  and  October  was  opening  with  a  most  bluster- 
ing and  wintry  aspect.  In  one  sense,  however,  the  char- 
acter of  the  season  had  changed  :  the  dry,  equal  cold,  that 
was  generally  supportable,  having  been  succeeded  by 
tempests  that  were  sometimes  a  little  moist,  but  oftener  of 
intense  frigidity.  Of  course  the  equinox  was  past,  and 
there  were  more  than  twelve  hours  of  sun.  The  great 
luminary  showed  himself  well  above  the  northern  horizon; 
and  though  the  circuit  described  an  arc  that  did  not  prom- 
ise soon  to  bring  him  near  the  zenith  at  meridian,  it  was  a 
circuit  that  seemed  about  to  inclose  Sealer's  Land,  by  car- 
rying the  orb  of  day  so  far  south,  morning  and  evening,  as 
to  give  it  an  air  of  travelling  round  the  spot. 


318  THE  SEA    LIONS. 

These  changes  had  not  occurred  without  suffering  and 
danger.  Enormous  icicles  were  suspended  from  the  roof 
of  the  house,  reaching  to  the  ground,  the  third  and  fourth 
successions  of  these  signs  of  heat  and  cold  united,  the 
earlier  formations  having  been  knocked  down  and  thrown 
away.  Mountains  of  drifted  snow  were  to  be  seen  in 
places,  all  along  the  shore  ;  and  wreaths  that  threatened 
fearful  avalanches  were  suspended  from  the  cliffs,  waiting 
only  for  the  increase  of  the  warmth,  to  come  down  upon 
the  rocks  beneath.  Once  already  had  one  of  these  masses 
fallen  on  the  wreck  ;  and  the  Oyster  Pond  men  had  been 
busy  for  a  week  digging  into  the  pile,  in  order  to  go  to 
the  rescue  of  the  Vineyarders.  There  was  much  gener- 
osity and  charitable  feeling  displayed  in  this  act  ;  for, 
owing  to  the  obstinate  adherence  of  Daggett  and  his 
people  to  what  they  deemed  their  rights,  Rosvvell  had 
finally  been  compelled  to  cut  to  pieces  the  upper  works 
of  his  own  schooner  to  obtain  fuel  that  might  prevent  his 
own  party  from  freezing  to  death.  The  position  of  the 
Sea  Lion  of  Oyster  Pond  was  to  be  traced  only  by  a  high 
mound  of  snow,  which  had  been  arrested  by  the  obstacle 
she  presented  to  its  drift  ;  but  her  bulwarks,  planks,  deck, 
top-timbers,  stern-frame — in  short,  nearly  all  of  the  vessel 
above  water,  had  actually  been  taken  to  pieces,  and  carried 
within  the  covering  of  the  veranda  mentioned,  in  readi- 
ness for  the  stoves  ! 

To  render  the  obstinacy  of  the  other  crew  more  appar- 
ent, Daggett  had  been  obliged  to  do  the  same  !  Much  of 
his  beloved  craft  had  already  disappeared  in  the  caboose, 
and  more  was  likely  to  follow.  This  compelled  destruc- 
tion, however,  rather  increased  than  lessened  his  perti- 
nacity. He  clung  to  the  last  chip  ;  and  no  terms  of  compro- 
mise would  he  now  listen  to  at  all.  The  stranded  wreck 
was  his,  and  his  people's  ;  while  the  other  wreck  belonged 
to  the  men  from  Oyster  Pond.  Let  each  party  act  for  it- 
self, and  take  care  of  its  own.  Such  were  his  expressed 
opinions,  and  on  them  he  acted. 

This  state  of  things  had  not  been  brought  about  in  a 
day.  Months  had  passed  ;  Rosweli  had  seen  his  last  billet 
of  wood  put  in  the  caboose  ;  had  tried  various  experi- 
ments for  producing  heat  by  means  of  oil,  which  so  far 
succeeded  as  to  enable  the  ordinary  boiling  to  be  done, 
thereby  saving  wood  ;  but,  when  a  cold  turn  set  in,  it  was 
quickly  found  that  the  schooner  must  go,  or  all  hands 
perish.  When  this  decree  went  forth,  every  one  under- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  319 

stood  that  the  final  preservation  of  the  party  depended  on 
that  of  the  boats.  For  one  entire  day  the  question  had 
been  up  in  general  council,  whether  or  not  the  two  whale- 
boats  should  be  burnt,  with  their  oars  and  appurtenances, 
before  the  attack  was  made  on  the  schooner  itself.  Stim- 
son  settled  this  point,  as  he  did  so  many  others,  Roswell 
listening  to  all  he  said  with  a  constantly  increasing  atten- 
tion. 

"If  we  burn  the  boats  first,"  said  the  boat-steerer,  "  and 
then  have  to  come  to  the  schooner  a'ter  all,  how  are  we 
ever  to  get  away  from  this  group  ?  Them  boats  wouldn't 
last  us  a  week,  even  in  our  best  weather  ;  but  they  may 
answer  to  take  us  to  some  Christian  land,  when  every  rib 
and  splinter  of  the  Sea  Lion  is  turned  into  ashes.  I  would 
begin  on  the  upper  works  of  the  schooner  first,  Captain 
Gar'ner,  resarvin'  the  spars,  though  they  would  burn  the 
freest.  Then  I  would  saw  away  the  top-timbers,  beams, 
decks,  transoms,  and  everything  down  within  a  foot  of  the 
water  ;  but  I  wouldn't  touch  anything  below  the  copper, 
for  this  here  reason  :  unless  Captain  Daggett  sets  to  work 
on  his  craft  and  burns  her  up  altogether,  we  may  find  ma- 
ter'als  enough  in  the  spring  to  deck  over  ag'in  the  poor 
thing  down  there  in  the  cove,  and  fit  her  out  a'ter  a  fashion, 
and  make  much  better  weather  of  it  in  her  than  in  our 
boats.  That's  my  opinion,  sir." 

It  was  decided  that  this  line  of  conduct  should  be  pur- 
sued. The  upper  works  of  the  schooner  were  all  taken 
out  of  her  as  soon  as  the  weather  permitted,  and  the  wood 
was  carried  up  and  stored  in  the  house.  Even  with  this 
supply,  it  was  soon  seen  that  great  economy  was  to  be 
used,  and  that  there  might  be  the  necessity  of  getting  at 
the  vessel's  bottom.  As  for  the  schooner,  as  the  people 
still  affectionately  called  the  hull,  or  what  was  left  of  the 
hull,  everything  had  been  taken  out  of  her.  The  frozen 
oil  was  carried  up  to  the  house  in  chunks,  and  used  for 
fuel  and  lights.  A  good  deal  of  heat  was  obtained  by  mak- 
ing large  wicks  of  canvas,  and  placing  them  in  vessels  that 
contained  oil  ;  though  it  was  very  far  from  sufficing  to 
keep  life  in  the  men  during  the  hardest  of  the  weather. 
The  utmost  economy  in  the  use  of  the  fuel  that  had  been 
so  dearly  obtained,  was  still  deemed  all-essential  to  event' 
ual  preservation.  Happily,  the  season  advanced  all  this 
time,  and  the  month  of  October  was  reached.  The  inter- 
course between  the  crews  had  by  no  means  been  great  dur- 
ing the  two  solemn  and  critical  months  that  were  just 


320  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

passed.  A  few  visits  had  been  exchanged  at  noon-day, 
and  when  the  thermometer  was  a  little  above  zero  ;  but 
the  snow  was  filling  the  path,  and  as  yet  there  were  no 
thaws  to  produce  a  crust  on  which  the  men  might  walk. 

About  a  month  previously  to  the  precise  time  to  which 
it  is  our  intention  now  to  advance  the  more  regular  action 
of  the  legend,  Macy  had  come  over  to  the  house,  attended 
by  one  man,  with  a  proposal  on  the  part  of  Daggett  for 
the  two  crews  to  occupy  his  craft,  as  he  still  persisted  in 
calling  the  wreck,  and  of  using  the  house  as  fuel.  This 
was  previously  to  beginning  to  break  up  either  vessel. 
G-ardiner  had  thought  of  this  plan  in  connection  with  his 
own  schooner,  a  scheme  that  would  have  been  much  more 
feasible  than  that  now  proposed,  on  account  of  the  differ- 
ence in  distance  ;  but  it  had  soon  been  abandoned.  All 
the  material  of  the  building  was  of  pine,  and  that  well 
seasoned  ;  a  wood  that  burns  like  tinder.  No  doubt  there 
would  have  been  a  tolerably  comfortable  fortnight  or  three 
weeks  by  making  these  sacrifices  ;  then  would  have  come 
certain  destruction. 

As  to  the  proposal  of  Daggett,  there  were  many  objec- 
tions to  it.  A  want  of  room  would  be  one  ;  want  of  pro- 
visions another  ;  and  there  would  be  the  necessity  of  trans- 
porting stores,  bedding,  and  a  hundred  things  that  were 
almost  as  necessary  to  the  people  as  warmth  ;  and  which 
indeed  contributed  largely  to  their  warmth.  In  addition 
was  the  objection  just  mentioned,  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
materials  of  the  building;  an  objection  which  was  just  as 
applicable  to  a  residence  in  one  vessel  as  a  residence  in 
the  other.  Of  course  the  proposition  was  declined. 

Macy  remained  a  night  with  the  Oyster  Ponders,  and 
left  the  house  after  breakfast  next  morning  ;  knowing  that 
Daggett  only  waited  for  his  return  with  a  negative,  to  com- 
mence breaking  up  the  wreck.  The  mate  was  attended  by 
the  seaman,  returning  as  he  had  arrived.  Two  days  later, 
there  having  been  a  slight  yielding  of  the  snow  under  the 
warmth  of  the  noonday  sun,  and  a  consequent  hardening 
of  its  crust  in  the  succeeding  night,  Roswell  and  Stimson 
undertook  to  return  this  visit,  with  a  view  to  make  a  las* 
effort  to  persuade  Daggett  to  quit  the  wreck  and  come 
over  to  the  house  altogether.  When  they  had  got  about 
half-way  between  the  two  places,  they  found  the  body  of 
the  seaman,  stiff,  frozen,  hard,  and  dead.  A  quarter  of  a 
mile  further  on,  the  reckless  Macy,  who  it  was  supposed 
greatly  sustained  Daggett  in  his  obstinacy,  was  found  in 


THE  SEA   LION'S.  321 

precisely  the  same  state.  Both  had  fallen  in  the  path,  and 
stiffened  under  the  terrible  power  of  the  climate.  It  was 
not  without  difficulty  that  Roswell  reached  the  wreck,  and 
reported  what  he  had  seen.  Even  this  terrible  admonition 
did  no,t  change  Daggett's  purpose.  He  had  begun  to  burn 
his  vessel,  for  there  was  now  no  alternative  ;  but  he  was 
doing  it  on  a  system  which,  as  he  explained  it  to  Roswell, 
was  not  only  to  leave  him  materials  with  which  to  con- 
struct a  smaller  craft  in  the  spring,  but  which  would  allow 
of  his  inhabiting  the  steerage  and  cabin  as  long  as  he 
pleased. 

In  some  respects  the  wreck  certainly  had  its  advantages 
over  "the  house.  There  was  more  room  for  exercise,  the 
caverns  of  the  ice  being  extensive,  while  they  completely 
excluded  the  wind,  which  was  now  the  great  danger  of  the 
season.  It  was  doubtless  owing  to  the  wind  that  Macy  and 
his  companion  had  perished.  As  the  spring  approached, 
these  winds  increased  in  violence  ;  thougli  there  had  been 
slight  symptoms  of  their  coming  more  blandly,  even  at  the 
time  when  their  colder  currents  were  really  frightful. 

A  whole  month  succeeded  this  visit  of  Roswell's,  during 
which  there  was  no  intercourse.  It  was  September,  the 
March  of  the  antarctic  circle,  and  the  weather  had  been 
terrific  during  most  of  the  period.  It  was  during  these 
terrible  four  weeks  that  Roswell  completed  his  examination 
of  the  all-important  subject  Mary  had  marked  out  for  him, 
and  which  Stimson  had  so  earnestly  and  so  often  placed 
before  his  mind.  The  sudden  fate  of  Macy  and  his  com- 
panion, the  condition  of  his  crew,  and  all  the  serious  cir- 
cumstances with  which  he  was  surrounded,  conspired-to 
predispose  him  to  inquiry  ;  and  what  was  equally  impor- 
tant in  such  an  investigation,  to  humility.  Man  is  a  very 
different  being  in  high  prosperity  from  what  he  becomes 
when  the  blows  of  an  evil  fortune,  or  the  visitations  of 
Divine  Providence  alight  upon  him.  The  scepticism  of 
Roswell  was  more  the  result  of  human  pride,  of  confidence 
in  himself,  than  of  any  precept  derived  from  others,  or  of 
any  deep  reasoning  process  whatever.  He  conceived  that 
the  theory  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  was  op- 
posed to  philosophy  and  experience,  it  is  true  ;  and,  thus 
far,  he  may  be  said  to  have  reasoned  in  the  matter,  though 
it  was  in  his  own  way,  and  with  a  very  contracted  view  of 
the  subject  ;  but  pride  had  much  more  to  do  with  even 
this  conclusion,  than  a  knowledge  of  physics  or  philosophy. 
It  did  not  comport  with  the  respect  he  entertained  for  his 
21 


32t  THE  SEA    LIONS. 

own  powe/s,  to  lend  his  faith  to  an  account  that  cc'iflicted 
with  so  many  of  the  opinions  he  had  formed  on  evidence 
and  practice.  Credulous  women  might  have  their  convic- 
tions on  the  truth  of  this  history,  but  it  was  not  necessary 
for  men  to  be  as  easily  duped.  There  was  something  even 
amiable  and  attractive  in  this  weakness  of  the  otner  sex, 
that  would  ill  comport,  however,  with  the  greater  stern- 
ness of  masculine  judgment.  Roswell,  as  he  ouce  told 
Stimson,  hesitated  to  believe  in  anything  that  he  could  not 
comprehend.  His  God  must  be  worshipped  for  the  ob- 
vious truth  of  his  attributes  and  existence.  He  wished  to 
speak  with  respect  of  things  that  so  many  worthy  people 
reverenced  ;  but  he  could  not  forget  that  Providence  had 
made  him  a  reasoning  creature  ;  and  his  reason  must  be 
convinced.  Stephen  was  no  great  logician,  as  the  reader 
will  easily  understand  ;  but  Newton  possessed  no  clearer 
demonstration  of  any  of  his  problems  than  this  simple,  nay 
ignorant,  man  enjoyed  in  his  religious  faith,  through  the 
divine  illumination  it  had  received  in  the  visit  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

That  gloomy  month,  however,  had  not  been  thrown 
away.  All  the  men  were  disposed  to  be  serious  ;  and  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  openly  and  aloud,  soon  became  a 
favorite  occupation  with  every  one  of  them.  Although 
Roswell's  reading  was  directed  by  the  marks  of  Mary,  al> 
of  which  had  reference  to  those  pages  that  touched  on  the 
divinity  of  the  Saviour,  he  made  no  comments  that  be- 
trayed his  incredulity.  There  is  a  simple  earnestness  in 
the  narrative  portions  of  the  Gospel  that  commends  its 
truth  to  every  mind,  and  it  had  its  effect  on  that  of  Ros- 
well Gardiner ;  though  it  failed  to  remove  doubts  that  had 
so  long  been  cherished,  and  which  had  their  existence  in 
pride  of  reason,  or  what  passes  for  such,  with  those  who 
merely  skim  the  surface  of  things,  as  they  seem  to  exist 
around  them. 

On  the  evening  of  that  particular  day  in  October,  to 
which  we  desire  now  to  advance  the  time,  and  after  the 
most  pleasant  and  cheerful  afternoon  and  sunset  that  any 
on  the  island  had  seen  for  many  months,  Roswell  and  Stim- 
son ventured  to  continue  their  exercise  on  the  terrace,  then 
again  clear  of  impediments,  even  after  the  day  had  closed 
The  night  promised  to  be  cold,  but  the  weather  was  not 
yet  so  keen  as  to  drive  them  to  a  shelter.  Both  fancied 
there  was  a  feeling  of  spring  in  the  wind,  which  was  from 
the  northeast,  a  quarter  that  brought  the  blandest  currents 


THE  SEA   UONS.  323 

of  air  into  those  seas,  if  any  air  of  that  region  deserved 
such  a  term  at  all. 

"It  is  high  time  we  had  some  communications  with  the 
Vineyarders,"  said  Roswell,  as  they  turned  at  the  end  of 
the  terrace  which  was  nearest  to  the  wreck.  "A  full  month 
has  passed  since  we  have  seen  any  of  them,  or  have  heard 
a  syllable  of  their  doings  or  welfare." 

"  It's  a  bad  business  this  separation,  Captain  Gar'ner," 
returned  the  boat-steerer ;  "  and  every  hour  makes  it 
worse.  Think  how  much  good  might  have  been  done  them 
young  men  had  they  only  been  with  us  while  we've  been 
reading  the  book  of  books,  night  and  morning,  sir!" 

"That  good  book  seems  to  fill  most  of  your  thoughts, 
Stephen  ;  I  wish  I  could  have  your  faith." 

"It  will  come  in  time,  sir,  if  you  will  only  strive  for  it 
I'm  sure  no  heart  could  have  been  harder  than  mine  was, 
until  within  the  last  five  years.  I  was  far  worse  as  a  Chris- 
tian, Captain  Gar'ner,  than  I  consider  you  to  be  ;  for  while 
you  have  doubts  consarning  the  divinity  of  our  Blessed 
Lord,  I  had  no  thought  of  any  one  of  the  Trinity.  My 
only  God  was  the  world  ;  and  sich  a  world,  too,  as  a  poor 
sailor  knows.  It  was  being  but  little  better  than  the 
brutes." 

"  Of  all  the  men  with  me,  you  seem  to  be  the  most  con- 
tented and  happy.  I  cannot  say  I  have  seen  even  a  sign  of 
fear  about  you,  when  things  have  been  at  the  worst." 

"  It  would  be  very  ungrateful,  sir,  to  mistrust  a  Provi- 
dence that  has  done  so  much  for  me." 

"  I  devoutly  wish  I  could  believe  with  you  that  Jesus 
was  the  Son  of  God  !  " 

"  Excuse  me,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  it's  jist  because  you  do 
not  devoutly  wish  this  that  you  do  not  believe.  I  think  I 
understand  the  natur'  of  your  feelin's,  sir.  I  had  some  sich 
once,  myself  ;  though  it  was  only  in  a  small  way.  I  was 
too  ignorant  to  feel  much  pride  in  my  own  judgment,  and 
soon  gave  up  every  notion  that  went  ag'in  Scriptur'.  I 
own  it  is  not  accordin'  to  natur',  as  we  know  natur',  to  be 
lieve  in  this  doctrine  ;  but  we  know  too  little  of  a  thousand 
things  to  set  up  our  weak  judgments  in  the  very  face  of 
revelation." 

"I  am  quite  willing  to  believe  all  I  can  understand, 
Stephen  ;  but  I  find  it  difficult  to  credit  accounts  that  are 
irreconcilable  with  all  that  my  experience  has  taught  me 
to  be  true." 

"  Thev  who  are  of  your  wav  of  thinkin'  sir  do  not 


3*4 


THE   SEA    LI  OX'S. 


that  Christ  was  a  good  man  and  a  prophet ;  and  that  tha 
apostles  were  good  men  and  prophets  ;  and  that  they  all 
worked  miracles." 

"This  much  I  am  willing  enough  to  believe  ;  but  the 
other  doctrine  seems  contrary  to  what  is  possible." 

"Yet  you  have  seen,  sir,  that  these  apostles  believed 
what  you  refuse.  One  thing  has  crossed  my  mind,  Cap- 
tain Gar'ner,  which  J  wish  to  say  to  you.  I  know  I'm  but 
an  ignorant  man,  and  my  idees  may  be  hardly  worth  your 
notice  ;  but  sich  as  they  be,  I  want  to  lay  'em  afore  you. 
We  are  told  that  these  apostles  were  all  men  from  a  hum- 
ble class  in  life,  with  little  1'arnin',  chosen,  as  it  might  be, 
to  show  men  that  faith  stood  in  need  of  no  riches,  or  edi- 
cation,  or  worldly  greatness  of  any  sort.  To  me,  sir,  there 
is  a  wholesome  idee  in  that  one  thing." 

"  It  gives  us  all  a  useful  lesson,  Stephen,  and  has  often 
been  mentioned,  I  believe,  in  connection  with  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity." 

"  Yes,  sir — so  I  should  think  ;  though  I  don't  remember 
ever  to  have  heard  it  named  from  any  pulpit.  Well,  Cap- 
tain Gar'ner,  it  does  not  agree  with  our  notions  to  suppose 
that  God  himself,  a  part  of  the  Ruler  and  Master  of  the 
Universe,  should  be  born  of  a  woman,  and  come  among 
sinners  in  order  to  save  'em  from  his  own  just  judgments." 

"  That  is  just  the  difficulty  that  I  have  in  believing  what 
are  called  the  dogmas  of  Christianity  on  that  one  point. 
To  me  it  has  ever  seemed  the  most  improbable  thing  in  the 
world." 

"  Just  so,  sir — I  had  some  sort  of  feelin'  of  that  natur' 
myself  once.  When  God,  in  his  goodness,  put  it  into  my 
heart  to  believe,  however,  as  he  was  pleased  to  do  in  a  fit 
of  sickness  from  which  I  never  expected  to  rise,  and  in 
which  I  was  led  to  pray  to  Him  for  assistance,  I  began  to 
think  over  all  these  matters  in  my  own  foolish  manner. 
Among  other  things,  I  said  to  myself,  'is  it  likely  that  any 
mortal  man  would  dream  of  calling  Christ  the  Son  of  God, 
unless  it  was  put  into  his  mind  to  say  so?'  Then  comes 
the  characters  of  them  men,  who  all  admit  were  upright 
and  religious.  How  can  we  suppose  that  they  would  agree 
in  giving  the  same  account  of  sich  a  thing  unless  what 
they  said  had  been  told  to  them  by  some  tongue  that  they 
believed  ? " 

Roswell  smiled  at  Stephen's  reasoning,  which  was  not 
without  a  certain  point,  but  which  an  ingenious  man  might 
find  the  means  of  answering  in  various  ways. 


THE   SEA    LfONS.  325 

"  There  is  another  thing,  sir,  that  I've  read  in  a  book," 
resumed  the  boat-steerer,  "which  goes  a  great  way  with 
me.  Jesus  allowed  others  to  call  him  the  Son  of  God, 
without  rebuking  them  for  doing  so.  It  does  really  seem 
that  they  who  believe  he  was  a  good  man,  as  I  understand 
Is  the  case  with  you,  Captain  Gar'ner,  must  consider  this 
a  strong  fact.  We  are  to  remember  what  a  sin  idolatry 
is  ;  how  much  all  ra'al  worshippers  abhor  it  ;  and  then  set 
that  feelin'  side  by  side  with  the  fact  that  the  Son  did  not 
think  it  robbery  to  be  called  the  equal  of  the  Father.  To 
me  that  looks  like  a  proof  that  our  belief  has  a  solid 
foundation." 

Rosvvell  did  not  reply.  He  was  aware  that  it  would  not 
be  just  to  hold  any  creed  responsible  for  the  manner  in 
which  a  person  like  Stimson  defended  it.  Still,  he  was 
struck  with  both  of  this  man's  facts.  The  last  he  had 
often  met  in  books  ;  but  the  first  was  new  to  him.  Of 
the  two,  this  novel  idea  of  the  improbability  of  the  apostles 
inventing  that  which  would  seem  to  be  opposed  to  all 
men's  notions  and  prejudices,  struck  him  more  forcibly 
than  the  argument  adduced  from  the  acquiescence  of  the 
Redeemer  in  his  own  divinity.  The  last  might  be  subject 
to  verbal  criticism,  and  could  possibly  be  explained  away, 
as  he  imagined  ;  but  the  first  appeared  to  be  intimately 
incorporated  with  the  entire  history  of  Christ's  ministra- 
tions on  earth.  These  were  the  declarations  of  John  the 
Baptist,  the  simple  and  unpretending  histories  of  the* 
Gospels,  the  commentaries  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  venerable 
teachings  of  the  Church  through  so  many  centuries  of 
varying  degrees  of  faith  and  contention,  each  and  all  going 
to  corroborate  a  doctrine  that,  in  his  eyes,  had  appeared 
to  be  so  repugnant  to  philosophy  and  reason.  Wishing  to 
be  alone,  Roswell  gave  an  order  to  Stimson  to  execute 
some  duty  that  fell  to  his  share,  and  continued  walking 
up  and  down  the  terrace  alone  for  quite  an  hour  longer. 

The  night  was  coming  in  cold  and  still.  It  was  one  of 
those  last  efforts  of  winter  in  which  all  the  terrible  force  of 
the  season  was  concentrated  ;  and  it  really  appeared  as  if 
nature,  wearied  with  its  struggle  to  return  to  a  more  genial 
temperature,  yielded  in  despair,  and  was  literally  returning 
backward  through  the  coldest  of  her  months.  The  moon 
was  young,  but  the  stars  gave  forth  a  brightness  that  is 
rarely  seen,  except  in  the  clear  cold  nights  of  a  high 
latitude.  Each  and  all  of  these  sublime  emblems  of  the 
power  of  God  were  twinkling  like  bright  torches  glowing 


326  THE   SEA   L7O.VS. 

in  space  ;  and  the  mind  had  only  to  endow  each  with  its 
probable  or  known  dimensions,  its  conjectural  and  reason- 
able uses,  to  form  a  picture  of  the  truest  sublimity  in  which 
man  is  made  to  occupy  his  real  position.  In  this  world, 
where,  in  a  certain  sense,  he  is  master  ;  where  all  things 
are  apparently  under  his  influence,  if  not  absolutely  sub- 
ject to  his  control  ;  where  little  that  is  distinctly  visible  is 
to  be  met  with  that  does  not  seem  to  be  created  to  meet  his 
wants,  or  to  be  wholly  at  his  disposal,  one  gets  a  mistaken 
and  frequently  a  fatal  notion  of  his  true  place  in  the  scale 
of  the  beings  who  are  intended  to  throng  around  the  foot- 
stool of  the  Almighty.  As  the  animalculse  of  the  atmos- 
pheric air  bear  a  proportion  to  things  visible,  so  would  this 
throng  seem  to  bear  a  proportion  to  our  vague  estimates 
of  the  spiritual  hosts.  All  this  Roswell  was  very  capable 
of  feeling,  and  in  some  measure  of  appreciating  ;  and 
never  before  had  he  been  made  so  conscious  of  his  own 
insignificance,  as  he  became  while  looking  on  the  firma- 
ment that  night,  glowing  with  its  bright  worlds  and  suns, 
doubtless  the  centres  of  other  systems  in  which  distance 
swallowed  up  the  lesser  orbs. 

Almost  every  one  has  heard  or  read  of  that  collection  of 
stars  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Southern  Cross.  The 
resemblance  to  the  tree  on  which  Christ  suffered  is  not 
particularly  striking,  though  all  who  navigate  the  southern 
hemisphere  know  it,  and  recognize  it  by  its  imputed  ap- 
pellation. It  now  attracted  Roswell's  gaze  ;  and  coming 
as  it  did  after  so  much  reading,  so  many  conversations  with 
Stephen,  and  addressing  itself  to  one  whose  heart  was  sof- 
tened by  the  fearful  circumstances  that  bad  so  long  en- 
vironed the  sealers,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  brought  our 
young  master  to  meditate  seriously  on  his  true  condition 
in  connection  with  the  atonement  that  he  was  willing  to  ad- 
mit had  been  made  for  him,  in  common  with  all  of  earth, 
at  the  very  moment  he  hesitated  to  believe  that  the  sufferer 
was,  in  any  other  than  a  metaphorical  sense,  the  Son  of  God. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  describe  more  of  the  religious 
feelings  of  Mary  and  her  suitor,  or  to  enter  farther  into 
any  disquisition  on  subjects  of  this  nature,  than  may  be 
absolutely  necessary  to  elucidate  the  facts  of  our  history. 
In  order  to  do  the  last  distinctly,  however,  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  make  a  very  brief  analysis  of  the  process  of 
reasoning,  and  we  may  add  of  feeling  too,  that  was  at  work 
in  Roswell  Gardiner's  mind  and  heart,  as  he  paced  the 
terrace  that  night,  after  Stimson  had  left  him. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  327 

We  suppose  that  a  sense  of  humility  is  the  first  health- 
ful  symptom  that  shows  itself  in  every  man's  moral  re- 
generation. A  meek  appreciation  of  his  own  station  and 
character  disposes  him  to  receive  revelation  with  respect, 
and  to  have  faith  in  things  that  are  not  seen.  Perhaps 
no  one  over  whom  the  sword  of  fate  was  not  actually 
suspended  by  a  hair,  was  ever  better  placed  to  admit  the 
lessons  of  humility  than  was  Roswell  Gardiner  at  that  very 
moment.  Modest  he  always  was,  in  the  ordinary  accepta- 
tion of  the  term,  and  this  without  professions  or  grimaces; 
but  he  had  a  high  idea  of  the  human  understanding,  arid 
revolted  at  believing  that  which  did  violence  to  all  his  ex- 
perience and  preconceived  opinions.  This  was  the  weak 
spot  in  his  character,  which  time,  with  an  increasing 
knowledge  of  men  and  things,  or  some  merciful  teaching 
of  Divine  Providence,  could  alone  remove. 

Roswell  certainly  did  not  converse  with  Stimson  in  the 
expectation  of  being  much  instructed;  but  the  humble 
and  uneducated  boat-steerer  had  been  at  .a  school  that 
raises  the  dullest  intellect  far  above  all  the  inferences  of 
philosophy.  He  had  faith,  without  which  no  man  is  truly 
wise  ;  no  man  learned,  in  the  highest  interest  of  his  being. 
Under  the  guidance  of  this  leader,  Stephen  occasionally 
threw  out  an  idea  that  struck  the  mind  of  his  officer  by  its 
simplicity  and  force,  and  helped  to  complete  that  change 
for  which  circumstances,  reading  and  reflection  had  now 
been  many  months  preparing  the  way.  The  day  pre- 
ceding this  walk  on  the  terrace,  Roswell  observed  to 
Stimson  that  he  had  difficulty  in  believing  in  a  Deity  he 
could  not  comprehend  ;  meaning  merely  that  his  reason 
must  be  satisfied  in  a  doctrine  like  that  of  the  incarnation. 

"  Well,  sir,  that's  not  my  feelin',''  answered  Stephen, 
earnestly.  "A  Deity  I  could  understand  would  be  no  God 
for  me.  Where  there  is  the  same  knowledge,  there  is  too 
much  companionship  like,  for  worship  and  reverence." 

"  But  we  are  told  that  man  was  created  after  the  image 
of  God." 

"In  liis  likeness,  Captain  Gar'ner — with  some  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  but  not  with  all.  That  makes  him  different 
from  the  brutes,  and  immortal.  I  have  convarsed  with  a 
clergyman  who  thinks  that  the  angels,  and  archangels,  and 
other  heavenly  beings,  are  far  even  before  the  saints  in 
heaven,  such  as  have  been  only  men  on  'arth." 

The  idea  of  not  having  a  Deity  that  he  could  not  com- 
prehend, had  long  been  one  of  Roswell  Gardiner's  favor- 


328  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

ite  rules  of  faith.  He  did  not  understand  by  this  pretend' 
ing  dogma,  that  he  was,  in  any  respect,  of  capacity  equal 
to  comprehend  with  that  of  the  Divine  Being,  but  simply 
that  he  was  not  to  be  expected  or  required  to  believe  in 
any  theory  which  manifestly  conflicted  with  his  knowledge 
and  experience,  as  both  were  controlled  by  the  powers 
of  induction  he  had  derived  directly  from  his  Creator.  In 
a  word,  his  exception  was  one  of  the  most  obvious  of  the 
suggestions  of  the  pride  of  reason,  and  just  so  much  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  great  law  of  regeneration,  which 
has  its  very  gist  in  the  converse  of  his  feeling — Faith. 

As  our  young  master  paced  the  terrace  alone,  that  idea 
of  the  necessity  of  the  Creator's  being  incomprehensible 
to  the  created,  recurred  to  him.  The  hour  that  succeeded 
was  probably  the  most  important  in  Roswell  Gardiner's 
life.  So  intense  were  his  feelings,  so  active  the  workings 
of  his  mind,  that  he  was  quite  insensible  to  the  intensity 
of  the  cold  ;  and  his  body  keeping  equal  in  motion  with 
his  thoughts,  if  one  may  so  express  it,  his  frame  actually 
set  at  defiance  a  temperature  that  might  otherwise  have 
chilled  it,  warmly  and  carefully  as  it  was  clad. 

Truly  there  were  many  causes  existing  at  that  time  and 
place,  to  bring  any  man  to  a  just  sense  of  his  real  position 
in  the  scale  of  created  beings.  The  vault  above  Roswell 
was  sparkling  with  orbs  floating  in  space,  most  of  them 
far  more  vast  than  this  earth,  and  each  of  them  doubtless 
having  its  present  or  destined  use.  What  was  that  light, 
so  brilliant  and  pervading  throughout  space,  that  con- 
verted each  of  those  masses  of  dark  matter  into  globes 
clothed  with  a  glorious  brightness  ?  Roswell  had  seen 
chemical  experiments  that  produced  wonderful  illumina- 
tions ;  but  faint,  indeed,  were  the  most  glowing  of  those 
artificial  torches,  to  the  floods  of  light  that  came  streaming 
out  of  the  void,  on  missions  of  millions  and  millions  of 
miles.  Who,  and  what  was  the  Dread  Being — dread  in 
his  Majesty  and  Justice,  but  inexhaustible  in  Love  and 
Mercy — who  used  these  exceeding  means  as  mere  instru- 
ments of  his  pleasure  ?  and  what  was  he  himself,  that  he 
should  presume  to  set  up  his  miserable  pride  of  reason, 
in  opposition  to  a  revelation  supported  by  miracles  that 
must  be  admitted  to  come  through  men  inspired  by  the 
Deity,  or  rejected  altogether? 

In  this  frame  of  mind  Roswell  was  made  to  see  that 
Christianity  admitted  of  no  half-way  belief  ;  it  was  all  true, 
or  it  was  wholly  false. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  333 

And  why  should  not  Christ  be  the  Son  of  God,  as  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church  had  perseveringly,' but  so  simply 
proclaimed,  and  as  that  Church  had  continued  to  teach  for 
eighteen  centuries  ?  Roswell  believed  himself  to  have  been 
created  in  the  image  of  God  ;  and  his  much-prized  reason 
told  him  that  he  could  perpetuate  himself  in  successors; 
and  that  which  the  Creator  had  given  him  the  power  to 
achieve,  could  he  not  in  his  own  person  perform  ?  For 
the  first  time,  an  inference  to  the  contrary  seemed  to  be 
illogical. 

Then  the  necessity  for  the  great  expiation  occurred  to 
his  mind.  This  had  always  been  a  stumbling-block  to  Ros- 
well's  faith.  He  could  not  see  it ;  and  that  which  he  could 
not  see  he  was  indisposed  to  believe.  Here  was  the  beset- 
ting weakness  of  his  character  ;  a  weakness  which  did  not 
suffer  him  to  perceive  that  could  he  comprehend  so  profound 
a  mystery,  he  would  be  raised  far  above  that  very  nature  in 
which  he  took  so  much  pride.  As  he  reflected  on  this 
branch  of  the  subject,  a  thousand  mysteries,  physical  and 
moral,  floated  before  his  mind  ;  and  he  became  aware  of 
the  little  probability  that  he  should  have  been  endowed 
with  the  faculties  to  comprehend  this,  the  greatest  of  them 
all.  Had  not  science  gradually  discovered  the  chemical 
processes  by  which  gases  could  be  concentrated  and  disen- 
gaged, the  formation  of  one  of  those  glittering  orb?  above 
his  head  would  have  been  quite  as  unintelligible  a  mystery 
to  him,  as  the  incarnation  of  the  Saviour.  The  fact  was, 
that  phenomena  that  were  just  as  mysterious  to  the  human 
mind  as  any  that  the  dogmas  of  Christianity  required  to  be 
believed,  exist  hourly  before  our  eyes  without  awakening 
scepticism,  or  exciting  discussion  ;  finding  their  impunity 
in  their  familiarity.  Many  of  these  phenomena  were  strictly 
incomprehensible  to  human  understandings,  which  could 
reason  up  to  a  fountain-head'  in  each  case  ;  and  there  it 
was  obliged  to  abandon  the  inductive  process,  purely  for 
the  want  of  power  to  grapple  with  the  premises  which  con- 
trol the  whole  demonstration. 

Could  Mary  Pratt  have  known  what  was  going  on  in 
Roswell  Gardiner's  soul  that  night,  her  happiness  would 
have  been  as  boundless  as  her  gratitude  to  God.  She  would 
have  seen  the  barrier  that  had  so  long  interposed  itself  to 
her  wishes  broken  down  ;  not  by  any  rude  hand,  but  by 
the  influence  of  those  whisperings  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
which  open  the  way  to  men  to  fit  themselves  for  the  pres- 
ence of  God. 


330  THE   SEA    LIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"  Let  winter  come  !  let  polar  spirits  sweep 
The  darkening  world,  and  tempest-troubled  deep  !  " 

— CAMPBELL. 

WHILE  the  bosom  of  Roswellwas  thus  warming  with  the 
new-born  faith,  of  which  the  germ  was  just  opening  in  his 
heart,  Stimson  came  out  upon  the  terrace  to  see  what  had 
become  of  his  officer.  It  was  much  past  the  hour  when 
the  men  got  beneath  the  coverings  of  their  mattresses  ;  and 
the  honest  boat-steerer,  who  had  performed  the  duty  on 
which  he  had  been  sent,  was  anxious  about  Roswell's  re- 
maining so  long  in  the  open  air,  on  this  positively  the  se- 
verest night  of  the  whole  season. 

"  You  stand  the  cold  well,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said 
Stephen,  as  he  joined  his  officer  ;  "but  it  might  be  pru- 
dent, now,  to  get  under  cover." 

"  I  do  not  feel  it  cold,  Stephen,"  returned  Roswell — "  on 
the  contrary,  I'm  in  a  pleasant  glow.  My  mind  has  been 
busy  while  my  frame  has  kept  in  motion.  When  such  are 
the  facts,  the  body  seldom  suffers.  But,  hearken — does  it 
not  see*m  that  some  one  is  calling  to  us  from  the  direction 
of  the  wreck  ?  " 

The  great  distance  to  which  sounds  are  conveyed  in  in- 
tensely cold  and  clear  weather,  is  a  fact  known  to  most 
persons.  Conversations  in  the  ordinary  tone  had  been 
heard  by  the  sealers  when  the  speakers  were  nearly  a  mile 
off  ;  and,  on  several  occasions,  attempts  had  been  made  to 
hold  communications,  by  means  of  the  voice,  between  the 
wreck  and  the  hut.  Certain  words  had  been  understood  ; 
but  it  was  found  impossible  to  hold  anything  that  could 
be  termed  conversation.  Still,  the  voice  had  been  often 
heard,  and  a  fancy  had  come  over  the  mind  of  Roswell 
that  he  heard  a  cry  like  a  call  for  assistance,  just  as  Stim- 
son joined  him. 

u  It  is  so  late,  sir,  that  I  should  hardly  think  any  of  the 
Vineyarders  would  be  up,"  observed  the  boat-steerer,  after 
listening  some  little  time  in  the  desire  to  catch  the  sound 
mentioned.  "Then  it  is  so  cold,  that  most  men  would  like 
to  get  beneath  their  blankets  as  soon  as  they  could." 

"I  do  not  find  it  so  very  cold,  Stephen.  Have  you 
looked  at  the  thermometer  lately  ?  " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  33^ 

"  I  gave  it  a  look  in  coming  out,  sir  ;  and  it  tells  a  ter- 
rible story  to-night  !  The  mercury  is  all  down  in  the  ball, 
which  is  like  givin'  the  matter  up,  I  do  suppose,  Captain 
Gar'ner." 

"  Tis  strange  !  I  do  not  fee!  it  so  very  cold  !  The  wind 
seems  to  be  getting  round  to  the  northeast  too  ;  give  us 
enough  of  that,  and  we  shall  have  a  thaw.  Hark  !  there  is 
the  cry  again." 

This  time  there  could  be  no  mistake.  A  human  voice 
had  certainly  been  raised  amid  the  stillness  of  that  almost 
polar  night,  clearly  appealing  to  human  ears,  for  succor. 
The  only  word  heard  or  comprehended  was  that  of  "  help  ;" 
one  well  enough  adapted  to  carry  the  sound  far  and  dis- 
tinctly. There  was  a  strain  of  agony  in  the  cry,  as  if  he 
who  made  it  uttered  it  in  despair.  Roswell's  blood  seemed 
to  flow  back  to  his  heart  ;  never  had  he  before  felt  so  ap- 
palling a  sense  of  the  dependence  of  man  on  a  Divine 
Providence,  as  at  that  moment. 

"  You  heard  it  ? "  he  said,  inquiringly,  to  Stephen,  after 
an  instant  of  silent  attention,  to  make  sure  that  no  more 
was  to  reach  his  ears  just  then. 

"  Sartain,  sir — no  man  could  mistake  that.  It  was  the  voice 
of  the  nigger,  Joe;  him  that  Captain  Daggett  has  for  a  cook." 

"Think  you  so,  Stephen  ?  The  fellow  has  good  lungs, 
and  they  may  have  set  him  to  call  upon  us  in  their  distress. 
What  can  be  the  nature  of  the  assistance  they  ask  ? " 

"  I've  been  thinking  of  that,  Captain  Gar'ner  ;  and  a 
difficult  p'int  it  is  to  answer.  Food  they  must  have  still ; 
and  was  they  in  want  of  their  rations,  hands  would  have 
been  sent  across  to  get  'em.  They  may  have  let  their  fire 
go  out,  and  be  without  the  means  to  relight  it.  I  can  think 
of  nothing  else  that  is  likely  to  happen  to  men  so  sarcum- 
stanced.'' 

The  last  suggestion  struck  Roswell  as  possible.  From 
the  instant  he  felt  certain  that  he  was  called  on  for  aid,  he 
had  determined  to  proceed  to  the  wreck,  notwithstanding 
the  lateness  of  the  hour,  and  the  intense  severity  of  the 
weather.  As  he  had  intimated  to  Stephen,  he  was  not  at 
all  conscious  how  very  cold  it  was ;  exercise  and  the  active 
workings  of  his  mind  having  brought  him  to  an  excellent 
condition  to  resist  the  sternness  of  the  season.  The  appeal 
had  been  so  sudden  and  unexpected,  however,  that  he  was 
at  first  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed.  The  matter 
was  now  discussed  between  him  and  Stimson,  when  the 
following  plan  was  adopted  : 


332  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

The  mates  were  to  be  called  and  made  acquainted  with 
what  had  occurred,  and  put  on  their  guard  as  to  what 
might  possibly  be  required  of  them.  It  was  not  thought 
necessary  to  call  any  of^  the  rest  of  the  men.  There  was 
always  one  hand  on  the  watch  in  the  house,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  look  to  the  fires,  for  the  double  purpose  of  security 
against  a  conflagration,  and  to  prevent  the  warmth  within 
from  sinking  too  near  to  the  cold  without.  It  had  often 
occurred  to  Roswell's  mind  that  a  conflagration  would 
prove  quick  destruction  to  his  party.  In  the  first  place, 
most  of  the  provisions  would  be  lost ;  and  it  was  certain 
that,  without  a  covering  and  the  means  of  keeping  warm 
within  it,  the  men  could  not  resist  the  climate  eight-and- 
forty  hours.  The  burning  of  the  hut  would  be  certain 
death. 

Roswell  took  no  one  with  him  but  Stimson.  Two  were 
as  good  as  a  hundred,  if  all  that  was  asked  were  merely 
the  means  to  relight  the  fire.  These  means  were  provided, 
and  a  loaded  pistol  was  taken  also,  to  enable  a  signal-shot 
to  be  fired,  should  circumstances  seem  to  require  further 
aid.  One  or  two  modes  of  communicating  leading  facts 
were  concerted,  when  our  hero  and  his  companion  set 
forth  on  their  momentous  journey. 

Taking  the  hour,  the  weather,  and  the  object  before  him 
into  the  account,  Roswell  Gardiner  felt  that  he  Avas  now 
enlisted  in  the  most  important  undertaking  of  his  whole 
life,  as  he  and  Stephen  shook  hands  with  the  two  mates, 
and  left  the  point.  The  drifts  rendered  a  somewhat  cir- 
cuitous path  necessary  at  first  ;  but  the  moon  and  stars 
shed  so  much  of  their  radiance  on  the  frozen  covering  of 
the  earth  that  the  night  was  quite  as  light  as  many  a  Lon- 
don day.  Excitement  and  motion  kept  the  blood  of  our 
two  adventurers  in  a  brisk  circulation,  and  prevented  their 
becoming  immediately  conscious  of  the  chill  intensity  of 
the  cold  to  which  they  were  exposed. 

"  It  is  good  to  think  of  Almighty  God,  and  of  his  many 
marcies,"  said  Stephen,  when  a  short  distance  from  the 
house,  "  as  a  body  goes  forth  on  an  expedition  as  serious 
as  this.  We  may  not  live  to  reach  the  wrack,  for  it  seems 
to  me  to  grow  colder  and  colder  !  " 

"  I  wonder  we  hear  no  more  of  the  cries,"  remarked 
Roswell,  who  was  thinking  of  the  distress  he  was  bent  on 
relieving.  "  One  would  think  that  a  man  who  could  call 
so  stoutly  would  give  us  another  cry." 

"  A  body  can  never  calculate  on  a  nigger,"  answered 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  333 

Stephen,  who  had  the  popular  American  prejudice  against 
the  caste  that  had  so  long  been  held  in  servitude  in  the 
land.  "  They  call  out  easily,  and  shut  up  uncommon 
quick,  if  there's  nothin'  gained  by  yelling.  Black  blood 
won't  stand  cold  like  white  blood,  Captain  Gar'ner,  any 
more  than  white  blood  will  stand  heat  like  black  blood." 

"  I  have  heard  this  before,  Stephen  ;  and  it  has  surprised 
me  that  Captain  Daggett's  cook  should  be  the  only  one  of 
lhat  party  who  seems  to  have  had  any  voice  to-night." 

Stimson  had  a  good  deal  to  say  now  as  the  two  picked 
their  way  across  the  field  of  snow,  always  walking  on  the 
crust,  which  in  most  places  would  have  upheld  a  loaded 
vehicle  ;  the  subject  of  his  remarks  being  the  difference 
between  the  two  races  as  respects  their  ability  to  endure 
hardships.  The  worthy  boat-steerer  had  several  tales  to 
relate  of  cases  in  which  he  had  known  negroes  freeze  when 
whites  have  escaped.  As  the  fact  is  one  pretty  well  estab- 
lished, Roswell  listened  complacently  enough,  being  much 
too  earnest  in  pressing  forward  toward  his  object  to  debate 
any  of  his  companion's  theories  just  then.  It  was  while 
thus  employed  that  Roswell  fancied  he  heard  one  more 
cry  resembling  those  which  had  brought  him  on  this  dan- 
gerous undertaking  on  a  night  so  fearful.  This  time,  how- 
ever, the  cry  was  quite  faint ;  and  what  was  not  so  easily 
explained,  it  did  not  appear  to  come  from  the  precise 
direction  in  which  the  wreck  was  known  to  lie,  but  from 
one  that  diverged  considerably  from  that  particular  quarter. 
Of  course,  the  officer  mentioned  this  circumstance  to  the 
boat-steerer;  and  the  extraordinary  part  of  the  information 
caused  some  particular  discussion  between  them. 

"To  me  that  last  call  seemed  to  come  from  up  yonder 
nearer  to  the  cliffs  than  the  place  where  we  are,  and  not 
at  all  from  down  there,  near  to  the  sea,  where  the  wrack 
is,"  said  Stimson,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks.  "  So  sar- 
tain  arn  I  of  this,  that  I  feel  anxious  to  change  our  course 
a  little,  to  see  if  it  be  not  possible  that  one  of  the  Vine- 
yarders  has  got  into  some  difficulty  in  trying  to  come 
across  to  us." 

Roswell  had  the  same  desire,  for  he  had  made  the  same 
conjecture  ;  though  he  did  not  believe  the  black  would  be 
the  person  chosen  to  be  the  messenger  on  such  an  occa- 
sion. 

"  I  think  Captain  Daggett  would  have  come  himself  or 
have  sent  one  of  his  best  men,"  he  observed,  "  in  preference 
to  trusting  a  negro  with  a  duty  so  important." 


334  THE  SEA   LIONS. 

"We  do  not  know,  sir,  that  it  was  the  nigger  we  heard 
Misery  makes  much  the  same  cries,  whether  it  comes  from 
the  throat  of  white  or  black.  Let  us  work  upward,  nearer 
to  the  cliffs,  sir  ;  I  see  something  dark  on  the  snow,  herea- 
way, as  it  might  be  on  our  larboard  bow.1' 

Roswell  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  same  object,  and  thither 
our  adventurers  now  bent  their  steps,  walking  on  the  crust 
without  any  difficulty,  so  long  as  they  kept  out  of  the  drifts. 
One  does  not  find  it  so  easy  to  make  any  physical  effort  in 
an  intensely  cold  atmosphere,  as  he  does  when  the  weather 
is  more  moderate.  This  prevented  Roswell  and  his  com- 
panion from  moving  as  fast  as  they  otherwise  might  have 
done  ;  but  they  got  along  with  sufficient  rapidity  to  reach 
the  dark  spot  on  the  snow  in  less  than  five  minutes  after 
they  had  changed  their  course. 

**  You  are  right,  Stephen,"  said  Gardiner,  as  he  came  up 
to  this  speck,  amid  the  immensity  of  the  white  mantle  that 
covered  both  sea  and  land,  far  as- the  eye  could  reach  ;  "it 
is  the  cook  !  The  poor  fellow  has  given  out  here,  about 
half  way  between  the  two  stations." 

"There  must  be  life  in  him  yet,  sir — nigger  as  he  is. 
It's  not  yet  twenty  minutes  since  he  gave  that  last  cry. 
Help  me  to  turn  him  over,  Captain  Gar'ner,  and  we  wili. 
rub  him,  and  give  him  a  swallow  of  brandy.  A  little  hot 
coffee,  now,  might  bring  the  life  back  to  his  heart." 

Roswell  complied,  first  firing  his  pistol  as  a  signal  to 
those  left  behind.  The  negro  was  not  dead,  but  so  near  it 
that  a  very  few  more  minutes  would  have  sealed  his  fate. 
The  applications  and  frictions  used  by  Gardiner  and  the 
boat-steerer  had  an  effect.  A  swallow  of  the  brandy  prob- 
ably saved  the  poor  fellow's  life.  While  working  on  his 
patient,  Captain  Gardiner  found  a  piece  of  frozen  pork, 
which,  on  examination,  he  ascertained  had  never  been 
cooked.  It  at  once  explained  the  nature  of  the  calamity 
that  had  befallen  the  crew  of  the  wreck. 

So  intent  wore  the  two  on  their  benevolent  duty  that  a 
party  arrived  from  the  house,  in  obedience  to  the  signal, 
in  much  less  time  than  they  could  have  hoped  for.  It  was 
led  by  the  mate,  and  came  provided  with  a  lamp  burning 
beneath  a  tin  vessel  filled  with  sweetened  coffee.  This  hot 
drink  answered  an  excellent  purpose  with  both  well  and 
sick.  After  a  swallow  or  two,  aided  by  a  vigorous  friction, 
and  closely  surrounded  by  so  many  human  bodies,  the 
black  began  to  revive ;  and  the  sort  of  drowsy  stupor 
which  is  known  to  precede  death  in  those  who  die  by 


THE   SEA    LIQyS.  33$ 

freezing  having  been  in  a  degree  shaken  off,  he  was  en- 
abled to  stand  alone,  and  by  means  of  assistance  to  walk. 
The  hot  coffee  was  of  the  greatest  service,  every  swallow 
that  he  got  down  appearing  to  set  the  engine  of  life  into 
new  motion.  The  compelled  exercise  contributed  its  part ; 
3nd  by  the  time  the  mate,  to  use  his  own  expression,  "had 
mn  the  nigger  into  dock,"  which  meant  when  he  had  got 
lim  safe  within  the  hut,  his  senses  and  faculties  had  so 
fir  revived  as  to  enable  him  to  think  and  to  speak.  As 
Gardiner  and  Stimson  returned  with  him,  everybody  was 
ip  and  listening,  when  the  black  told  his  story. 

It  would  seem  that  during  the  terrible  month  which  had 
just  passed,  Daggett  had  compelled  his  crew  to  use  more 
exercise  than  had  been  their  practice  of  late.  Some  new- 
apprehension  had  come  over  him  on  the  subject  of  fuel, 
and  his  orders  to  be  saving  in  that  article  were  most  strin- 
gent, and  very  rigidly  enforced.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  caboose  was  not  as  well  attended  to  as  it  had  been 
previously,  and  as  circumstances  required,  indeed,  that  it 
should  be.  At  night  the  men  were  told  to  keep  themselves 
warm  with  bedclothes,  and  by  huddling  together  ;  and 
the  cabin  being  small,  so  many  persons  crowded  together 
'M  it,  did  not  fail  to  produce  an  impression  on  its  atmos- 
phere. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things,  when,  on  going  to  his  ca- 
boose, in  order  to  cook  the  breakfast,  this  very  black  found 
the  fire  totally  extinguished  !  Not  a  spark  could  he  dis- 
cover, even  among  the  ashes  ;  and,  what  was  even  worse, 
the  tinder-box  had  disappeared.  As*  respects  the  last,  it 
may  be  well  to  state  here,  that  it  was  afterward  discovered 
carefully  bestowed  between  two  of  the  timbersof  the  wreck, 
with  a  view  to  particular  safe  keeping  ;  the  person  who 
had  made  this  disposition  of  it  forgetting  what  he  had 
done.  The  loss  of  the  tinder-box,  under  the  circum- 
stances, was  almost  as  great  a  calamity  as  could  have  be- 
fallen men  in  the  situation  of  the  Vineyarders.  As  against 
the  cold,  by  means  of  bedclothes,  exercise  and  other  pre- 
cautions, it  might  have  been  possible  to  exist  for  some 
time,  provided  warm  food  could  be  obtained  ;  but  the 
frost  penetrated  the  cabin,  and  every  one  soon  became  sen- 
sitively alive  to  the  awkwardness,  not  to  say  danger,  of 
their  condition.  A  whole  clay  was  passed  in  fruitless  at- 
tempts to  obtain  fire  by  various  processes.  Friction  did 
not  succeed  ;  it  probably  never  does  with  the  thermometer 
at  zero.  Sparks  could  be  obtained,  but  by  this  time  every 


336  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

thing  was  stiff  with  the  frost.  The  food  already  cooked 
was  soon  as  hard  as  bullets,  and  it  was  found  that  on  the 
second  night  brandy  that  was  exposed  was  converted  into 
a  lump  of  ice.  .  Not  only  did  the  intensity  of  the  cold  in- 
crease, but  everything,  even  to  the  human  system,  seemed 
to  be  gradually  congealing,  and  preparing  to  become  con- 
verted into  receptacles  for  frost.  Several  of  the  men  be- 
gan to  suffer  in  their  ears,  noses,  feet,  and  other  extremi- 
ties, and  the  bunks  were  soon  the  only  places  in  which  k 
was  found  possible  to  exist  in  anything  like  comfort.  No 
less  than  three  men  had  been  sent,  at  intervals  of  a  few 
hours,  across  to  the  house,  with  a  view  to  obtain  fire,  or 
the  means  of  lighting  one,  along  with  other  articles  that 
were  considered  necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  people. 
The  cook  had  been  the  third  and  last  of  these  messengers. 
He  had  passed  his  two  shipmates,  each  lying  dead- on  the 
snow, — or,  as  he  supposed,  lifeless  ;  for  neither  gave  the 
smallest  sign  of  vitality,  on  an  examination.  It  was  in  the 
agony  of  alarm  produced  by  these  appalling  spectacles, 
that  the  negro  had  cried  aloud  for  help,  sending  the 
sounds  far  enough  to  reach  the  ears  of  Roswell.  Still  he 
had  persevered  ;  until  chilled,  as  much  with  terror  as  with 
the  cold  and  the  want  of  warm  nourishment,  the  cook  had 
sunk  into  what  would  have  soon  proved  to  be  his  last  long 
sleep,  when  the  timely  succor  arrived. 

It  was  some  two  hours  after  the  black  had  been  got  into 
the  hut,  and  was  strengthened  with  a  good  hot  supper, 
ere  he  had  communicated  all  the  facts  just  related.  Ros- 
well succeeded,  however,  in  getting  a  little  at  a  time  from 
him  ;  and  when  no  more  remained  to  be  related,  the  pliui 
was  already  arranged  for  future  proceedings.  It  was  quite 
clear  no  unnecessary  delay  should  be  permitted  to  take 
place.  The  cold  continued  to  increase  in  intensity,  not- 
withstanding it  was  the  opinion  of  the  most  experienced 
among  the  men  that  a  thaw,  and  a  great  spring-  thaw,  was 
approaching.  It  often  happens,  in  climates  of  an  exagger- 
ated character,  that  these  extremes  almost  touch  each 
other,  as  they  are  said  to  meet  in  man. 

Roswell  left  the  house  for  the  second  time  that  eventful 
night,  just  at  the  hour  of  twelve.  He  now  went  accom- 
panied by  the  second  mate  and  a  foremast-hand,  as  well  as 
by  his  old  companion,  the  boat-steerer.  Each  individual 
drank  a  bowl  of  hot  coffee  before  he  set  out,  and  a  good 
warm  supper  had  also  been  taken  in  the  interval  between 
the  return  and  this  new  sortie.  Experience  shows  that 


THE   SEA    LlOtVS, 


337 


there  is  no  such  protector  against  the  effect  of  cold  as  a 
full  stomach,  more  especially  if  the  food  be  warm  and 
nourishing.  This  was  understood  by  Roswell  ;  and  not 
only  did  he  cause  the  whole  party  that  set  forth  with  him 
at  that  late  and  menacing  hour  to  receive  this  sustenance, 
but  he  ordered  the  kettle  of  boiling  coffee  to  be  carried 
with  them,  and  kept  two  lamps  burning  for  the  double  pur- 
pose of  maintaining  the  heat,  and  of  having  a  fire  ready  on 
reaching  the  wreck.  The  oil  of  the  sea-elephant,  together 
with  pieces  of  canvas  prepared  for  the  purpose,  supplied 
the  necessary  materials. 

So  intensely  severe  was  the  weather  that  Roswell  had 
serious  thoughts  of  returning  when  he  reached  the  spot 
where  the  black  had  been  found.  But  the  picture  of  Dag- 
gett's  situation  that  occurred  to  his  mind,  urged  him  on, 
and  he  proceeded.  Every  precaution  had  been  taken  to 
exclude  the  cold,  as  it  is  usually  termed,  which,  as  it  re- 
spects the  body,  means  little  less  than  keeping  the  vital 
heat  in,  and  very  useful  were  these  provisions  found  to  be. 
Skins  formed  the  principal  defence,  though  the  men  had 
long  adopted  the  very  simple  but  excellent  expedient  of 
wearing  two  shirts.  Owing  to  this,  and  to  the  other  meas* 
ures  taken,  neither  of  the  four  was  struck  with  a  chill,  and 
they  all  continued  on. 

At  the  place  mentioned  by  the  black,  the  body  of  one  of 
Daggett's  best  men,  a  boat-steerer,  was  found.  The  man 
was  dead,  of  course,  and  the  corpse  was  as  rigid  as  a  billet 
of  wood.  Every  particle  of  moisture  in  it  had  congealed, 
until  the  whole  of  what  had  been  a  very  fine  and  manly 
frame,  lay  little  more  than  a  senseless  lump  of  ice.  A  few 
degrees  to  the  southward  of  the  spot  where  it  was  now 
seen,  it  is  probable  that  this  relic  of  humanity  would  have 
retained  its  form  and  impression,  until  the  trump  sounded 
to  summon  it  to  meet  its  former  tenant,  the  spirit,  in  judg- 
ment. 

No  time  was  lost  in  useless  lamentations  over  the  body 
of  this  man,  who  was  much  of  a  favorite  among  the  Oyste'r 
Ponders.  Twenty  minutes  later  the  second  corpse  was 
found  ;  both  the  bodies  lying  in  what  was  the  customary 
track  between  the  house  and  the  wreck.  It  was  the  last 
that  had  died  ;  but,  like  that  of  the  unfortunate' man  just 
described,  it  was  in  a  state  to  be  preserved  ten  thousand 
years  without  the  occurrence  of  a  thaw.  Merely  glancing 
at  the  rigid  features  of  the  face,  in  order  to  identify  the 
person,  Roswell  passed  on,  the  chill  feelings  of  every  in- 


338  77/7-;    SEA    LIONS. 

dividual  of  his  party  now  admonishing  them  all  of  the 
necessity  of  getting  as  soon  as  possible  to  some  place 
where  they  could  feel  the  influence  of  a  fire.  In  ten  min- 
utes more,  the  whole  were  in  the  caverns  of  the  ice,  and 
presently,  the  cabin  of  the  wreck  was  entered.  Without 
turning  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  without  looking 
for  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  place,  every  man  among  the 
new-comers  turned  his  attention  instantly  to  getting  the 
fire  lighted.  The  caboose  had  been  filled  with  wood,  and 
it  was  evident  that  many  efforts  had  been  made  to  produce 
a  blaze,  by  those  who  had  put  it  there.  Splinters  of  pine 
had  been  inserted  among  the  oak  of  the  vessel,  and  noth- 
ing was  wanting  but  the  means  of  kindling.  These, 
most  fortunately  for  themselves,  the  party  of  Roswell  had, 
and  eagerly  did  they  now  have  recourse  to  their  use. 

There  was  not  a  man  among  the  Oyster  Ponders  who 
did  not,  just  at  that  moment,  feel  his  whole  being  concen- 
trated in  that  one  desire  to  obtain  warmth.  The  cold  had 
slowly,  but  surely,  insinuated  itself  among  their  garments, 
and  slight  chills  were  now  felt  even  by  Roswell,  whose 
frame  had  been  most  wonderfully  sustained  that  night, 
through  the  force  of  moral  feeling.  Stimson  was  the  in- 
dividual who  was  put  forward  at  the  caboose,  others 
holding  the  lamps,  canvas  saturated  with  oil,  and  some 
prepared  paper.  It  was  found  to  be  perceptibly  warmer 
within  the  cabin,  with  its  doors  closed,  and  the  external 
coverings  of  sails,  etc.,  that  had  been  made  to  exclude  the 
air,  than  without  ;  nevertheless,  when  Roswell  glanced  at 
a  thermometer  that  was  hanging  against  the  bulk-head,  he 
saw  that  all  the  mercury  was  still  in  the  ball ! 

The  interest  with  which  our  party  now  watched  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Stephen,  had  much  of  that  intensity  that  is 
known  to  attend  any  exhibition  of  vital  importance.  Life 
and  death  were,  however,  to  be  dependent  on  the  issue  ; 
and  the  manner  in  which  every  eye  was  turned  on  the 
wood,  and  Stephen's  mode  of  dealing  with  it,  denoted  how 
completely  the  dread  of  freezing  had  got  possession  of  the 
minds  of  even  these  robust  and  generous  men.  RoswelJ 
alone  ventured,  for  a  single  moment,  to  look  around  the 
cabin.  Three  of  the  Vineyarders  only  were  visible  in  it ; 
though  it  struck  him  that  others  lay  in  the  berths,  under 
piles  of  clothes.  Of  the  three  who  were  up,  one  was  so 
near  the  lamp  he  held  in  his  hand,  that  its  light  illumined 
his  face,  and  all  that  could  be  seen  of  a  form  enveloped 
in  skins.  This  man  sat  leaning  against  a  transom.  His 


THE   SEA    LIONS. 


339 


eyes  were  open,  and  glared  on  the  party  around  the  ca- 
boose ;  the  lips  were  slightly  parted,  and,  at  first,  Roswell 
expected  to  hear  him  speak.  The  immovable  features, 
rigid  muscles,  and  wild  expression  of  the  eyeballs,  how- 
ever, soon  told  him  the  melancholy  truth.  The  man  was 
dead.  The  current  of  life  had  actually  frozen  at  his  heart. 
Shuddering,  as  much  with  horror  as  with  a  sharp  chill  that 
just  then  passed  through  his  own  stout  frame,  our  young 
master  turned  anxiously  to  note  the  success  of  Stimson,  in 
getting  the  wood  of  the  caboose  in  a  blaze. 

Every  one,  in  the  least  accustomed  to  a  very  severe  cli- 
mate, must  have  had  frequent  occasions  to  observe  the  re- 
luctance with  which  all  sorts  of  fuel  burn,  in  exceedingly 
cold  weather.  The  billet  of  wood  that  shall  blaze  merrily, 
on  a  mild  day,  moulders  and  simmers,  and  seems  indis- 
posed to  give  out  any  heat  at  all,  with  the  thermometer  at 
zero.  In  a  word,  all  inanimate  substances  that  contain  the 
elements  of  caloric  appear  to  sympathize  with  the  prevail- 
ing state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  to  contribute  to  render 
that  which  is  already  too  cold  for  comfort,  even  colder. 
So  it  was  now,  notwithstanding  the  preparations  that  had 
been  made.  Baffled  twice  in  his  expectations  of  procuring 
a  blaze,  Stephen  stopped  and  took  a  drink  of  the  hot 
coffee.  As  he  swallowed  the  beverage,  it  struck  him  that 
it  was  fast  losing  its  warmth. 

A  considerable  collection  of  canvas,  saturated  with  oil, 
was  now  put  beneath  the  pile,  in  the  midst  of  splinters  of 
pine,  and  one  of  the  lamps  was  forced  into  the  centre  of 
the  combustibles.  This  expedient  succeeded  ;  the  frosts 
were  slowly  chased  out  of  the  kindling  materials  ;  a  sickly 
but  gradually  increasing  flame  strove  through  the  kindling 
stuff  and  soon  began  to  play  among  the  billets  of  the  oak, 
the  only  fuel  that  could  be  relied  on  for  available  heat. 
Still  there  was  great  danger  that  the  lighter  wood  would 
all  be  consumed  ere  this  main  dependence  could  be  aroused 
from  its  dull  inactivity.  Frost  appeared  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  the  whole  pile  ;  and  it  was  expelled  so  slowly,  clung 
to  its  dominion  with  so  much  power,  as  really  to  render 
the  result  doubtful,  for  a  moment  or  two.  Fortunately, 
there  was  found  a  pair  of  bellows  ;  and  by  means  of  a 
judicious  use  of  this  very  useful  implement,  the  oak  wood 
was  got  into  a  bright  blaze,  and  warmth  began  to  be  given 
out  from  the  fire.  Then  came  the  shiverings  and  chills, 
with  which  intense  cold  consents  even  to  abandon  the  hu- 
man frame  ;  and,  by  their  number  and  force,  Roswell  was 


340  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

made  to  understand  how  near  he  and  his  companions  had 
been  to  death.  As  the  young  man  saw  the  fire  slowly 
kindle  to  a  cheerful  blaze,  a  glow  of  gratitude  flowed 
toward  his  heart,  and  mentally  he  returned  thanks  to  God. 
The  cabin  was  so  small,  had  been  made  so  tight  by  artifi- 
cial means,  and  the  caboose  was  so  large,  that  a  sensible 
influence  was  produced  on  the  temperature,  as  soon  as  the 
wood  began  to  burn  a  little  freely.  As  none  of  the  heat 
was  lost,  the  effect  was  not  only  apparent,  but  most  grate- 
ful. Roswell  had  looked  into  the  vessels  of  the  caboose, 
while  the  fire  was  gathering  head.  One,  the  largest,  was 
filled,  or  nearly  so,  with  coffee  frozen  to  a  solid  mass  !  In 
the  other,  beef  and  pork  had  been  set  over  to  boil,  and 
there  the  pieces  now  were,  embedded  in  ice,  and  frozen  to 
blocks.  It  was  when  these  two  distinct  masses  of  ice  began 
to  melt,  that  it  was  known  the  fire  was  beginning  to  pre- 
vail, and  hope  revived  in  the  bosoms  of  the  Oyster  Pond- 
ers. On  taking  another  look  at  the  thermometer,  it  was 
found  that  the  mercury  had  so  far  expanded  as  to  be  leav- 
ing the  ball.  It  soon  after  ascended  so  high  as  to  denote 
only  forty  degrees  below  zero ! 

Everything,  even  to  life,  depending  on  maintaining  and 
increasing  the  power  of  the  fire,  the  men  now  looked 
about  them  for  more  fuel.  There  was  an  ample  stock  in 
the  cabin,  however,  the  fire  having  become  extinguished, 
not  for  want  of  wood,  but  in  the  usual  way.  It  were  need- 
less to  describe  the  manner  in  wThich  those  who  stood 
around  the  stove  watched  the  flames,  or  how  profound  was 
their  satisfaction  when  they  saw  that  Stimson  had  finally 
succeeded. 

"  God  be  praised  for  this  and  for  all  his  marcies  !  "  ex- 
claimed Stephen,  laying  aside  the  bellows  at  last.  "  I' can 
feel  warmth  from  the  fire,  and  that  will  save  such  of  us  as 
have  not  yet  been  taken  away."  He  then  lifted  the  lids, 
and  looked  into  the  different  vessels  that  were  on.  The 
ice  was  melting  fast,  and  the  steams  of  coffee  became  ap- 
parent to  the  senses.  It  was  at  this  instant  that  a  feeble 
voice  was  heard  issuing  from  beneath  the  coverings  of  a 
berth. 

"  Gar'ner,"  it  said,  imploringly,  "  if  you  have  any  feelin' 
for  a  fellow-creatur'  in  distress,  warm  me  up  with  one 
swallow  of  that  coffee  !  Oh  !  how  pleasantly  it  smells,  and 
how  good  it  must  be  for  the  storoacO?  !  For  three  days 
have  I  tasted  nothing — not  even  wat^i. 

This  was  Dsggett.  the  long-tried  sealer  ;  the  man  of  iron 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  341 

nerves  arid  golden  longings  ;  he  who  had  so  lately  concen- 
trated within  himself  all  that  was  necessary  to  form  a  per- 
tinacious, resolute,  and  grasping  seeker  after  gain.  How 
changed,  now,  in  all  this  !  He  asked  for  the  means  of 
preserving  life,  and  thought  no  more  of  skins,  and  oils,  and 
treasures  on  desert  keys. 

Roswell  was  no  sooner  apprised  of  the  situation  of  his 
brother-master,  than  he  bestowed  the  necessary  care  on  his 
wants.  Fortunately,  the  coffee  brought  by  the  Oyster 
Ponders,  and  which  retained  some  of  its  original  warmth, 
had  been  set  before  the  fire,  and  was  now  as  hot  as  the 
human  stomach  could  bear  it.  Two  or  three  swallows  of 
this  grateful  fluid  were  given  to  Daggett,  and  his  voice  al- 
most instantaneously  showed  the  effect  they  produced. 

"I'm  in  a  bad  way,  Gar'ner,"  resumed  the  Vineyard- 
master.  "  I  fear  we're  all  in  a  bad  way,  that  are  here.  I 
held  out  ag'in  the  cold  as  long  as  human  natur'  could  bear 
it,  but  was  forced  to  give  in  at  last." 

li  How  many  of  your  people  still  remain,  Daggett  ? 
tell  us  that  we  may  look  for  them,  and  attend  to  their 
wants." 

"  I'm  afraid,  Gar'ner,  they'll  never  want  anything  more 
in  this  life  !  The  second  mate  and  two  of  the  hands  were 
sitting  in  the  cabin  when  I  got  into  this  berth,  and  I  fear 
'twill  be  found  that  they're  dead.  I  urged  them  to  turn 
in,  too,  as  the  berths  were  the  only  place  where  anything 
like  warmth  was  to  be  found  ;  but  drowsiness  had  come 
on  'em,  and,  when  that  is  the  case,  freezin'  soon  follows." 

"  The  three  men  in  the  cabin  are  past  our  assistance, 
being  actually  frozen  into  logs  ;  but  there  must  be  several 
more  of  you.  I  see  the  signs  of  two  others  in  the  berths 
— ah  !  what  do  you  say  to  that  poor  fellow,  Stephen  ?" 

"  The  spirit  is  still  in  the  body,  sir,  but  about  to  depart. 
If  we  can  get  him  to  swallow  a  little  of  the  coffee,  the 
angel  of  death  may  yet  loosen  his  hold  on  him." 

The  coffee  was  got  down  this  man's  throat,  and  he  in- 
stantly revived.  He  was  a  young  man  named  Lee,  and 
was  one  of  the  finest  physical  specimens  of  strength  and 
youth  in  the  whole  crew.  On  examining  his  limbs,  none 
were  found  absolutely  frozen,  though  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  was  so  near  being  checked  that  another  hour  of  the 
great  cold  which  had  reigned  in  the  cabin,  and  which  was 
slowly  increasing  in  intensity,  must  have  destroyed  him. 
On  applying  a  similar  process  to  Daggett,  Roswell  was 
startled  at  the  discovery  he  made.  The  feet,  legs,  and  fore- 


342  THE   SKA    LIOATS. 

arms  of  the  unfortunate  Vineyarder  were  all  as  stiff  and 
rigid  as  icicles.  In  these  particulars  there  could  be  no 
mistake,  and  the  men  were  immediately  sent  for  snow,  in 
order  to  extract  the  frost  by  the  only  safe  process  known 
to  the  sealers.  The  dead  bodies  were  carried  from  the 
cabin,  and  laid  decently  on  the  ice,  outside,  the  increasing 
warmth  within  rendering  the  removal  advisable.  On 
glancing  again  at  the  thermometer,  now  suspended  in  a 
remote  part  of  the  cabin,  the  mercury  was  found  risen  to 
two  above  zero.  This  was  a  very  tolerable  degree  of  cold, 
and  the  men  began  to  lay  aside  some  of  their  extra  de- 
fences against  the  weather,  which  would  otherwise  be  of 
no  service  to  them  when  exposed  outside. 

The  crew  of  the  Vineyard  Lion  had  consisted  of  fifteen 
souls,  one  less  than  that  of  her  consort.  Of  these  men, 
four  had  lost  their  lives  between  the  wreck  and  the  house  ; 
two  on  a  former,  and  two  on  the  present  occasion.  Three 
•bodies  were  found  sitting  in  the  cabin,  and  two  more  were 
taken  out  of  the  berths,  dead.  The  captain,  the  cook,  and 
Lee,  added  to  these,  made  a  dozen,  leaving  but  three  of  the 
crew  to  be  accounted  for.  When  questioned  on  the  sub- 
ject, Lee  said  that  one  of  those  three  had  frozen  to  death 
in  the  caverns  several  days  before,  and  the  other  two  had 
set  out  for  the  hut  in  the  last  snow-storm,  unable  to  endure 
the  cold  at  the  wreck  any  longer.  As  these  two  men  had 
not  arrived  at  the  house  when  Gardiner  and  his  compan- 
ions left  it,  they  had  perished,  out  of  all  doubt.  Thus,  of 
the  fifteen  human  beings  who  had  sailed  together  from 
Martha's  Vineyard,  ready  to  encounter  every  hazard  in 
order  to  secure  wealth,  or  what  in  their  estimation  was 
wealth,  but  three  remained  ;  and  of  these,  two  might  be 
considered  in  a  critical  condition.  Lee  was  the  only  man 
of  the  entire  crew  who  was  sound  and  fit  for  service. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"  Bid  him  bow  down  to  that  which  is  above  him,— 
The  overruling  Infinite, — the  Maker, — 
Who  made  him  not  for  worship, — let  him  kneel, 
And  we  will  kneel  together." — BYRON. 

WHEN  the  bodies  had  been  removed  from  the  cabin,  and 
the  limbs  of  Daggett  were  covered  with  snow,  Roswell 
Gardiner  took  another  look  at  the  thermometer.  It  had 


THE   SKA    LIO.VS.  343 

risen  already  to  twenty  degrees  above  zero.  This  was  ab- 
solutely warmth,  compared  with  the  temperature  from 
which  the  men  had  just  escaped,  and  it  was  felt  to  be  so, 
in  their  persons.  The  fire,  however,  was  not  the  only  cause 
of  this  most  acceptable  change.  One  of  the  men  who  had 
been  outside  soon  came  back  and  reported  a  decided  im- 
provement in  the  weather.  The  wind,  which  had  been  co- 
quetting with  the  northeast  point  of  the  compass  for  several 
hours,  now  blew  steadily  from  that  quarter.  An  hour  later 
it  was  found,  on  examination,  that  a  second  thermometer, 
which  was  outside,  actually  indicated  ten  above  zero  !  This 
sudden  and  great  change  came  altogether  from  the  wind, 
which  was  now  in  the  warm  quarter.  The  men  stripped 
themselves  of  most  of  their  skins,  and  the  fire  was  suffered 
to  go  down,  though  care  was  taken  that  it  should  not  again 
be  totally  extinguished. 

We  have  little  pleasure  in  exhibiting  pictures  of  human 
suffering ;  and  shall  say  but  little  of  the  groans  and  pain-s 
that  Daggett  uttered  and  endured,  while  undergoing  that 
most  agonizing  process  of  having  the  frost  taken  out  of  his 
system  by  cold  applications.  It  was  the  only  safe  way  of 
treating  his  case,  however,  and  as  he  knew  it,  he  bore  his 
sufferings  as  well  as  man  could  bear  them.  Long  ere  the 
return  of  day  he  was  released  from  his  agony,  and  was  put 
back  into  his  berth,  which  had  been  comfortably  arranged 
for  him,  having  the  almost  unheard-of  luxury  of  sheets, 
with  an  additional  mattress. 

Stephen  remarked,  when  the  men  were  told  to  try  and 
get  a  little  sleep,  "There's  plenty  of  berths  empty,  and 
each  on  us  can  have  as  many  clothes  and  as  warm  a  bed  as 
he  can  ask  for,  now  that  so  many  have  hastened  away  to 
their  great  account,  as  it  might  be,  in  the  pride  of  their 
youth  and  strength." 

Activity,  the  responsibility  of  command,  and  the  great 
necessity  there  had  been  for  exertion,  prevented  Roswell 
from  reflecting  much  on  what  had  happened,  until  he  lay 
down  to  catch  a  little  sleep.  Then,  indeed,  the  whole  of  the 
past  came  over  him  in  one  sombre,  terrible  picture,  and  he 
had  the  most  lively  perception  of  the  dangers  from  which 
he  had  escaped,  as  well  as  of  the  mercy  of  God's  provi- 
dence. Surrounded  by  the  dead,  as  it  might  be,  and  still 
uncertain  of  the  fate  of  the  living,  his  views  of  the  past 
and  future  became  much  lessened  in  confidence  and  hope. 
The  majesty  and  judgment  of  God  assumed  a  higher  place 
than  common  in  his  thoughts,  while  his  estimate  of  him- 


344  7VZ&'   S£A    LIONS. 

self  was  fast  getting  to  be  humbled  and  searching.  In  the 
midst  of  all  these  changes  of  views  and,  feelings,  however, 
there  was  one  image  unaltered  in  the  young  man's  imagi- 
nation. Mary  occupied  the  background  of  every  picture, 
with  her  meek,  gentle,  but  blooming  countenance.  If  he 
thought  of  God,  her  eyes  were  elevated  in  prayer ;  if  the 
voyage  home  was  in  his  mind,  and  the  chances  of  success 
were  calculated,  her  smiles  and  anxious  watchfulness  stim- 
ulated him  to  adventure  ;  if  arrived  and  safe,  her  downcast 
but  joyful  looks  betrayed  the  modest  happiness  of  her  in- 
most heart.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  some  such  pictures  that 
Rosvvell  now  fell  asleep. 

When'the  party  turned  out  in  the  morning,  a  still  more 
decided  change  had  occurred  in  the  weather.  The  wind 
had  increased  to  a  gale,  bringing  with  it  torrents  of  rain. 
Coming  from  the  warm  quarter,  a  thaw  had  set  in  with  a 
character  quite  as  decided  as  the  previous  frost.  In  that 
region  the  weather  is  usually  exaggerated  in  its  features, 
and  the  change  from  winter  to  spring  is  quite  as  sudden  as 
that  from  autumn  to  winter.  We  use  the  terms  "  spring" 
and  "  autumn  "  out  of  complaisance  to  the  usages  of  men  ; 
but  in  fact  these  two  seasons  have  scarcely  any  existence 
at  all  in  the  antarctic  seas.  The  change  commonly  is  from 
winter  to  summer,  such  as  summer  is,  and  from  summer 
back  to  winter. 

Notwithstanding  the  favorable  appearances  of  things 
when  Roswell  walked  out  into  the  open  air  next  morning, 
he, well  knew  that  summer  had  not  yet  come.  Many  weeks 
must  go  by  ere  the  ice  could  quit  the  bay,  and  even  a 
boat  could  put  to  sea.  There  were  considerations  of  pru- 
dence, therefore,  that  should  not  be  neglected,  connected 
with  the  continuance  of  the  supplies  and  the  means  of 
subsistence.  In  one  respect,  the  party  now  on  the  island 
had  been  gainers  by  the  terrible  losses  it  had  sustained  in 
Daggett's  crew.  The  provisions  of  the  two  vessels  might 
now  virtually  be  appropriated  to  the  crew  of  one  ;  and 
Roswell,  when  he  came  to  reflect  on  the  circumstances, 
saw  that  a  Providential  interference  had  probably  saved 
the  survivors  from  great  privations,  if  not  from  absolute 
want. 

Still  there  was  a  thaw,  and  one  of  that  decided  charac- 
ter which  marks  a  climate  of  great  extremes.  The  snows 
on  the  mountain  soon  began  to  descend  upon  the  plain  in 
foaming  torrents,  and  increased  by  the  tribute  received 
from  the  last,  the  whole  came  tumbling  over  the  cliffs  in 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  345 

various  places  in  rich  water-falls.  There  was  about  a  mile 
of  rock  that  was  one  continuous  cataract,  the  sheet  being 
nearly  unbroken  for  the  whole  distance.  The  effect  of 
this  deluge  from  the  plain  above  was  as  startling  as  it  was 
grand.  All  the  snow  along  the  rocky  shore  soon  disap- 
peared, and  the  fragments  of  ice  began  rapidly  to  diminish 
in  size,  and  to  crumble.  At  first  Roswell  felt  much  con- 
cern on  account  of  the  security  of  the  wreck  ;  his  original 
apprehension  being  that  it  would  be  washed  away.  This 
ground  of  fear  was  soon  succeeded  by  another  of  scarcely 
less  serious  import — that  of  its  being  crushed  by  the  enor- 
mous cakes  of  ice  that  made  the  caverns  in  which  it  lay, 
and  which  now  began  to  settle  and  change  their  positions, 
as  the  water  washed  away  their  bases.  At  one  time  Ros- 
well thought  of  setting  the  storm  at  defiance,  and  of  casry- 
ing  Daggett  across  to  the  house  by  means  of  the  hand- 
barrow  ;  but  when  he  came  to  look  at  the  torrents  of  water 
that  were  crossing  the  rocks,  so  many  raging  rivulets,  the 
idea  was  abandoned  as  impracticable.  Another  night  was 
iherefore  passed  in  the  midst  of  the  tempest. 

The  northeast  wind,  the  rain,  and  the  thaw,  were  all  at 
work  in  concert,  when  our  adventurers  came  abroad  to 
look  upon  the  second  day  of  their  sojourn  in  the  wreck. 
By  this  time  the  caverns  were  dripping  with  a  thousand 
little  streams,  and  every  sign  denoted  a  most  rapid  melting 
of  the  ice.  On  carrying  the  thermometer  into  the  open 
air  it  stood  at  sixty-two,  and  the  men  found  it  necessary- 
to  lay  aside  their  second  shirt,  and  all  the  extraordinary 
defences  of  their  attire.  Nor  was  this  all ;  the  wind  that 
crosses  the  salt  water  is  known  to  have  more  than  the 
usual  influence  on  the  snows  and  ice  ;  and  such  was  the 
effect  now  produced  by  it  on  Sealer's  Land.  The  snow, 
indeed,  had  mostly  disappeared  from  all  places  but  the 
drifts,  while  the  ice  was  much  diminished  in  its  size  and 
outlines.  So  grateful  was  the  change  from  the  extreme 
cold  that  they  had  so  lately  endured,  that  the  men  thought 
nothing  of  the  rain  at  all ;  they  went  about  in  it  just  as  if 
it  did  not  stream  down  upon  them  in  little  torrents.  Some 
of  them  clambered  up  the  cliffs  and  reached  a  point 
whence  it  was  known  that  they  could  command  a  view  of 
the  house.  The  return  of  this  party,  which  Roswell  did 
not  accompany,  was  waited  for  with  a  good  deal  of  inter- 
est. When  it  got  back  it  brought  a  report  that  was  deemed 
important  in  several  particulars.  The  snow  had  gone 
from  the  plain,  and  from  the  mountain,,  with  the  exception 


346  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

of  a  few  spots  where  there  had  been  unusual  accumula. 
tions  of  it.  As  respected  the  house,  it  was  standing,  and 
the  snow  had  entirely  disappeared  from  its  vicinity.  The 
men  could  be  seen  walking  about  on  the  bare  rocks,  and 
every  symptom  was  that  of  settled  spring. 

This  was  cheering  news  ;  and  the  torrents  having  much 
diminished  in  size,  some  having  disappeared  altogether. 
Roswell  set  out  for  the  cape,  leaving  the  second  mate  in 
charge  of  the  wreck.  Lee,  the  young  Vineyarder  who 
had  been  rescued  from  freezing  by  the  timely  arrival  of 
our  hero,  accompanied  the  latter,  having  joined  his  fort- 
unes to  those  of  the  Oyster  Ponders.  The  two  reached 
the  house  before  dark,  where  they  found  Hazard  and  his 
companions  in  a  good  deal  of  concern  touching  the  fate 
of  the  party  that  was  out.  A  deep  impression  was  made 
by  the  report  of  what  had  befallen  the  other  crew  ;  and 
that  night  Roswell  read  prayers  to  as  attentive  a  congre- 
gation as  was  ever  assembled  around  a  domestic  hearth. 
As  for  fire,  none  was  now  needed,  except  for  culinary  pur- 
poses, though  all  the  preparations  to  meet  cold  weather 
were  maintained,  it  being  well  known  that  a  shift  of  wind 
might  bring  back  the  fury  of  the  winter. 

The  following  morning  it  was  clear,  though  the  wind 
continued  warm  and  balmy  from  the  north.  No  such 
weather,  indeed,  had  been  felt  by  the  sealers  since  they 
reached  the  group  ;  and  the  effect  on  them  was  highly 
cheering  and  enlivening.  Before  he  had  breakfasted, 
Roswell  was  down  in  the  cove,  examining  into  the  con- 
dition  of  the  vessel,  or  what  remained  of  her.  A  good  deal 
of  frozen  snow  still  lay  heaped  on  the  mass,  and  he  set  the 
hands  at  work  to  shovel  it  off.  Before  noon  the  craft  wa& 
clear,  and  most  of  the  snow  was  melted,  it  requiring  little 
more  than  exposure  to  the  air  in  order  to  get  rid  of  it. 

As  soon  as  the  hulk  was  clear,  Roswell  directed  his  men 
to  take  everything  out  of  it  ;  the  remains  of  cargo,  water- 
casks,  and  some  frozen  provisions,  in  order  that  it  might 
float  as  light  as  possible.  The  ice  was  frozen  close  to 
every  part  of  the  vessel's  bottom  to  a  depth  of  several  feet, 
following  her  mould,  a  circumstance  that  would  necessarily 
prevent  her  settling  in  the  water  below  her  timbers  ;  but, 
as  there  was  no  telling  when  this  ice  might  begin  to  recede 
by  melting,  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  use  this  precaution. 
It  was  found  that  the  experiment  succeeded,  the  hulk 
actually  rising,  when  relieved  from  the  weight  in  it,  not 
less  than  four  inches. 


THE   SRA    LIONS.  347 

A  consultation  was  held  that  night,  between  Gardiner, 
his  officers,  and  the  oldest  of  the  seamen.  The  question 
presented  was  whether  the  party  should  attempt  to  quit 
the  group  in  the  boats,  or  whether  they  should  build  a 
little  on  the  hulk,  deck  her  over,  and  make  use  of  this 
altered  craft  to  return  to  the  northward.  There  was  a 
good  deal  to  be  said  on  both  sides.  If  the  boats  were 
-used,  the  party  might  leave  as  soon  as  the  weather  became 
settled,  and  the  season  a  little  more  advanced,  by  dragging 
the  boats  on  sledges  across  the  ice  to  the  open  water, 
which  was  supposed  to  be  some  ten  or  twenty  miles  to 
the  northward,  and  a  large  amount  of  provisions  might 
thus  be  saved.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  as  it  re- 
garded the  provisions,  the  boats  would  hold  so  little,  that 
no  greit  gain  would  be  made  by  going  early  in  them,  and 
leaving  a  sufficient  supply  behind  to  keep  all  hands  two 
or  three  months.  This  was  a  consideration  that  presented 
itself,  and  it  had  its  weight  in  the  decision.  Then  there 
was  the  chance  of  the  winter's  returning,  bringing  with  it 
the  absolute  necessity  of  using  a  great  deal  more  fuel. 
This  was  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  Comparatively 
pleasant  as  the  weather  had  become,  there  was  no  security 
for  its  so  continuing.  One  entire  spring  month  was  be- 
fore the  sealers,  and  a  shift  of  wind  might  convert  the 
weather  into  a  wintry  temperature.  Should  such  be  the 
case,  it  might  become  indispensable  to  burn  the  very  ma- 
terials that  would  be  required  to  build  up  and  deck  over 
the  hulk.  There  were,  therefore,  many  things  to  be  taken 
into  the  account ;  nor  was  the  question  settled  without  a 
great  deal  of  debate  and  reflection. 

After  discussing  all  these  points,  the  decision  was  as 
follows  :  It  was  at  least  a  month  too  soon  to  think  of 
trusting  themselves  in  that  stormy  ocean,  on  the  high  seas 
and  in  the  open  boats  ;  and  this  so  much  the  more  be- 
cause nature,  as  if  expressly  to  send  back  a  reasonable 
amount  of  warm  air  into  the  polar  regions,  with  a  view  to 
preserve  the  distinction  of  the  seasons,  caused  the  wind  to 
blow  most  of  the  time  from  the  northward.  As  this  month, 
in  all  prudence,  must  be  passed  on  the  island,  it  might  as 
well  be  occupied  with  building  upon  the  hulk,  as  in  any 
other  occupation.  Should  the  cold  weather  return,  the 
materials  would  still  be  there,  and  might  be  burned,  in  the 
last  extremity,  just  as  well,  or  even  with  greater  facility, 
after  being  brought  over  to  the  cove,  as  if  left  where  they 
then  were,  or  at  the  wreck.  Should  the  winter  not  return. 


348  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

the  work  done  on  the  vessel  would  be  so  much  gained, 
and  they  would  be  ready  for  an  earlier  start,  when  the  ice 
should  move. 

On  this  last  plan  the  duty  was  commenced,  very  little 
interrupted  by  the  weather.  For  quite  three  weeks  the 
wind  held  from  points  favorable  to  the  progress  of  spring, 
veering  from  east  to  west,  but  not  once  getting  any  south- 
ing in  it.  Occasionally  it  blew  in  gales,  sending  down 
upon  the  group  a  swell  that  made  great  havoc  with  the 
outer  edges  of  the  field-ice.  Every  day  or  two  a  couple  of 
hands  were  sent  up  the  mountain  to  take  a  look-out,  and  to 
report  the  state  of  matters  in  the  adjacent  seas.  The  ileet 
of  bergs  had  not  yet  come  out  of  port,  though  it  wa^  in 
motion  to  the  southward,  like  three-deckers  dropping  down 
to  outer  anchorages,  in  roadsteads  and  bays.  As  Roswell 
intended  to  be  off  before  these  formidable  cruisers  put  to 
sea,  their  smallest  movement  or  change  was  watched  and 
noted.  As  for  the  field-ice,  it  was  broken  up,  miles  at  a 
time,  until  there  remained  very  little  of  it,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  portion  that  was  wedged  in  and  jammed 
among  the  islands  of  the  group.  From  some  cause  that 
could  not  be  ascertained,  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  which 
came  tumbling  in  before  the  northern  gales,  failed  to  roll 
home  upon  this  ice,  which  lost  its  margin,  now  it  was  re- 
duced to  the  limits  of  the  group,  slowly  and  with  great 
resistance.  Some  of  the  sealers  ascribed  this  obstinacy  in 
the  bay-ice  to  its  greater  thickness  ;  believing  that  the  shal- 
lowness  of  the  water  had  favored  a  frozen  formation  below, 
that  did  not  so  much  prevail  off  soundings.  This  theory 
may  have  been  true,  though  there  was  quite  as  much 
against  it  as  in  its  favor,  for  polar  ice  usually  increases 
above  and  not  from  below.  The  sea  is  much  warmer  than 
the  atmosphere,  in  the  cold  months,  and  the  ice  is  made 
by  deposits  of  snow,  moisture,  and  sleet,  on  the  surfaces 
of  the  fields  and  bergs. 

In  those  three  weeks,  which  carried  forward  the  season 
to  within  ten  days  of  summer,  a  great  deal  of  useful  work 
was  done.  Daggett  was  brought  over  to  the  house,  on  a 
handbarrow,  for  the  second  time,  and  made  as  comfortable 
as  circumstances  would  allow.  From  the  first,  Roswell 
saw  that  his  state  was  very  precarious,  the  frozen  legs,  in 
particular,  being  threatened  with  mortification.  All  the 
expedients  known  to  a  sealers  materia  medico,  were  resorted 
to,  in  order  to  avert  consequences  so  serious,  but  without 
success.  The  circulation  could  not  be  restored,  as  nature 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  349 

required  it  to  be  done,  and,  failing  of  the  support  derived 
from  a  healthful  condition  of  the  vital  current,  the  fatal 
symptoms  slowly  supervened.  This  change,  however, 
was  so  gradual,  that  it  scarce  affected  the  regular  course 
of  the  duty. 

It  was  a  work  of  great  labor  to  transport  the  remaining 
timbers  and  plank  of  the  wreck  to  the  cove.  Without  the 
wheels,  indeed,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  it  could  have 
been  done  at  all,  in  a  reasonable  time.  The  breaking  up 
cf  the  schooner  was,  in  itself,  no  trifling  job,  for  fully  one 
half  of  the  frame  remained  to  be  pulled  to  pieces.  In 
preparing  the  materials  for  use,  again,  a  good  deal  of  em- 
barrassment was  experienced  in  consequence  of  the  por- 
tions of  the  two  vessels  that  were  left  being  respectively 
their  lower  bodies,  all  the  upper  works  of  each  having 
been  burned,  with  the  exception  of  the  after  part  of  Dag- 
gett's  craft,  which  had  been  preserved  on  account  of  the 
cabin.  This  occasioned  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in  mould- 
ing and  fitting  the  new  upper  works  on  the  hulk  in  the 
cove.  Roswell  had  no  idea  of  rebuilding  his  schooner 
strictly  in. her  old  form  and  proportions;  he  did  not,  in- 
deed, possess  the  materials  for  such  a  reconstruction.  His 
plan  was,  simply,  to  raise  on  the  hulk  as  much  as  was 
necessary  to  render  her  safe  and  convenient,  and  then  to 
get  as  good  and  secure  a  deck  over  all  as  circumstances 
would  allow. 

Fortunately  for  the  progress  of  the  work,  Lee,  the  Vine- 
yard man,  was  a  ship-carpenter,  and  his  skill  essentially 
surpassed  that  of  Smith,  who  filled  the  same  station  on 
board  the  Oyster  Pond  craft.  These  two  men  were  now 
of  the  greatest  service  ;  for,  though  neither  understood 
drafting,  each  was  skilful  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  a  certain 
readiness  that  enabled  him  to  do  a  hundred  things  that  he 
had  never  found  it  necessary  to  attempt  on  any  former  oc- 
casion. If  the  upper  frame  that  was  now  got  on  the  Sea 
Lion  was  not  of  a  faultless  mould,  it  was  securely  fastened, 
and  rendered  the  craft  even  stronger  than  it  had  been  orig- 
inally. Some  regard  was  had  to  resisting  the  pressure  of 
ice,  and  experience  had  taught  all  the  sealers  where  the 
principal  defences  against  the  effects  of  a  "  nip  "  ought  to 
be  placed.  The  lines  were  not  perfect,  it  is  true  ;  but  this 
was  of  less  moment,  as  the  bottom  of  the  craft,  which  alone 
had  any  material  influence  on  her  sailing,  was  just  as  it 
had  come  from  the  hands  of  the  artisan  who  had  originally 
moulded  her. 


350  THE   SEA    L7OWS. 

By  the  end  of  a  fortnight  the  new  top-timbers  were  all 
in  their  places  and  secured,  while  a  complete  set  of  bends 
were  brought  to  them,  and  were  well  bolted.  The  caulk- 
ing-irons  were  put  in  requisition  as  soon  as  a  streak  was 
on,  the  whole  work  advancing,  as  it  might  be,  pari  passu. 
Planks  for  the  decks  were  much  wanted,  for,  in  the  terrible 
strait  for  fuel  which  had  caused  the  original  assault  on  the 
schooner,  this  portion  of  the  vessel  had  been  the  first 
burned,  as  of  the  most  combustible  materials.  The  quarter- 
deck of  the  Vineyard  craft,  luckily,  was  entire,  and  its 
planks  so  far  answered  an  excellent  purpose.  They  served 
to  make  a  new  quarter-deck  for  the  repairs,  but  the  whole 
of  the  main-deck  and  forecastle  remained  to  be  provided 
for.  Materials  were  gleaned  from  different  parts  of  the 
two  vessels,  until  a  reasonably  convenient,  and  a  perfectly 
safe  deck  was  laid  over  the  whole  craft,  the  coamings  for 
the  hatches  being  taken  from  Daggett's  schooner,  which 
had  not  been  broken  up  in  those  parts.  It  is  scarcely  nec- 
essary to  say  that  the  ice  had  early  melted  from  the  rocks 
of  the  coast.  The  caverns  all  disappeared  within  the  first 
week  of  the  thaw,  the  attitudes  into  which  the  cakes  had 
been  thrown  greatly  favoring  the  melting  process,  by  ex- 
posing so  much  surface  to  the  joint  action  of  wind,  rain, 
and  sun.  What  was  viewed  as  a  favorable  augury,  the  seals 
began  to  reappear.  There  was  a  remote  portion  of  the 
coast,  from  which  the  ice  had  been  driven  by  the  winds 
around  the  northwest  cape,  that  was  alreadv  alive  with 
them.  Alas  !  these  animals  no  longer  awakened  cupidity 
in  the  breasts  of  the  sealers.  The  last  no  longer  thought 
of  gain,  but  simply  of  saving  their  lives,  and  of  restoring 
themselves  to  the,  humble  places  they  had  held  in  the  world 
previously  to  having  come  on  this  ill-fated  voyage. 

This  reappearance  of  the  seals  produced  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  Roswell  Gardiner.  His  mind  had  been  much  in- 
clined of  late  to  dwell  more  and  more  on  religious  subjects, 
and  his  conversations  with  Stephen  were  still  more  frequent 
than  formerly.  Not  that  the  boat-steerer  could  enlighten 
him  on  the  great  subject,  by  any  learned  lore,  for  in  this 
Stimson  was  quite  deficient  ;  but  his  officer  found  encour- 
agement in  the  depth  and  heartiness  of  his  companion's 
faith,  which  seemed  to  be  raised  above  all  doubts  and  mis- 
givings whatever.  During  the  gloomiest  moments  of  that 
fearful  winter,  Stephen  had  been  uniformly  confiding  and 
cheerful.  Not  once  had  he  been  seen  to  waver,  though  all 
around  him  were  desponding  and  anticipating  the  worst. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  35  \ 

His  heart  was  light  exactly  in  proportion  as  his  faith  was 
strong. 

"  We  shall  neither  freeze  nor  starve,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  unless  it  be  God's  will  ;  and,  when  it  is  his  pleasure,  de- 
pend on  it,  friends,  it  will  be  for  our  good."  As  for  Dag- 
gett,  he  had  finally  given  up  his  hold  on  the  wreck,  and  it 
seemed  no  longer  to  fill  his  thoughts.  When  he  was  told 
that  the  seals  had  come  back,  his  eyes  brightened,  and  his 
nature  betrayed  some  of  its  ardent  longings.  But  it  was 
no  more  than  a  gleaming  of  the  former  spirit  of  the  man, 
now  becoming  dim  under  the  darkness  that  was  fast  en- 
circling all  his  views  of  the  world. 

"  It's  a  pity,  Gar'ner,  that  we  have  no  craft  ready  for  the 
work,"  he  said,  under  the  first  impulse  of  the  intelligence. 
"  At  this  early  time  in  the  season,  a  large  ship  might  be 
filled!" 

"We  have  other  matters  on  our  hands,  Captain  Dag- 
gett,"  was  the  answer  ;  "  they  must  be  looked  to  first.  If 
we  can  get  off  the  island  at  all,  and  return  safe  to  those 
who,  I  much  fear,  are  now  mourning  us  as  dead,  we  shall 
have  great  reason  to  thank  God." 

"A  few  skins  would  do  no  great  harm,  Gar'ner,  even 
to  a  craft  cut  down  and  reduced." 

"  We  have  more  cargo  now  than  we  shall  be  able  to 
take  with  us.  Quite  one  half  of  all  our  skins  must  be  left 
behind  us,  and  all  of  the  oil.  The  hold  of  the  schooner  is 
too  shallow  to  carry  enough  of  anything  to  make  out  a 
voyage.  I  shall  ballast  with  water  and  provisions,  and  fill 
up  all  the  spare  room  with  the  best  of  our  skins.  The  rest 
of  the  property  must  be  abandoned." 

"Why  abandoned?  Leave  a  hand  or  two  to  take  care 
of  it,  and  send  a  craft  out  to  look  for  it  as  soon  as  you  get 
home.  Leave  me,  Gar'ner,  I  am  willing  to  stay." 

Roswell  thought  that  the  poor  man  would  be  left, 
whether  he  wished  to  remain  or  not,  for  the  symptoms 
that  are  known  to  be  so  fatal  in  cases  like  that  of  Daggett's 
were  making  themselves  so  apparent  as  to  leave  little 
doubt  of  the  result.  What  rendered  this  display  of  the 
master-passion  somewhat  remarkable  was  the  fact  that  our 
hero  had  on  several  occasions  conversed  with  the  invalid, 
concealing  no  material  feature  of  his  case,  and  the  latter 
had  expressed  his  expectation  of  a  fatal  termination,  if 
not  an  absolute  willingness  to  die.  Stimson  had  fre- 
quently prayed  with  Daggett,  and  Roswell  had  often  read 
particular  chapters  of  the  Bible  to  him,  at  his  own  request. 


352  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

creating  an  impression  that  the  Vineyarder  was  thinking 
more  of  his  end  than  of  any  interest  connected  with  this 
life.  Such  might  have  been,  probably  was  the  case,  until 
the  seeming  return  of  what  had  once  been  deemed  good 
luck  awakened  old  desires,  and  brought  out  traits  of 
character  that  were  about  to  be  lost  in  the  near  views  of  a 
future  world.  All  this  Roswell  saw  and  noted,  and  the 
reflection  produced  by  his  own  perilous  condition,  the 
certain  loss  of  so  many  companions,  the  probable  death  of 
Daggett,  and  the  humble  but  impressive  example  and 
sympathy  of  Stimson,  were  such  as  would  have  delighted 
the  tender  spirit  of  Mary  Pratt,  could  she  have  known  of 
their  existence. 

But  the  great  consideration  of  the  moment,  the  centre  of 
all  the  hopes  and  fears  of  our  sealers,  was  the  rebuilding  of 
the  mutilated  Sea  Lion.  Although  the  long  thaw  did  so 
much  for  them,  the  reader  is  not  to  regard  it  as  such  a  spell 
of  warm  weather  as  one  enjoys  in  May  within  the  temperate 
zone.  There  were  no  flowers,  no  signs  of  vegetation,  and 
whenever  the  wind  ceased  to  blow  smartly  from  the  north- 
ward, there  was  frost.  At  two  or  three  intervals  cold 
snaps  set  in  that  looked  seriously  like  a  return  to  winter, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  third  week  of  pleasant  weather  men- 
tioned, it  began  to  blow  a  gale  from  the  southward,  to 
snow,  and  to  freeze.  The  storm  commenced  about  ten  in 
the  forenoon  ;  ere  the  sun  went  down,  the  days  then  being 
of  great  length,  every  passage  around  the  dwelling  was 
already  blocked  up  with  banks  of  snow.  Several  times 
had  the  men  asked  permission  to  remove  the  sails  from 
the  house,  to  admit  air  and  light  ;  but  it  was  now  found 
that  the  tent-like  verandah  they  formed  was  of  as  much 
use  as  it  had  been  at  any  time  during  the  season.  With- 
out it,  indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for  the 
people  to  quit  their  dwelling  during  three  entire  days. 
Everything  like  work  was,  of  course,  suspended  during 
this  tempest,  which  seriously  menaced  the  unfortunate 
sealers  with  the  necessity  of  again  breaking  up  their 
schooner,  now  nearly  completed,  with  a  view  again  to 
keep  themselves  from  freezing.  The  weather  was  not  so 
intensely  cold  as  it  had  been,  continuously,  for  months 
during  the  past  winter  ;  but,  coming  as  it  did,  after  so 
long  a  spell  of  what  might  be  considered  as  a  balmy 
atmosphere  in  that  region,  it  found  the  people  unbraced, 
and  little  prepared  for  it.  At  no  time  was  the  thermome- 
ter lower  than  twenty  degrees  below  zero ;  this  was  near 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  353 

morning,  after  a  sharp  and  stinging  night  ;  nor  was  it  for 
any  succession  of  hours  much  below  zero.  But  zero  was 
now  hard  to  bear,  and  fires,  and  good  fires  too,  were  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  keep  the  men  from  suffering,  as  well  as 
from  despondency.  Perhaps  the  spectacle  of  Daggett, dy- 
ing from  the  effects  of  frost,  before  their  eyes,  served  to  in- 
crease the  uneasiness  of  the  people,  and  to  cause  them  to 
be  less  sparing  of  the  fuel  than  persons  in  their  situations 
ought  to  have  been.  It  is  certain  that  a  report  was 
brought  to  Roswell,  in  the  height  of  the  tempest,  and 
when  the  thermometer  was  at  the  lowest,  that  there  was 
not  wood  enough  left  from  the  plunder  of  the  twro  vessels, 
exclusively  of  that  which  had  been  worked  up  in  the 
repairs,  to  keep  the  fires  going  eight-and-forty  hours 
longer !  It  was  true,  a  little  wood,  intended  to  be  used 
in  the  homeward  passage,  enough  to  last  as  far  as  Rio 
possibly,  had  been  used  in  stowing  the  hold  ;  and  that 
might  be  got  at  first,  if  it  ever  ceased  to  snow.  Without 
that  addition  to  the  stock  in  the  house,  it  would  not  be 
within  the  limits  of  probability  to  suppose  the  people 
could  hold  out  against  the  severity  of  such  weather  a 
great  while  longer. 

Every  expedient  that  could  be  devised  to  save  wood, 
and  to  obtain  warmth  from  other  sources,  was  resorted  to, 
of  course,  by  Roswell's  orders.  Lamps  were  burned  with 
great  freedom  ;  not  little  vessels  invented  to  give  light,  but 
such  torches  as  one  sees  at  the  lighting  up  of  a  princely 
court-yard  on  the  occasion  of  a  fete,  in  which  wicks  are 
made  by  the  pound,  and  unctuous  matter  is  used  by  the 
gallon.  Old  canvas  and  elephants'  oil  supplied  the  ma- 
terials ;  and  the  spare  caboose,  which  had  been  brought 
over  to  the  house  to  be  set  up  there,  while  the  other  galley 
was  being  placed  on  board,  very  well  answered  the  purpose 
of  a  lamp.  Some  warmth  was  obtained  by  these  means, 
but  much  more  of  a  glaring  and  unpleasant  light. 

It  was  during  the  height  of  this  tempest  that  the  soul  of 
Daggett  took  its  flight  toward  the  place  of  departed  spir- 
its, in  preparation  for  the  hour  when  it  \vas  to  be  sum- 
moned before  the  judgment-seat  of  God.  Previously  to 
his  death,  the  unfortunate  Vineyarder  held  a  frank  and 
confidential  discourse  with  Roswell.  As  his  last  hour  ap- 
proached, his  errors  and  mistakes  became  more  distinctly 
apparent,  as  is  usual  with  men,  while  his  sins  of  omission 
seemed  to  crowd  the  vista  of  by-gone  days.  Then  it  was 
that  the  whole  earth  did  not  contain  that  which,  in  his 
2; 


354  THE   SEA   LIONS. 

dying  eyes,  would  prove  an  equivalent  for  one  hour  passed 
in  a  sincere,  devout,  and  humble  service  of  the  Deity  ! 

"I'm  afraid  that  I've  loved  money  most  too  well,"  he 
said  to  Roswell,  not  an  hour  before  he  drew  his  last  breath  ; 
"but  I  hope  it  was  not  so  much  for  myself  as  for  others. 
A  wife  and  children,  Gar'ner,  tie  a  man  to  'arth  in  a  most 
unaccountable  manner.  Sealers'  companions  are  used  to 
hearing  of  misfortunes,  and  the  Vineyard  women  know 
that  few  on  'em  live  to  see  a  husband  at  their  side  in  old 
age.  Still,  it  is  hard  on  a  mother  and  wife  to  Tarn  that 
her  chosen  friend  has  been  cut  off  in  the  pride  of  his  days, 
and  in  a  distant  land.  Poor  Betsey  !  It  would  have  been 
better  for  us  both  had  we  been  satisfied  with  the  little  we 
had  ;  for  now  the  good  woman  will  have  to  look  to  all 
matters  for  herself." 

Daggett  now  remained  silent  for  some  time,  though  his 
lips  moved,  most  probably  in  prayer.  It  was  a  melancholy 
sight  to  see  a  man  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood,  whose 
voice  was  strong,  and  whose  heart  was  still  beating  with 
vigor  and  vitality,  standing,  as  it  were,  on  the  brink  of  a 
precipice,  down  which  all  knew  he  was  to  be  so  speedily 
hurled.  But  the  decree  had  gone  forth,  and  no  human 
skill  could  arrest  it.  Shortly  after  the  confession  and  lam- 
entation we  have  recorded,  the  decay  reached  the  vitals, 
and  the  machine  of  clay  stopped.  To  avoid  the  unpleas- 
ant consequences  of  keeping  the  body  in  so  warm  a  place, 
it  was  buried  in  the  snow  a  short  distance  from  the  house, 
within  an  hour  after  it  had  ceased  to  breathe. 

When  Roswell  Gardiner  saw  this  man,  who  had  so  long 
adhered  to  him  like  a  leech,  in  the  pursuit  of  gold,  laid  a 
senseless  corpse  among  the  frozen  flakes  of  the  antarctic 
seas,  he  felt  that  a  lively  admonition  of  the  vanity  of  the 
world  was  administered  to  himself.  How  little  had  he 
been  able  to  foresee  all  that  had  happened,  and  how  mis- 
taken had  been  his  own  calculations  and  hopes !  What, 
then,  was  that  intellect  of  which  he  had  been  so  proud, 
and  what  reason  had  he  to  rely  on  himself  in  those  matters 
that  lay  equally  beyond  the  cradle  and  the  grave — that  in- 
comprehensible past,  and  the  unforeseen  future  toward 
which  all  those  in  existence  were  hastening !  Roswell  had 
received  many  lessons  in  humility,  the  most  useful  of  all 
the  lessons  that  man  can  receive  in  connection  with  the  re- 
lation that  really  exists  between  the  Deity  and  himself. 
Often  had  he  wondered,  while  reading  the  Bible  Mary 
Pratt  had  put  into  his  hand,  at  the  stubborn  manner  in. 


THE    SEA    LWArS.  355 

which  the  chosen  people  of  God  had  returned  to  their 
" idols,"  and  their  "groves,"  and  their  "high  places;"  but 
he  was  now  made  to  understand  that  others  still  erred  in 
this  great  particular,  and  that  of  all  the  idols  men  worship/ 
that  of  self  was  perhaps  the  most  objectionable. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

*'  Long  swoln  in  drenching  rains,  seeds,  germs,  and  buds, 
Start  at  the  touch  of  vivifying  beams. 
Moved  by  their  secret  voice,  the  vital  lymph 
Diffusive  runs,  and  spreads  o'er  wood  and  field 
A  flood  of  verdure." — WILCOX. 

AT  length  it  came  to  be  rumored  among  the  sealers  that 
the  fires  must  be  permitted  to  go  out,  or  that  the  materials 
used  for  making  the  berths,  and  various  other  fixtures  of 
the  house,  must  be  taken  to  supply  the  stove.  It  was  when 
it  got  to  be  known  that  the  party  was  reduced  to  this  sad 
dilemma  that  Roswell  broke  through  the  bank  of  snow 
that  almost  covered  the  house,  and  got  so  far  into  the  open 
air  as  to  be  able  to  form  some  estimate  of  the  probable 
continuance  of  the  present  cold  weather.  The  thermome- 
ter, within  the  bank  of  snow,  but  outside  of  the  building, 
then  stood  at  twenty  below  zero;  but  it  was  much  colder 
in  the  unobstructed  currents  of  as  keen  and  biting  a  south 
wind  as  ever  came  howling  across  the  vast  fields  of  ice  that 
covered  the  polar  basin.  The  snow  had  long  ceased,  but 
not  until  an  immense  quantity  had  fallen  ;  nearly  twice  as 
much,  Roswell  and  Hazard  thought,  as  they  had  seen  on 
the  rocks  at  any  time  that  winter. 

"  I  see  no  signs  of  a  change,  Mr.  Hazard,"  Roswell  re- 
marked, shivering  with  the  intensity  of  the  cold.  "  We 
had  better  go  back  into  the  house  before  we  get  chilled, 
for  we  have  no  fire  now  to  go  to,  to  warm  ourselves.  It  is 
much  warmer  within  doors  than  it  is  in  the  open  air,  fire 
or  no  fire." 

"  There  are  many  reasons  for  that,  Captain  Gar'ner," 
answered  the  mate.  "  So  many  bodies  in  so  small  a  space, 
the  shelter  from  the  outer  wind  and  outer  air,  and  the 
snow-banks,  all  help  us.  I  think  we  shall  find  the  thermom- 
eter in-doors  at  a  pretty  comfortable  figure  this  morning." 

On  examining  it,  it  was  found  to  stand  at  only  fifteen 
below  zero,  making  a  difference  of  five  degrees  in  favor  of 


356  THE  SEA   LIONS. 

the  house,  as  compared  with  the  sort  of  covered  gallery 
under  the  tent,  and  probably  of  five  more,  as  compared 
with  the  open  air. 

On  a  consultation,  it  was  decided  that  all  hands  should 
eat  a  hearty  meal,  remove  most  of  their  clothes,  and  get 
within  the  coverings  of  their  berths,  to  see  if  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  wear  out  the  cold  spell,  in  some  tolerable 
comfort,  beneath  rugs  and  blankets.  On  the  whole  it  was 
thought  that  the  berths  might  be  made  more  serviceable 
by  this  expedient,  than  by  putting  their  materials  into  the 
stoves.  Accordingly,  within  an  hour  after  Roswell  and 
his  mate  had  returned  from  their  brief  out-door  excursion, 
the  whole  party  was  snugly  bestowed  under  piles  of  rugs, 
clothes,  sails,  and  whatever  else  might  be  used  to  retain 
the  animal  heat  near  the  body,  and  exclude  cold.  In  this 
manner  six-and-thirty  hours  were  passed,  not  a  man  of 
them  all  having  the  courage  to  rise  from  his  lair,  and  en- 
counter the  severity  of  the  climate,  now  unrelieved  by  any- 
thing like  a  fire. 

Roswell  had  slept  most  of  the  time  during  the  last  ten 
hours,  and  in  this  he  was  much  like  all  around  him.  A 
general  feeling  of  drowsiness  had  come  over  the  men,  and 
the  legs  and  feet  of  many  among  them,  notwithstanding 
the  quantity  of  bedclothes  that  were,  in  particular,  piled 
on  that  part  of  their  person,  were  sensitively  alive  to  the 
cold.  No  one  ever  knew  how  low  the  thermometer  went 
that  fearful  night ;  but  a  sort  of  common  consciousness 
prevailed,  that  nothing  the  men  had  yet  seen,  or  felt, 
equalled  its  chill  horrors.  The  cold  had  got  into  the 
house,  converting  every  article  it  contained  into  a  mass  of 
frost.  The  berths  ceased  to  be  warm,  and  the  smallest 
exposure  of  a  shoulder,  hand,  or  ears,  soon  produced  pain. 
The  heads  of  very  many  of  the  party  were  affected,  and 
breathing  became  difficult  and  troubled.  A  numbness  be- 
gan to  steal  over  the  lower  limbs  ;  and  this  was  the  last 
unpleasant  sensation  remembered  by  Roswell,  when  he 
fell  into  another  short  and  disturbed  slumber.  The  pro- 
pensity to  sleep  was  very  general  now,  though  many  strug- 
gled against  it,  knowing  it  was  the  usual  precursor  of  death 
by  freezing.. 

Our  hero  never  knew  how  long  he  slept  in  the  last  nap 
he  took  on  that  memorable  occasion.  When  he  awoke, 
he  found  a  bright  light  blazing  in  the  hut,  and  heard  some 
one  moving  about  the  caboose.  Then  his  thoughts  re 
verted  to  himself,  and  to  the  condition  of  his  limbs.  Or, 


THE   SEA    LI  OX'S.  357 

trying  to  rub  his  feet  together,  he  found  them  so  nearly 
without  sensation  as  to  make  the  consciousness  of  their 
touching  each  other  almost  out  of  the  question.  Taking 
the  alarm  at  once,  he  commenced  a  violent  friction,  until 
by  slow  degrees  he  could  feel  that  the  nearly  stagnant 
blood  was  getting  again  into  motion.  So  great  had  been 
Roswell's  alarm,  and  so  intent  his  occupation,  that  he  took 
no  heed  of  the  person  who  was  busy  at  the  caboose, 
until  the  man  appeared  at  the  side  of  his  berth,  holding 
a  tin  pot  in  his  hand.  It  was  Stimson,  up  and  dressed, 
without  his  skins,  and  seemingly  in  perfect  preservation. 

"  Here's  some  hot  coffee,  Captain  Gar'ner,"  said  the 
provident  boat-steerer,  "and  then  turn  out.  The  wind  has 
shifted,  by  the  marcy  of  God,  and  it  has  begun  to  rain. 
NoWy  I  think  we  may  have  summer  in  'arnest,  as  summer 
comes  among  these  sealin'  islands." 

Roswell  took  six  or  eight  swallows  of  the  coffee,  which 
was  smoking  hot,  and  instantly  felt  the  genial  influence 
diffused  over  his  whole  frame.  Sending  Stephen  to  the 
other  berths  with  this  timely  beverage,  he  now  sat  up  in 
his  berth,  and  rubbed  his  feet  and  legs  with  his  hands. 
The  exercise,  friction,  and  hot  coffee,  soon  brought  him 
round  ;  and  he  sprang  out  of  his  berth,  and  was  quickly 
dressed.  Stimson  had  lighted  a  fire  in  the  caboose, 
using  the  very  last  of  the  wood,  and  the  warmth  was 
beginning  to  diffuse  itself  through  the  building.  But  the 
change  in  the  wind,  and  the  consequent  melioration  of 
the  temperature,  probably  alone  saved  the  whole  of  the 
Oyster  Pond  crew  from  experiencing  the  dire  fate  of  that 
of  the  Vineyard  craft. 

Stephen  got  man  after  man  out  of  his  berth,  by  doses  of 
the  steaming  coffee  ;  and  the  blood  being  thus  stimulated, 
by  the  aid  of  friction,  everybody  was  soon  up  and  stirring. 
It  was  found,  on  inquiry,  that  all  three  of  the  blacks  had 
toes  or  ears  frozen,  and  with  them  the  usual  application  of 
snow  became  necessary ;  but  the  temperature  of  the  house 
soon  got  to  be  so  high  as  to  render  the  -place  quite  com- 
fortable. Warm  food  being  deemed  very  essential,  Stephen 
had  put  a  supply  of  beans  and  pork  into  his  coppers  ;  and, 
the  frost  having  been  extracted  from  a  quantity  of  the 
bread  by  soaking  it  in  cold  water,  a  hearty  meal  of  good, 
hot,  and  most  nourishing  food,  was  made  by  all  hands. 
This  set  our  sealers  up,  no  more  complaints  of  the  frost 
being  heard. 

It  was,  indeed,  no  longer  very  cold.     The  thermometer 


05»  THE   SEA    I.1OXS. 

was  up  to  twenty-six  above  zero  in  the  house  when  Ros- 
well  turned  out ;  and  the  cooking  process,  together  with 
Stephen's  fires  and  the  shift  of  wind,  soon  brought  the 
mercury  up  to  forty.  This  was  a  cheering  temperature  for 
those  who  had  been  breathing  the  polar  air  ;  and  the  in- 
fluence of  the  northeast  gale  continued  to  increase.  The 
rain  and  thaw  produced  another  deluge  ;  and  the  cliffs 
presented,  for  several  hours,  a  sight  that  might  have  caused 
Niagara  to  hide  her  head  in  mortification.  These  sublime 
scenes  are  of  frequent  occurrence  amid  the  solitudes  of  the 
earth  ;  the  occasional  phenomena  of  nature  often  surpassing 
in  sublimity  and  beauty  her  rarest  continued  efforts. 

The  succeeding  day  the  rain  ceased,  and  summer  ap- 
peared to  have  come  in  reality.  It  is  true  that  at  midday 
the  thermometer  in  the  shade  stood  at  only  forty-eight ; 
but  in  the  sun  it  actually  rose  to  seventy.  Let  those  who 
have  ever  experienced  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  im- 
agine the  delight  with  which  our  sealers  moved  about 
under  such  a  sun!  All  excess  of  clothing  was  thrown 
aside ;  and  many  of  the  men  actually  pursued  their  work 
in  their  shirt-sleeves. 

As  the  snow  had  vanished  quite  as  suddenly  as  it  came, 
everything  and  everybody  was  now  in  active  motion.  Not 
a  man  of  the  crew  was  disposed  to  run  the  risk  of  encoun- 
tering any  more  cold  on  Sealer's  Land.  Roswell  himself 
was  of  opinion  that  the  late  severe  weather  was  the  dying 
effort  of  the  winter,  and  that  no  more  cold  was  to  be  ex- 
pected ;  and  Stimson  agreed  with  him  in  this  notion.  The 
sails  were  taken  down  from  around  the  house,  and  those 
articles  it  was  intended  to  carry  away  were  transferred  to 
the  schooner  as  fast  as  the  difficulties  of  the  road  would 
allow.  While  his  mates  were  carrying  on  this  duty,  our 
young  master  took  an  early  occasion  to  examine  the  state 
of  matters  generally  on  the  island.  With  this  view  he 
ascended  to  the  plain,  and  went  half-way  up  the  mountain, 
desiring  to  get  a  good  look  into  the  offing. 

It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  recent  deluge  had  swept 
all  the  ice  and  every  trace  of  the  dead  into  the  sea.  The 
body  of  Daggett  had  disappeared  with  the  snow-bank  in 
which  it  had  been  buried  ;  and  all  the  carcasses  of  the 
seals  had  been  washed  away.  In  a  word,  the  rocks  were 
as  naked  and  as  clean  as  if  man's  foot  had  never  passed 
over  them.  From  the  facts  that  skeletons  of  seals  had 
been  found  strewed  along  the  north  shore,  and  the  present 
void,  Roswell  was  led  to  infer  that  the  late  storm  had  been 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  359 

one  of  unusual  intensity,  and  most  probably  of  a  character 
to  occur  only  at  long  intervals. 

But  the  state  of  the  ice  was  the  point  of  greatest  interest. 
The  schooner  could  now  be  got  ready  for  sea  in  a  week, 
and  that  easily  ;  but  there  she  lay,  imbedded  in  a  field  of 
ice  that  still  covered  nearly  the  whole  of  the  waters  within 
the  group.  As  Roswell  stood  on  the  cliffs  which  overlooked 
the  cove,  he  calculated  the  distance  it  would  be  necessary 
to  take  the  schooner  through  the  ice  by  sawing  and  cutting, 
and  that  through  a  field  known  to  be  some  four  feet  thick, 
and  five  good  miles  at  least.  So  Herculean  did  this  task 
appear  to  be,  that  he  even  thought  of  abandoning  his 
vessel  altogether,  and  of  setting  out  in  the  boats,  as  soon 
as  the  summer  was  fairly  commenced.  On  reflection,  how- 
ever, this  last  plan  was  reserved  as  a  dernier  ressort,  the 
danger  of  encountering  the  tempests  of  those  seas  in  a 
whale-boat,  without  covering  or  fire,  being  much  too  great 
to  be  thought  of,  so  long  as  any  reasonable  alternative 
offered. 

The  bergs  to  the  southward  were  in  motion,  and  a  large 
fleet  of  them  was  putting  to  sea,  as  it  might  be,  coming  in 
from  those  remote  and  then  unknown  regions  in  which 
they  were  formed.  From  the  mountain  our  hero  counted 
at  least  a  hundred,  all  regularly  shaped,  with  tops  like  that 
of  table-land,  and  with  even,  regular  sides,  and  upright  at- 
titudes. It  was  very  desirable  to  get  ahead  of  these  new 
maritime  Alps,  for  the  ocean  to  the  northward  was  unusu- 
ally clear  of  ice  of  all  kinds,  that  lodged  between  the 
islands  excepted. 

So  long  as  it  was  safe  to  calculate  on  the  regular  changes 
of  the  seasons,  Roswell  knew  that  patience  and  vigilance 
would  serve  his  turn,  by  bringing  everything  round  in  its 
proper  time  and  place.  But  it  was  by  no  means  certain 
that  it  was  a  usual  occurrence  for  the  Great  Bay  to  be 
crammed. with  field-ice,  as  had  happened  the  past  winter  ; 
if  the  actual  state  of  the  surrounding  waters  were  an  ex- 
ception instead  of  the  rule.  On  examining  the  shores, 
however,  it  was  found  that  the  rain  and  melted  snow  had 
created  a  sort  of  margin,  and  that  the  strong  winds  which 
had  been  blowing,  and  which  in  fact  were  still  blowing,  had 
produced  a  gradually  increasing  attrition,  until  a  space 
existed  between  the  weather-side  of  the  field  and  the  rocks 
that  was  some  thirty  fathoms  wide.  This  was  an  impor- 
tant discovery^  and  brought  up  a  most  grave  question  for 
decision. 


360  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Owing  to  the  shape  of  the  surrounding  land,  it  would 
not  be  possible  for  the  ice  to  float  out  in  a  body  for  two 
or  three  months  to  come ;  or  until  so  much  had  melted  as 
to  leave  room  for  the  field  to  pass  the  capes  and  headlands. 
It  never  could  have  entered  the  bay  for  the  same  reason, 
but  for  the  resistless  power  of  a  field  that  extended  leagues 
out  into  the  ocean,  where,  acted  on  jointly  by  wind  and 
tide,  it  came  down  with  a  momentum  that  was  resistless, 
ripping  and  tearing  the  edges  of  the  field  as  if  they  had 
been  so  much  freshly  turned-up  mould.  It  was,  then,  a 
question  how  to  get  the  schooner  out  of  her  present  bed, 
and  into  clear  water. 

The  reader  will  probably  remember  that,  on  her  first  ar- 
rival at  the  group,  the  Sea  Lion  had  entered  the  Great  Bay 
from  the  southward  ;  while,  in  her  subsequent  effort  to  get 
north,  she  had  gone  out  by  the  opposite  passage.  Now,  it 
occurred  to  Roswell  that  he  might  escape  by  the  former  of 
these  routes  more  readily  than  by  the  latter,  and  for  the 
following  reasons  :  No  field-ice  had  ever  blocked  up  the 
southern  passage,  which  was  now  quite  clear,  though  the 
approach  to  it  just  then  was  choked  by  the  manner  in  which 
the  northeast  gale,  that  was  still  blowing,  pressed  home 
against  the  rocks  the  field  that  so  nearly  filled  the  bay.  A 
shift  of  wind,  however,  must  soon  come  ;  and,  when  that 
change  occurred,  it  was  certain  that  this  field  would  move 
in  an^  opposite  direction,  leaving  the  margin  of  open  water, 
that  has  already  been  mentioned,  all  along  the  rocks.  The 
distance  was  considerable,  it  is  true — not  less  than  fifteen 
miles — and  the  whole  of  it  was  to  be  made  quite  close  to 
sharp  angular  rocks  that  would  penetrate  the  schooner's 
sides  almost  as  readily  as  an  axe,  in  the  event  of  a  nip  ;  but 
this  danger  might  be  avoided  by  foresight,  and  a  timely 
attention  to  the  necessities  of  the  case.  Seeing  no  more 
available  plan  to  get  the  vessel  out  of  her  present  duress, 
the  mates  came  readily  into  this  scheme,  and  preparations 
were  made  to  carry  it  out.  As  the  cove  was  so  near  the 
northeast  end  of  Sealer's  Land,  it  may  be  well  to  explain 
that  the  reason  this  same  mode  of  proceeding  could  not  be 
carried  out  in  a  northern  direction,  was  the  breadth  of  the 
field  seaward,  and  the  danger  of  following  the  north  shore 
when  the  solid  ice  did  leave  it,  on  account  of  the  quan- 
tities of  broken  fragments  that  were  tossing  and  .churn- 
ing in  its  front,  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  from  the 
cliffs  themselves. 

The  third  dav  after  the  commencement  of  the  thaw,  the 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  361 

wind  came  around  again  from  the  southwest,  blowing 
heavily.  As  was  expected,  this  soon  began  to  set  the  field 
in  motion,  driving  it  over  toward  the  volcano,  and  at  the 
same  time  northerly.  About  six  in  the  morning,  Hazard 
brought  a  report  to  Roswell  that  a  margin  of  open  water 
was  beginning  to  form  all  along  under  the  cliffs,  while  there 
was  great  danger  that  the  channel  which  had  been  cut 
from  the  schooner  to  the  nearest  point  beneath  the  rocks, 
in  readiness  for  this  very  contingency,  might  be  closed  by 
the  pressure  of  the  ice  without  on  that  within  the  cove. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost,  therefore,  if  it  was  intended1  to 
move  the  craft  on  this  shift  of  wind.  The  distance  that 
had  been  sawed  through  to  make  the  channel  just  named 
did  not  exceed  a  hundred  yards.  The  passage  was  not 
much  wider  than  the  schooner's  breadth  ;  and  it  will  be 
easily  understood  that  it  was  to  the  last  degree  important 
to  carry  her  through  this  strait  as  soon  as  possible.  Al- 
though many  useful  articles  were  scattered  about  on  the 
ice,  and  several  remained  to  be  brought  over  the  rocks 
from  the  house,  the  order  was  given  to  get  out  lines,  and 
to  move  the  vessel  at  once  :  the  men  set  to  work  with 
hearty  good-will,  another  glimpse  of  home  rising  before 
their  imaginations  ;  and,  in  five  minutes  after  Hazard  had 
made  his  communication,  the  Sea  Lion  had  gone  six  or 
eight  times  her  length  toward  the  cliffs.  Then  came  the 
pinch  !  Had  not  the  ice  been  solid  between  the  cape  and 
the  berth  just  before  occupied  by  the  schooner,  she  would 
have  been  hopelessly  nipped  by  the  closing  of  the  arti- 
ficial channel.  As  it  was,  she  was  caught,  and  her  progress 
was  arrested,  but  the  field  took  a  cant,  in  consequence  of 
the  resistance  of  the  solid  ice  that  filled  the  whole  cove  to 
the  eastward  of  the  channel ;  and,  before  any  damage  was 
done,  the  latter  began  to  open  even  faster  than  it  had  come 
together.  The  instant  the  craft  was  released,  the  sealers 
manned  their  hauling  lines  again,  and  ran  her  up  to  the 
rocks  with  a  hurrah  !  The  margin  of  water  was  just  open- 
ing, but  so  prompt  had  been  the  movement  of  the  men  that 
it  was  not  yet  wide  enough  to  permit  the  vessel  to  go  any 
further  ;  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  wait  until  the  pas- 
sage was  sufficiently  wide  to  enable  her  to  move  ahead. 
The  intervening  time  was  occupied  in  bringing  to  the  craft 
the  articles  left  behind. 

By  nine  o'clock  everything  was  on  board  ;  the  winding 
channel  that  followed  the  sinuosities  of  the  coast  could  be 
traced  far  as  the  eye  could  see;  the  lines  were  manned; 


362  THE    SEA    LION'S. 

and  the  word  was  again  given  to  move.  Roswell  now  felt 
that  he  was  engaged  in  much  the  most  delicate  of  all  his 
duties.  The  desperate  run  through  the  fleet  of  bergs,  and 
the  second  attempt  to  get  to  sea,  were  not  in  certain  par- 
ticulars as  hazardous  as  this.  The  field  had  been  setting 
back  and  forth  now  for  several  weeks  ;  the  margin  of  clear 
water  increasing  by  the  attrition  at  each  return  to  the 
rocks  ;  and  it  was  known  by  observation  that  these  changes 
often  occurred  at  very  short  notices.  Should  the  wind  haul 
round  with  the  sun,  or  one  of  the  unaccountable  currents 
of 'those  seas  intervene  before  the  southeast  cape  was 
reached,  the  schooner  would  probably  be  broken  into  splin- 
ters, or  ground  into  powTder,  in  the  course  of  some  two  or 
three  hours.  It  was  all-important,  therefore,  to  lose  not  a 
moment. 

Several  times  in  the  course  of  the  first  hour  the  move- 
ment of  the  schooner  was  arrested  by  the  want  of  sufficient 
room  to  pass  between  projecting  points  in  the  cliffs  and  the 
edge  of  the  ice.  On  two  of  these  occasions  passages  were 
cut  with  the  saw,  the  movement  of  the  field  not  answering 
to  the  impatience  of  the  sealers.  At  the  end  of  that  most 
momentous  hour,  however,  the  craft  had  been  hauled  ahead 
a  mile  and  a  half,  and  had  reached  a  curvature  in  the  coast 
where  the  margin  of  open  water  was  more  than  fifty 
fathoms  wide,  and  the  tracking  of  the  vessel  became  easy 
and  rapid.  By  two  o'clock  the  Sea  Lion  was  at  what  might 
be  called  the  bottom  of  the  Great  Bay,  some  three  or  four 
leagues  from  the  cove,  and  at  the  place  where  the  long 
low  cape  began  to  run  out  in  a  southeasterly  direction.  As 
the  wind  could  now  be  felt  over  the  rocks,  the  foretopsail 
was  set,  as  well  as  the  lower  sails,  the  latter  being  mainly 
becalmed,  however,  by  the  land,  when  the  people  were 
all  taken  on  board,  the  craft  moving  faster  under  her  can- 
vas than  by  means  of  the  hauling  lines.  The  wind  was  very 
fresh,  and  in  half  an  hour  more  the  southeast  cape  came  in 
sight,  close  as  were  the  navigators  to  the  rocks.  Ten 
minutes  later  the  Sea  Lion  was  under  reefed  sails,  stretch- 
ing off  to  the  southward  and  eastward,  in  perfectly  clear 
water  ! 

At  first  Roswell  Gardiner  was  disposed  to  rejoice,  under 
the  impression  that  his  greatest  labor  had  been  achieved. 
A  better  look  at  the  state  of  things  around  him,  however, 
taught  the  disheartening  lesson  of  humility,  by  demon, 
Btrating  that  they  had  in  truth  but  just  commenced. 

Although  there  was  scarcely  any  field-ice  to  the  south- 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  363 

ward  of  the  group,  and  in  its  immediate  neighborhood, 
there  was  a  countless  number  of  bergs.  It  is  true,  these 
floating  mountains  did  not  come  near  the  passage,  for  the 
depth  of  water  just  there  usually  brought  them  up  ere  they 
could  get  into  it ;  nevertheless,  a  large  fleet  of  them  was 
blockading  the  entire  group,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  looking  east,  west,  and  south,  or  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  southern  coast.  It  was  at  first  questionable 
whether,  and  soon  after  it  became  certain,  that  the  schooner 
could  never  beat  through  such  dangers.  Had  the  wind  been 
fair,  the  difficulty  would  have  been  insurmountable  ;  but 
ahead,  and  blowing  a  little  gale,  the  matter  was  out  of  the 
question.  Some  other  course  must  be  adopted. 

There  was  a  choice  of  alternatives.  One  was  to  go  en- 
tirely round  the  whole  group,  passing  to  the  eastward  of 
the  volcano,  where  no  one  of  the  party  had  ever  been  ;  and 
the  other  was  to  follow  the  eastern  margin  of  the  bay, 
keeping  inside  of  it,  and  trusting  to  find  some  opening  by 
which  ths  schooner  could  force  her  way  into  clear  water 
to  the  northward.  After  a  very  brief  consultation  with  his 
mates,  Roswell  decided  on  attempting  the  last. 

As  the  course  now  to  be  steered  was  almost  dead  before 
the  wind,  the  little  craft,  lightened  of  so  much  of  her  upper 
works,  almost  flew  through  the  water.  The  great  source 
of  apprehension  felt  by  our  young  men  in  attempting  this 
new  expedient  was  in  the  probability  that  the  field  would 
drift  home  to  the  rocks  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  bay, 
which,  with  a  southwest  wind,  was  necessarily  a  quarter  to 
leeward.  Should  this  prove  to  be  the  case,  it  might  be 
found  impossible  to  pass  ahead,  and  the  schooner  would  be 
caught  in  a  cul  de  sac ;  since  it  would  not  be  in  the  power 
of  her  people  to  track  her  back  again  in  the  teeth  of  so 
strong  a  wind.  Notwithstanding  these  probabilities,  on 
Roswell  went ;  for  he  saw  plain  enough  that  at  such  a  mo- 
ment almost  anything  was  better  than  indecision. 

The  rate  at  which  the  little  craft  was  flying  before  a 
fresh  gale,  in  perfectly  smooth  water,  soon  put  our  sealers 
in  a  better  condition  to  form  closer  estimates  of  their 
chances.  The  lookouts  aloft,  one  of  whom  was  Hazard, 
the  first  officer,  sent  down  on  deck  constant  reports  of  what 
they  could  see. 

"  How  does  it  look  ahead  now,  Mr.  Hazard  ?"  demanded 
Roswell,  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  just  as  his  schooner 
was  coming  close  under  the  smoking  sides  of  the  volcano, 
which  had  always  been  an  object  of  interest  to  him,  though 


364  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

he  had  never  found  time  to  visit  it  before.  "  Is  there  no 
danger  of  our  touching  the  ground,  close  in  as  we  are  to 
this  island  ? " 

**  I  think  not,  sir ;  when  I  landed  here,  we  kept  the  lead 
going  the  whole  time,  and  we  got  two  fathoms  quite  up  to 
the  shore.  In  my  judgment,  Captain  Gar'ner,  we  may  run 
down  along  this  land  as  bold  as  lions." 

"And  how  does  it  look  ahead?  I've  no  wish  to  get 
jammed  here,  close  aboard  of  a  volcano,  which  may  be 
choking  us  all  with  its  smoke  before  we  know  where  we 
are." 

"  Not  much  danger  of  that,  sir,  with  this  wind.  These 
volcanoes  are  nothin'  but  playthings,  a'ter  all.  The  vapor 
is  driving  off  toward  the  northeast — That  was  a  crack,  with 
a  vengeance  ! " 

Just  as  Hazard  was  boasting  of  the  innocuous  character 
of  a  volcano,  that  near  them  fired  a  gun,  as  the  men  after- 
ward called  it,  casting  into  the  air  a  large  flight  of  cinders 
and  stones,  accompanied  by  a  sharp  flash  of  flame.  All  the 
lighter  materials  drove  away  to  leeward,  but  the  heavier 
followed  the  law  of  projectiles,  and  scattered  in  all  direc- 
tions. Several  stones  of  some  size  fell  quite  close  to  the 
schooner,  and  a  few  smaller  actually  came  down  on  her 
decks. 

"It  will  never  do  to  stop  here  to  boil  our  pot,"  cried 
Roswell  to  the  mate.  "We  must  get  away  from  this,  Mr. 
Hazard,  as  fast  as  the  good  craft  can  travel ! " 

"  Get  away  it  is,  sir.  There  is  nothing  very  near  ahead 
to  stop  us  ;  though  it  does  look  more  toward  the  east  cape 
as  if  the  field  was  jammed  in  that  quarter." 

"  Keep  all  your  eyes  about  you,  sir  ;  and  look  out  espe- 
cially for  any  opening  among  the  smaller  islands  ahead.  I 
am  not  without  hope  that  the  currents  which  run  among 
them  may  give  us  a  clear  passage  in  that  quarter." 

These  words  explain  precisely  that  which  did  actually 
occur.  On  went  the  schooner,  almost  brushing  the  base  of 
the  volcano,  causing  Roswell  many  a  bound  of  the  heart, 
when  he  fancied  she  must  strike  ;  but  she  went  clear. 
All  this  time  it  was  crack,  crack,  crack,  from  the  crater, 
rumbling  sounds  and  heavy  explosions  ;  the  last  attended 
by  flames,  and  smoke  of  a  pitchy  darkness.  A  dozen  times 
the  Sea  Lion  had  very  narrow  escapes  when  nearer  to  the 
danger,  stones  of  a  weight  to  pass  through  her  decks  and 
bottom  falling  even  on  the  ice  outside  of  her  ;  but  that 
Hand  which  had  so  benevolently  stayed  various  other  evil$ 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  365 

was  stretched  forth  to  save,  and  nothing  touched  the 
schooner  of  a  size  to  do  any  injury.  These  escapes  made 
a  deep  impression  on  Roswell.  Until  the  past  winter  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  things  and  events  as 
matters  of  course.  This  vacant  indifference,  so  common  to 
men  in  prosperity,  was  extended  even  to  the  sublimest 
exhibition  of  the  Almighty  power ;  bur  hero  seeing  nothing 
in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  of  a  clear  night,  but  the  twink- 
ling lights  that  seemed  to  him  to  be  placed  there  merely 
to  garnish  and  illumine  the  darkness  of  this  globe.  Now, 
how  differently  did  he  look  upon  natural  objects,  and  their 
origin!  If  it  were  only  an  insect,  his  mind  presented  its 
wonderful  mechanism,  its  beauty,  its  uses.  No  star  seemed 
less  than  what  science  has  taught  us  that  it  is  ;  and  the 
power  of  the  Dread  Being  who  had  created  all,  who  gov- 
erned all,  and  who  was  judge  of  all,  became  an  inseparable 
subject  of  contemplation,  as  he  looked  upon  the  least  of 
his  works.  Feelings  thus  softened  and  tempered  by  hu- 
mility, easily  led  their  subject  to  the  reception  of  those 
heading  articles  of  the  Christian  faith  which  have  been  con- 
secrated by  the  belief  of  the  Church  catholic  since  the  ages 
of  miraculous  guidance,  and  which  are  now  venerable  by 
time.  Bold  and  presuming  is  he  who  fancies  that  his  in- 
tellect can  rectify  errors  of  this  magnitude  and  antiquity, 
and  that  the  Church  of  God  has  been  permitted  to  wallow 
on  in  a  most  fatal  idolatry  for  centuries,  to  be  extricated 
by  the  pretending  syllogisms  of  his  one-sided  and  narrow 
philosophy ! 

The  people  of  the  Sea  Lion  were  less  affected  by  what 
they  saw  than  their  young  commander.  Their  hearts  were 
light  with  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  release  from  the  hard- 
ships and  dangers  they  had  undergone  ;  and,  at  each  ex- 
plosion of  the  volcano,  as  soon  as  out  of  reach  of  the  fall- 
ing stones,  they  laughed,  and  asserted  that  the  mountain 
was  jiring  a  salute  in  honor  of  their  departure.  Such  is 
the  difference  between  men  whose  hearts  and  spirits  have 
submitted  to  the  law  of  faith,  and  those  who  live  on  in  the 
recklessness  of  the  passing  events  of  life. 

The  schooner  was  racing  past  a  rocky  islet,  beginning  to 
haul  more  on  a  wind,  as  she  made  the  circuit  of  the  bay, 
just  as  Hazard  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  field  had 
drifted  home  on  the  outer  island  of  the  group,  and  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  pass  into  clear  water  by  going  on. 
Turning  his  head  in  quest  of  some  bay,  or  other  secure 
place  in  which  the  craft  might  wait  for  a  favorable  change, 


366  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

he  saw  a  narrow  opening  to  leeward  of  the  islet  he  had 
passed  but  a  minute  before,  and,  so  far  as  he  could  per' 
ceive,  one  that  led  directly  out  to  sea. 

It  was  too  late  to  keep  away  for  the  entrance  of  the  pas- 
sage, the  ice  being  too  close  at  hand  to  leeward  ;  but, 
most  fortunately,  there  was  room  to  tack.  A  call  to  Ros- 
well  soon  caused  the  schooner  to  be  close  on  a  wind ; 
down  went  her  helm,  and  round  she  came  like  a  top.  Sail 
was  shortened  in  stays,  and  by  the  time  the  little  craft  was 
ready  to  fall  off  for  the  passage,  she  had  nothing  on  her 
but  a  fore-topsail,  jib,  and  a  close-reefed  mainsail.  Un- 
der this  canvas  she  glided  along,  almost  brushing  the 
rocks  of  the  islet,  but  without  touching.  In  twenty  min- 
utes more  she  was  clear  of  the  group  altogether,  and  in 
open  water. 

That  night  some  embarrassment  was  encountered  from 
broken  field-ice,  of  which  the  ocean  was  pretty  full  ;  but 
by  exercising  great  vigilance,  no  serious  thump  occurred. 
Fortunately  the  period  of  darkness  was  quite  short,  the 
twilight  being  of  great  length,  both  mornings  and  even- 
ings ;  and  the  reappearance  of  the  sun  cast  a  cheerful 
glow  on  the  face  of  the  troubled  waters. 

The  wind  held  at  southwest  for  three  days,  blowing 
heavily  the  whole  time.  By  the  second  night-fall  the  sea 
was  clear  of  ice,  and  everything  was  carried  on  the  schoon- 
er that  she  could  bear.  About  nine  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  fourth  day  out,  a  speck  was  seen  rising  above  the 
ragged  outline  of  the  rolling  waves  ;  and  each  minute  it 
became  higher  and  more  distinct.  An  hour  or  two  later, 
the  Sea  Lion  was  staggering  along  before  a  westerly  gale, 
with  the  Hermit  of  Cape  Horn  on  her  larboard  beam,  dis- 
tant three  leagues.  How  many  trying  scenes  and  bitter 
moments  crowded  on  the  mind  of  young  Roswell  Gardiner 
as  he  recalled  all  that  had  passed  in  the  ten  months  which 
intervened  since  he  had  come  out  from  behind  the  shelter  of 
those  wild  rocks !  Stormy  as  was  that  sea,  and  terrible  as  was 
its  name  among  mariners,  coming,  as  he  did,  from  one  still 
more  stormy  and  terrible,  he  now  regarded  it  as  a  sort  of  place 
of  refuge.  A  winter  there  he  well  knew  would  be  no  trifling 
undertaking  ;  but  he  had  just  passed  a  winter  in  a  region 
where  even  fuel  was  not  to  be  found,  unless  carried  there. 

Twenty  days  later  the  Sea  Lion  sailed  again  from  Rio, 
having  sold  all  the  sea-elephant  oil  that  "remained,  and 
bought  stores ;  of  which,  by  this  time,  the  vessel  was 
much  in  want.  Most  of  the  portions  of  the  provisions  that 


THE   SEA    LION'S.  367 

were  left  had  been  damaged  by  the  thawing  process  ;  and 
food  was  getting  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  her  people, 
when  the  schooner  went  again  into  the  noble  harbor  of  the 
capital  of  Brazil.  Then  succeeded  the  lassitude  and  calms 
that  reign  about  the  imaginary  line  that  marks  the  circuit 
of  the  earth,  at  that  point  which  is  ever  central  as  regards 
the  sun,  and  where  the  days  and  nights  are  always  equal. 
No  inclination  of  the  earth's  axis  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit 
affected  the  climate  there,  which  knew  not  the  distinctions 
of  summer  and  winter  ;  or  which,  if  they  did  exist  at  all, 
were  so  faintly  marked  as  to  be  nearly  imperceptible. 

Twenty  days  later  the  schooner  was  standing  among 
some  low  sandy  keys  under  short  canvas,  and  in  the  south- 
east trades.  By  her  movements,  an  anchorage  was  sought ; 
and  one  was  found  at  last,  where  the  craft  was  brought 
up,  boats  were  hoisted  out,  and  Roswell  Gardiner  landed. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"If  every  ducat  in  six  thousand  ducats 
Were  in  six  parts,  and  every  part  a  ducat, 
I  would  not  draw  them  ;  I  would  have  my  bond." 

— SHAKESPEARE. 

THE  earth  had  not  stopped  in  its  swift  race  around  the 
sun  at  Oyster  Pond,  while  all  these  events  were  in  the 
course  of  occurrence  in  the  antarctic  seas.  The  summer 
had  passed,  that  summer  which  was  to  have  brought  back 
the  sealers ;  and  autumn  had  come  to  chill  the  hopes  as 
W7ell  as  the  body.  Winter  did  not  bring  any  change. 
Nothing  was  heard  of  Roswell  and  his  companions,  nor 
could  any  thing  have  been  heard  of  them  short  of  the  in- 
tervention of  a  miracle. 

Mary  Pratt  no  longer  mentioned  Roswell  in  her  p.ayers. 
She  fully  believed  him  to  be  dead  ;  and  her  puritanical 
creed  taught  her  that  this,  the  sweetest  and  most  endear- 
ing of  all  the  rites  of  Christianity,  was  allied  to  a  belief 
that  it  was  sacrilege  to  entertain.  We  pretend  not  to  any 
distinct  impressions  on  this  subject  ourselves,  beyond  a 
sturdy  Protestant  disinclination  to  put  any  faith  in  the 
abuses  of  purgatory  at  least  ;  but  most  devoutly  do  we 
wish  that  such  petitions  could  \\XVQ  the  efficacy  that  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  Christian  world  impute  to  them.  But 


368  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

Mary  Pratt,  so  much  better  than  we  can  lay  any  claim  to  be 
in  all  essentials,  was  less  liberal  than  ourselves  on  this  great 
point  of  doctrine.  Roswell  Gardiner's  name  now  never 
passed  her  lips  in  prayer,  therefore,  though  scarce  a  minute 
went  by  without  his  manly  person  being  present  to  her 
imagination.  He  still  lived  in  her  heart,  a  shrine  from 
which  she  made  no  effort  to  expel  him. 

As  for  the  deacon,  age,  disease,  and  distress  of  mind 
had  brought  him  to  his  last  hours.  The  passions  which 
had  so  engrossed  him  when  in  health,  now  turned  upon 
his  nature,  and  preyed  upon  his  vitals,  like  an  ill-omened 
bird.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  would  have  lived 
some  months,  possibly  some  years  longer,  had  not  the  evil 
spirit  of  covetousness  conspired  to  heighten  the  malady 
that  wasted  his  physical  frame.  As  it  was,  the  sands  of 
life  were  running  low  ;  and  the  skilful  Doctor  Sage,  him- 
self, had  admitted  to  Mary  the  improbability  that  her 
uncle  and  protector  could  long  survive. 

It  is  wonderful  how  the  interest  in  a  rich  man  suddenly 
revives  among  his  relatives  and  possibly  heirs,  as  his  last 
hour  draws  near.  Deacon  Pratt  was  known  to  be  wealthy 
in  a  small  way  ;  was  thought  to  possess  his  thirty  or  forty 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  regarded  as  wealth  among  the 
east-enders  thirty  years  since  ;  and  every  human  being  in 
Old  Suffolk,  wrhether  of  its  overwhelming  majority  or  of 
its  more  select  and  wiser  minority,  who  could  by  legal 
possibility  claim  any  right  to  be  remembered  by  the  dying 
man,  crowded  around  his  bedside.  At  that  moment  Mary 
Pratt,  who  had  so  long  nursed  his  diseases  and  mitigated 
his  sufferings,  was  compelled  to  appear  as  a  very  insignifi- 
cant and  secondary  person.  Others  who  stood  in  the  same 
degree  of  consanguinity  to  the  dying  man,  and  two,  a 
brother  and  sister,  who  were  even  one  degree  closer,  had 
their  claims,  and  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  suffer  them 
to  be  forgotten.  Gladly  would  poor  Mary  have  prayed 
by  her  uncle's  bedside  ;  but  Parson  Whittle  had  assumed 
this  solemn  duty,  it  being  deemed  proper  that  one  who 
had  so  long  filled  the  office  of  deacon,  should  depart  with 
a  proper  attention  to  the  usages  of  his  meeting.  Some  of 
the  relatives  who  had  lately  appeared,  and  who  were  not 
so  conversant  with  the  state  of  things  between  the  deacon 
and  his  divine,  complained  among  themselves  that  the 
latter  made  too  many  ill-timed  allusions  to  the  pecuniary 
wants  of  the  congregation  ;  and  that  he  had,  in  particular, 
almost  as  much  as  asked  the  deacon  to  make  a  legacy  that 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  369 

would  enable  those  who  were  to  stay  behind  to  paint  the 
meeting-house,  erect  a  new  horse-shed,  purchase  some  im- 
proved stoves,  and  reseat  the  body  of  the  building.  These 
modest  requests,  it  was  whispered — for  all  passed  in 
whispers  then — would  consume  not  less  than  a  thousand 
dollars  of  the  deacon's  hard  earnings  ;  and  the  thing  was 
mentioned  as  a  wrong  dpne  him  who  was  about  to  descend 
into  the  grave,  where  naught  of  earth  could  avail  him  in 
any  way. 

Close  was  the  siege  that  was  laid  to  Deacon  Pratt  during 
the  last  week  of  his  life.  Many  were  the  hints  given  of 
the  necessity  of  his  making  a  will,  though  the  brother  and 
sister,  estimating  their  rights  as  the  law  established  them, 
said  but  little  on  the  subject,  and  that  little  was  rather 
against  the  propriety  of  a«nnoying  a  man,  in  their  brother's 
condition,  with  business  of  so  perplexing  a  nature.  The 
fact  that  these  important  personages  set  their  faces  against 
the  scheme  had  due  weight,  and  most  of  the  relatives  be- 
gan to  calculate  the  probable  amount  of  their  respective 
shares  under  the  law  of  distribution  as  it  stood  in  that  day 
This  excellent  and  surpassingly  wise  community  of  New 
York  had  not  then  reached  the  pass  of  exceeding  liberality 
toward  which  it  is  now  so  rapidly  tending.  In  that  day, 
the  debtor  was  not  yet  thought  of  as  the  creditor's  next 
heir,  and  that  plausible  and  impracticable  desire  of  a  false 
philanthropy,  which  is  termed  the  Homestead  Exemption 
Law — impracticable  as  to  anything  like  a  just  and  equitable 
exemption  of  equal  amount  in  all  cases  of  indebtedness — 
was  not  yet  dreamed  of.  New  York  was  then  a  sound  and 
healthful  community ;  making  its  mistakes,  doubtless,  as 
men  ever  will  err  ;  but  the  control  of  things  had  not  yet 
passed  into  the  hands  of  sheer  political  empirics,  whose 
ignorance  and  quackery  were  stimulated  by  the  lowest 
passion  for  majorities.  Among  other  things  that  were  then 
respected  were  wills  ;  but  it  was  not  known  to  a  single  in- 
dividual among  all  those  who  thronged  the  dwelling  of 
Deacon  Pratt,  that  the  dying  man  had  ever  mustered  the 
self-command  necessary  to  make  such  an  instrument.  He 
was  free  to  act,  but  did  not  choose  to  avail  himself  of  his 
freedom.  Had  he  survived  a  few  years,  he  would  have 
found  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  liberty  so  sublimated, 
that  he  could  not  lease,  or  rent  a  farm,  or  collect  a  common 
debt,  without  coming  under  the  harrow  of  the  tiller  of  the 
political  soil. 

The  season  had  advanced  to  the  early  part  of  April,  and 

24 


370  THE   SEA    LIOKS. 

that  is  usually  a  soft  and  balmy  month  on  the  sea-shore 
though  liable  to  considerable  and  sudden  changes  of  tern* 
perature.  On  the  day  to  which  we  now  desire  to  transfer 
the  scene,  the  windows  of  the  deacon's  bedroom  were  open, 
and  the  soft  south  wind  fanned  his  hollow  and  pallid  cheek. 
Death  was  near,  though  the  principle  of  life  struggled  hard 
with  the  King  of  Terrors.  It  was  now  that  that  bewildered 
and  Pharisaical  faith  which  had  so  long  held  this  professor 
of  religion  in  a  bondage  even  more  oppressive  than  open 
and  announced  sins,  most  felt  the  insufficiency  of  the  creed 
in  which  he  had  rather  been  speculating  than  trusting  all 
his  life,  to  render  the  passing  hour  composed  and  secure. 
There  had  always  been  too  much  of  self  in  Deacon  Pratt's 
moral  temperament  to  render  his  belief  as  humble  and  de- 
vout as  it  should  be.  It  availed  him  not  a  hair,  now  that 
he  was  a  deacon,  or  that  he  had  made  long  prayers  in  the 
market-places,  where  men  could  see  him,  or  that  he  had 
done  so  much,  as  he  was  wont  to  proclaim,  for  example's 
sake.  All  had  not  sufficed  to  cleanse  his  heart  of  worldly- 
mindedness,  and  he  now  groped  about  him,  in  the  darkness 
of  a  faith  obscured,  for  the  true  light  that  was  to  illume  his 
path  to  another  world. 

The  doctor  had  ordered  the  room  cleared  of  all  but  two 
or  three  of  the  dying  man's  nearest  relatives.  Among 
these  last,  however,  was  the  gentle  and  tender-hearted 
Mary,  who  loved  to  be  near  her  uncle  in  this  his  greatest 
need.  She  no  longer  thought  of  his  covetousness,  of  his 
griping  usury,  of  his  living  so  much  for  self  and  so  little 
for  God.  While  hovering  about  the  bed,  a  message  reached 
her  that  Baiting  Joe  wished  to  see  her  in  the  passage  that  led 
to  the  bedroom.  She  went  to  this  old  fisherman  and  found 
him  standing  near  a  window  that  looked  toward  the  east, 
and  which  consequently  faced  the  waters  of  Gardiner's  Bay. 

"  There  she  is,  Miss  Mary,"  said  Joe,  pointing  out  of  the 
window,  his  whole  face  in  a  glow  between  joy  and  whiskey. 
"•  It  should  be  told  to  the  deacon  at  once,  that  his  last  hours 
might  be  happier  than  some  that  he  has  passed  lately. 
That's  she — though  at  first  I  did  not  know  her." 

Mary  saw  a  vessel  standing  in  toward  Oyster  Pond, 
and  her  familiarity  with  objects  of  that  nature  was  such  as 
to  tell  her  at  once  that  it  was  a  schooner ;  but  so  com- 
pletely had  she  given  up  the  Sea  Lion  that  it  did  not  occur 
to  her  that  this  could  be  the  long-missing  craft. 

" At  what  are  you  pointing,  Joe?"  the  wondering  girl 
asked,  with  perfect  innocence. 


THE    SEA    LIONS.  371 

"At  that  craft — at  the  Sea  Lion  of  Sterling,  which  has 
been  so  long  set  down  as  missing,  but  which  has  turned 
up  just  as  her  owner  is  about  to  cast  off  from  this  'arth 
altogether." 

Joe  might  have  talked  for  an  hour  :  he  did  chatter  away 
for  two  or  three  minutes,  with  his  head  and  half  his  body 
out  of  the  window,  uninterrupted  by  Mary,  who  sank  into 
a  chair  to  prevent  falling  on  the  floor.  At  length  the  dear 
girl  commanded  herself,  and  spoke. 

"  You  cannot  possibly  be  certain,  Joe,"  she  said;  "that 
schooner  does  not  look,  to  me,  like  the  Sea  Lion." 

"  Nor  to  me,  in  some  things,  while  in  other  some  she 
does.  Her  upper  works  seem  strangely  out  of  shape,  and 
there's  precious  little  on  'em.  But  no  other  fore-taw-sail 
schooner  ever  comes  in  this-a-way,  and  I  know  of  none 
likely  to  do  it.  Ay,  by  Jupiter,  there  goes  the  very  blue  peter 
I  helped  to  make  with  my  own  hands,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
6et  it  as  the  deacon's  signal.  There's  no  mistake  now!" 

Joe  might  have  talked  half  an  hour  longer  without  any 
fear  of  interruption,  for  Mary  had  vanished  to  her  own 
room,  leaving  him  with  his  body  and  head  still  out  of  the 
window,  making  his  strictures  and  conjectures  for  some 
time  longer ;  while  the  person  to  whom  he  fancied  he  was 
speaking,  was,  in  truth,  on  her  knees,  rendering  thanks  to 
God  !  An  hour  later  all  doubts  were  removed,  the  schoon- 
er coming  in  between  Oyster  Pond  and  Shelter  Island,  and 
making  the  best  of  her  way  to  the  well-known  wharf. 

"  Isn't  it  wonderful,  Mary,"  exclaimed  the  deacon,  in  a 
hollow  voice,  it  is  true,  but  with  an  animation  and  force 
that  did  not  appear  to  have  any  immediate  connection  with 
death — "  isn't  it  wonderful  that  Gar'ner  should  come  back, 
a'ter  all  !  If  he  has  only  done  his  duty  by  me,  this  will  be 
the  greatest  ventur*  of  my  whole  life ;  it  will  make  the 
evening  of  my  days  comfortable.  I  hope  I've  always  been 
grateful  for  blessings,  and  I'm  sure  I'm  grateful,  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  for  this.  Give  me  prosperity,  and  I'm 
not  apt  to  forget  it.  They've  been  asking  me  to  make  a 
will,  but  I  told  'em  I  was  too  poor  to  think  of  any  such 
thing ;  and,  now  my  schooner  has  got  back,  I  s'pose  I  shall 
get  more  hints  of  the  same  sort.  Should  anything  happen 
to  me,  Mary,  you  can  bring  out  the  sealed  paper  I  gave 
you  to  keep,  and  that  must  satisfy  'em  all.  You'll  remem- 
ber it  is  addressed  to  Gar'ner.  There  isn't  much  in  it,  and 
it  won  t  be  much  thought  of,  I  fancy  ;  but,  such  as  it  is, 
'tis  the  Ijist  instrument  I  sign,  unless  I  get  better.  To  tlvnk 


372  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

of  Gar'ner's  coming  back,  a'ter  all !  It  has  put  new  life  in 
me,  and  I  shall  be  about  ag'in  in  a  week  if  he  has  only  not 
forgotten  the  key  and  the  hidden  treasure  !  " 

Mary  Pratt's  heart  had  not  been  so  light  for  many  a 
weary  day,  but  it  grieved  her  to  be  a  witness  of  this  linger- 
ing longing  after  the  things  of  the  world.  She  knew  that 
not  only  her  uncle's  days,  but  his  very  hours,  were  num- 
bered ;  and  that  notwithstanding  this  momentary  flicker- 
ing of  the  lamp,  in  consequence  of  fresh  oil  being  poured 
into  it,  the  wick  was  nearly  consumed,  and  that  it  must 
shortly  go  out,  let  Roswell's  success  be  what  it  might.  The 
news  of  the  sudden  and  unlooked-for  return  of  a  vessel  so 
long  believed  to  be  lost  spread  like  wildfire  over  the  whole 
Point,  and  greatly  did  it  increase  the  interest  of  the  rela- 
tives in  the  condition  of  the  dying  man.  If  he  was  a  sub- 
ject of  great  concern  before,  doubly  did  he  become  so  now. 
A  vessel  freighted  with  furs  would  have  caused  much  ex- 
citement of  itself ;  but,  by  some  means  or  other,  the  dea- 
con s  great  secret  of  the  buried  treasure  had  leaked  out, 
most  probably  by  means  of  some  of  his  lamentations  dur- 
ing his  illness,  and,  though  but  imperfectly  known,  it  added 
largely  to  the  expectations  connected  with  the  unlooked- 
for  return  of  the  schooner.  In  short,  it  would  not  have 
been  easy  to  devise  a  circumstance  that  should  serve  to 
increase  the  liveliness  of  feeling  that  just  then  prevailed 
on  the  subject  of  Deacon  Pratt  and  his  assets,  than  the 
arrival  of  the  Sea  Lion  at  that  precise  moment. 

And  arrive  she  did,  that  tempest-tossed,  crippled,  ice- 
bound, and  half-burned  little  craft,  after  roaming  over  an 
extent  of  ocean  that  would  have  made  up  half-a-dozen  or- 
dinary sea  voyages.  It  was,  in  truth,  the  schooner  so  well 
known  to  the  reader,  that  was  now  settling  away  her  main- 
sail and  jib,  as  she  kept  off,  under  her  fore-topsail  alone, 
toward  the  wharf,  on  which  e\7ery  human  being  who  could, 
with  any  show  of  propriety,  be  there  at  such  a  moment, 
was  now  collected,  in  a  curious  and  excited  crowd.  Alto- 
gether, including  boys  and  females,  there  must  have  been 
not  less  than  a  hundred  persons  on  that  wharf  ;  and  among 
them  were  most  of  the  anxious  relatives  who  were  in  at' 
tendance  on  the  vessel's  owner,  in  his  last  hours.  By  a 
transition  that  was  natural  enough,  perhaps,  under  the 
circumstances,  they  had  transferred  their  interest  in  the 
deacon  to  this  schooner,  which  they  looked  upon  as  an  in- 
animate portion  of  an  investment  that  would  soon  have 
little  that  was  animate  about  it. 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  373 

Baiting  Joe  was  a  sort  of  oracle,  in  such  circumstances. 
He  had  passed  his  youth  at  sea,  having  often  doubled  the 
Horn,  and  was  known  to  possess  a  very  respectable  amount 
of  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  vessels  of  all  sorts  and  sizes, 
rig  and  qualities.  He  was  now  consulted  by  all  who  could 
get  near  him,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  his  opinions  were 
received  as  res  adjudicata,  as  the  lawyers  have  it. 

"That's  the  boat,"  said  Joe,  affecting  to  call  the  Sea 
Lion  by  a  diminutive,  as  a  proof  of  regard  ;  "  yes,  that's 
the  craft,  herself  ;  but  she  is  wonderfully  deep  in  the  water  ! 
I  never  seed  a  schooner  of  her  tonnage,  come  in  from  a 
v'y'ge,  with  her  scuppers  so  near  a-wash.  Don't  you  think, 
Jim,  there  must  be  suthin'  heavier  than  skins  in  her  hold, 
to  bring  her  down  so  low  in  the  water  ?  " 

Jim  was  another  loafer,  who  lived  by  taking  clams,  oys- 
ters, fish,  and  the  other  treasures  of  the  surrounding  bays. 
He  was  by  no  means  as  high  authority  as  Baiting  Joe  ;  still 
he  was  always  authority  on  a  wharf. 

"  I  never  seed  the  like  on't,"  answered  Jim.  "  That 
schooner  must  ha'  made  most  of  her  passage  under  water. 
She's  as  deep  as  one  of  our  coasters  comin'  in  with  a  load 
of  brick  ! " 

"  She's  deep  ;  but  not  as  deep  as  a  craft  I  once  made  a 
cruise  in.  I  was  aboard  of  the  first  of  Uncle  Sam's  gun- 
boats, that  crossed  the  pond  to  Gibraltar.  When  we  got 
in,  it  made  the  Mediterranean  stare,  I  can  tell  you  !  We 
had  furrin  officers  aboard  us,  the  whull  time,  lookin'  about, 
and  wonderin',  as  they  called  it,  if  we  wasn't  amphibbies." 

"  What's  that  ? "  demanded  Jim,  rather  hastily.  "  There's 
no  sich  rope  in  the  ship." 

"  I  know  that  well  enough  ;  but  an  amphibby,  as  I  un- 
derstand it,  is  a  new  sort  of  whale,  that  comes  up  to  breathe, 
like  all  of  that  family,  as  old  Dr.  Mitchell,  of  Cow  Neck, 
calls  the  critturs.  So  the  furrin  officers  thought  we  must 
be  of  the  amphibby  family,  to  live  so  much  under  water, 
as  it  seemed  to  them.  It  was  wet  work,  I  can  tell  you, 
boys  ;  I  don't  think  I  got  a  good  breath  more  than  once 
an  hour,  the  whull  of  the  first  day  we  was  out.  One  of 
the  furrin  officers  asked  our  captain  how  the  gunboat 
steered.  He  wasn't  a  captain,  at  all — only  a  master,  you 
see,  and  we  all  called  him  Jumpin'  Billy.  So  Jumpin' 
Billy  says,  '  Don't  know,  sir.'  '  What !  crossed  the  Atlantic 
in  her,  and  don't  know  how  your  craft  steers  ! '  says  the 
furrin  officer,  says  he — and  well  he  might,  Jim,  since  nothin* 
that  ever  lived  could  go  from  Norfork  to  Gibraltar  without 


374  THE   SEA 

some  attention  to  the  helm — but  Jumpin'  Billy  had  another 
story  to  tell.  'No,  sir;  don't  know,'  he  answered.  'You 
see,  sir,  a  nor-wester  took  us  right  aft,  as  we  cleared  the 
capes,  and  down  she  dove,  with  her  nose  under  and  her 
starn  out,  and  she  came  across  without  having  a  chance  to 
try  the  rudder.'  " 

This  story,  which  Joe  had  told  at  least  a  hundred  times 
before,  and  which,  by  the  way,  is  said  to  be  true,  produced 
the  usual  admiration,  especially  among  the  crowd  of 
legatees-expectant,  to  most  of  whom  it  was  quite  new. 
When  the  laugh  went  out,  which  it  soon  did  of  itself,  Joe 
pursued  a  subject  that  was  of  more  interest  to  most  of  his 
auditors,  or  rather  to  the  principal  personages  among  them. 

"  Skins  never  brought  a  craft  so  low,  that  you  may  be 
sartin  of !  "  he  resumed.  "  I've  seed  all  sorts  of  vessels 
stowed,  but  a  hundred  press-screws  couldn't  cram  in  furs 
enough  to  bring  a  craft  so  low  !  To  my  eye,  Jim,  there's 
suthin'  unnat'ral  about  that  schooner,  a'ter  all." 

The  study  is  scarce  worthy  of  a  diploma,  but  we  will 
take  this  occasion  to  say,  for  the  benefit  of  certain  foreign 
writers,  principally  of  the  female  sex,  who  fancy  they 
represent  Americanisms,  that  the  vulgar  of  the  great  re- 
public, and  it  is  admitted  there  are  enough  of  the  class, 
never  say  "  summat  "  or  "  somethink,"  which  are  low  Eng- 
lish, but  not  low  American,  dialect.  The  in-and-in  Yankee 
says  "suth-in."  In  a  hundred  other  words  have  these  am- 
bitious ladies  done  injustice  to  our  vulgar,  who  are  not 
vulgar,  according  to  the  laws  of  Cockayne,  in  the  smallest 
degree.  "  The  Broadway,"  for  instance,  is  no  more  used 
by  an  American  than  '•'•the  Congress,"  or  "the  United 
States  of  North  America." 

"  Perhaps,"  answered  Jim,  "  'tisn't  the  Sea  Lion,  a'ter  all. 
There's  a  family  look  about  all  the  craft  some  men  build, 
and  this  maybe  a  sort  of  relation  of  our  missin'  schooner." 

"  I'll  not  answer  for  the  craft,  though  that's  her  blue 
peter  and  them's  her  mast-heads,  and  I  turned  in  that  taw- 
sail  halyard-block  with  my  own  hands.  I'll  tell  you  what, 
Jim,  there's  been  a  wrack,  or  a  nip,  up  yonder,  among  the 
ice,  and  this  schooner  has  been  built  anew  out  of  that  there 
schooner.  You  see  if  it  don't  turn  out  as  I  tell  you.  Ay, 
and  there's  Captain  Gar'ner  himself,  alive  and  well,  just 
comin'  forrard." 

A  little  girl  started  with  thfs  news,  and  was  soon  pouring 
it  into  the  willing  ears  and  open  heart  of  the  weeping  and 
grateful  Mary.  An  hour  later,  Roswell  held  the  latter  in 


THE   SKA    LIONS.  375 

his  arms  ,  for  at  such  a  moment  it  was  not  possible  for  the 
most  scrupulous  of  the  sex  to  affect  coldness  and  reserve, 
where  there  was  so  much  real  tenderness  and  love.  While 
folding  Mary  to  his  heart,  Rosvvell  whispered  in  her  ears 
the  blessed  words  that  announced  his  own  humble  submis- 
sion to  the  faith  which  accepted  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God. 
Too  well  did  the  gentle  and  ingenuous  girl  understand  the 
sincerity  and  frankness  of  her  lover's  nature  to  doubt  what 
he  said,  or  in  any  manner  to  distrust  the  motive.  That 
moment  was  the  happiest  of  her  short  and  innocent  life  I 

But  the  welcome  tidings  had  reached  the  deacon,  and 
ere  Roswell  had  an  opportunity  of  making  any  other  ex- 
planations but  those  which  assured  Mary  that  he  had  come 
back  all  that  she  wished  him  to  be,  both  of  them  were 
summoned  to  the  bedside  of  the  dying  man.  The  effect  of 
the  excitement  on  the  deacon  was  so  very  great  as  almost 
to  persuade  the  expectant  legatees  that  their  visit  was 
premature,  and  that  they  might  return  home,  to  renew  it 
at  some  future  day.  It  is  painful  to  find  it  our  duty  to 
draw  sketches  that  shall  contain  such  pictures  of  human 
nature  ;  but  with  what  justice  could  we  represent  the 
loathsome  likeness  of  covetousness,  hovering  over  a  grave, 
and  omit  the  resemblances  of  those  who  surrounded  it  ? 
Mary  Pratt,  alone,  of  all  that  extensive  family  connection, 
felt  and  thought  as  Christianity,  and  womanly  affection, 
and  reason,  dictated.  All  the  rest  saw  nothing  but  the 
possessor  of  a  considerable  property,  who  was  about  to 
depart  for  that  unknown  world,  into  which  nothing  could 
be  taken  from  this,  but  the  divine  and  abused  spirit  which 
had  been  fashioned  in  the  likeness  of  God. 

"Welcome,  Gar'ner — welcome  home,  ag'in!  "  exclaimed 
the  deacon,  so  heartily  as  quite  to  deceive  the  young  man 
as  to  the  real  condition  of  his  owner  ;  a  mistake  that  was, 
perhaps,  a  little  unfortunate,  as  it  induced  him  to  be  more 
frank  than  might  otherwise  have  been  the  case.  "  I  couldn't 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  give  you  up,  and  have  all  along  be- 
lieved that  we  should  yet  have  good  news  from  you.  The 
Gar'ners  are  a  reliable  family,  and  that  was  one  reason  why 
I  chose  you  to  command  my  schooner.  Them  Daggetts 
are  a  torment,  but  we  never  should  have  known  anything 
about  the  islands,  or  the  key,  hadn't  it  been  for  one  on  'em." 

As  the  deacon  stopped  to  breathe,  Mary  turned  away 
from  the  bed,  grieved  at  heart  to  see  the  longings  of  the 
world  thus  clinging  to  the  spirit  of  one  who  probably  had 
pot-another  hour  to  live.  The  glazed  but  animated  eye,  a 


376  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

cheek  which  resembled  a  faded  leaf  of  the  maple  laid  on  a 
cold  and  whitish  stone,  and  lips  that  had  already  begun  to 
recede  from  the  teeth,  made  a  sad,  sad  picture,  truly,  to 
look  upon  at  such  a  moment;  yet,  of  all  present,  Mary 
Pratt  alone  felt  the  fulness  of  the  incongruity,  and  alone 
bethought  her  of  the  unreasonableness  of  encouraging  feel- 
ings like  those  which  were  now  uppermost  in  the  deacon's 
breast.  Even  Minister  Whittle  had  a  curiosity  to  know 
how  much  was  added  to  the  sum  total  of  Deacon  Pratt's 
assets  by  the  return  of  a  craft  that  had  so  long  been  set 
down  among  the  missing.  When  all  eyes,  therefore,  were 
turned  in  curiosity  on  the  handsome  face  of  the  fine  manly 
youth  who  now  stood  at  the  bedside  of  the  deacon,  includ- 
ing those  of  brother  and  sister,  of  nephews  and  nieces,  of 
cousins  and  friends,  those  of  this  servant  of  the  most  high 
God  were  of  the  number,  and  not  the  least  expressive  of  so- 
licitude and  expectation.  As  soon  as  the  deacon  had 
caught  a  little  breath,  and  had  swallowed  a  restorative  that 
the  hired  nurse  had  handed  to  him,  his  eager  thoughts  re- 
verted to  the  one  engrossing  theme  of  his  whole  life. 

"  These  are  all  friends,  Gar'ner,"  he  said  ;  "come  to  visit 
me  in  a  little  sickness  that  I've  been  somewhat  subject  to  of 
late,  and  who  will  all  be  glad  to  hear  of  our  good  fortune 
So  you've  brought  the  schooner  back,  a'ter  all,  Gar'ner, 
and  will  disapp'int  the  Sag  Harbor  shipowners,  who  have 
been  all  along  foretelling  that  we  should  never  see  her 
ag'in  : — brought  her  back — ha  !  Gar'ner  ?  " 

"  Only  in  part,  Deacon  Pratt.  We  have  had  good  luck 
and  bad  luck  since  we  left  you,  and  have  only  brought 
home  the  best  part  of  the  craft." 

"  The  best  part!  "  said  the  deacon,  gulping  his  words  in 
a  way  that  compelled  him  to  pause  ;  "the  best  part !  What, 
in  the  name  of  property,  has  become  of  the  rest  ?  " 

"  The  rest  was  burned,  sir,  to  keep  us  from  freezing  to 
death."  Roswell  then  gave  a  brief  but  very  clear  and  in- 
telligible account  of  what  had  happened,  and  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  caused  the  hulk  of  the  deacon's  Sea  Lion 
to  be  raised  upon  by  the  materials  furnished  by  the  Sea 
Lion  of  the  Vineyard.  The  narrative  brought  Mary  Pratt 
back  to  the  side  of  the  bed,  and  caused  her  calm  eyes  to 
become  riveted  intently  on  the  speaker's  face.  As  for  the 
deacon,  he  might  have  said,  with  Shakespeare's  Wolsey : 

"  Had  I  but  served  my  God  with  half  the  zeal 
I  served  my  king,  he  would  not,  in  mine  age, 
Have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies." 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  377 

His  fall  was  not  that  of  a  loss  of  power,  it  is  true,  but  it 
was  that  of  a  still  more  ignoble  passion — covetousness.  As 
Roswell  proceeded,  his  mind  represented  one  source  of 
wealth  after  another  released  from  his  clutch,  until  it  was 
with  a  tremulous  voice,  and  a  countenance  from  which 
all  traces  of  animation  had  fled,  that  he  ventured  again  to 
speak. 

"  Then  I  may  look  upon  my  ventur'  as  worse  than  noth- 
ing ?  "  he  said.  "  The  insurers  will  raise  a  question  about 
paying  for  a  craft  that  has  been  rebuilt  in  this  way,  and 
the  Vineyard  folks  will  be  sartain  to  put  in  a  claim  of  sal- 
vage, both  on  account  of  two  of  their  hands  helping  you 
with  the  work,  and  on  account  of  the  materials — and  we 
with  no  cargo,  as  an  offset  to  it  all  ! " 

"  No,  deacon,  it  is  not  quite  so  bad  as  that,"  resumed 
Roswell.  "  We  have  brought  home  a  good  lot  of  skins  ; 
enough  to  pay  the  people  full  wages,  and  to  return  you 
every  cent  of  outfit,  with  a  handsome  advance  on  the  vent- 
ure. A  sealer  usually  makes  a  good  business  of  it,  if  she 
falls  in  with  seals.  Our  cargo  in  skins  can't  be  worth  less 
than  $20,000  ;  besides  half  a  freight  left  on  the  island,  for 
which  another  craft  may  be  sent." 

"That  is  suthin',  the  Lord  be  praised  !  "  ejaculated  the 
deacon.  "  Though  the  schooner  is  as  bad  as  gone,  and 
the  outlays  have  been  awfully  heavy  ;  I'm  almost  afraid 
to  go  any  further.  Gar'ner, — did  you — I  grow  weak  very 
fast— did  you  stop — Mary,  I  wish  you  would  put  the  ques- 
tion." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  my  uncle  means  to  ask  if  you  stopped 
at  the  Key,  in  the  West  Indies,  according  to  your  instruc- 
tions, Roswell  ? "  the  niece  said,  and  most  reluctantly  ; 
for  she  plainly  saw  it  was  fully  time  her  uncle  ceased  to 
think  of  the  things  of  this  life,  and  to  begin  to  turn  all  his 
thoughts  on  the  blessed  mediation,  and  another  state  of 
being. 

"I  forgot  no  part  of  your  orders,  sir,"  rejoined  Roswell. 
"  It  was  my  duty  to  obey  them,  and  I  believe  I  have  done  so 
to  the  letter " 

"  Stop,  Gar'ner,"  interrupted  the  dying  man — "  one  ques- 
tion, while  I  think  of  it.  Will  the  Vineyard  men  have  any 
claim  of  salvage  on  account  of  them  skins  ?" 

"Certainly  not,  sir.  These  skins  are  all  our  own — were 
taken,  cured,  stowed,  and  brought  home  altogether  by  our- 
selves. There  is  a  lot  of  skins  belonging  to  the  Vineyard- 
ers  stowed  away  in  the  house,  which  is  yours,  deacon,  and 


378  THE    SEA    LIONS. 

which  it  would  well  pay  any  small  craft  to  go  and  bring 
away.  If  anybody  is  to  claim  salvage,  it  will  be  ourselves. 
No  salvage  was  demanded  for  the  loss  off  Cape  Henlopen, 
I  trust  ? " 

"  No,  none — Daggett  behaved  what  I  call  liberal  in  that 
affair," — half  the  critics  of  the  day  would  use  the  adjective 
instead  of  the  adverb  here,  and  why  should  Deacon  Pratt's 
English  be  any  better  than  his  neighbors  ? — "and  so  I  have 
admitted  to  his  friends  over  on  the  Vineyard.  But,  Gar'- 
ner,  our  great  affair  still  remains  to  be  accounted  for.  Do 
you  wish  to  have  the  room  cleared  before  you  speak  of 
that — shall  we  turn  the  key  on  all  these  folks -and  then  set- 
tle accounts  ? — he  !  he  !  he  !" 

The  deacon's  facetiousness  sounded  strangely  out  of 
place  to  Roswell ;  still,  he  did  not  exactly  know  how  to 
gainsay  his  wishes.  There  might  be  an  indiscretion  in  pur- 
suing his  narrative  before  so  many  witnesses,  and  the 
young  man  paused  until  the  room  was  cleared,  leaving  no 
one  in  it  but  the  sick  man,  Mary,  himself,  and  the  nurse. 
The  last  could  not  well  be  gotten  rid  of  on  Oyster  Pond, 
where  her  office  gave  her  an  assumed  right  to  know  all 
family  secrets  ;  or,  what  was  the  same  thing  to  her,  infancy 
that  she  knew  them.  Among  all  the  sayings  which  the  ex- 
perience of  mankind  has  reduced  to  axioms,  there  is  not 
one  more  just  than  that  which  says,  "  There  are  secrets  in 
all  families."  These  secrets  the  world  commonly  affects  to 
know  all  about ;  but  we  think  few  will  have  reached  the 
age  of  threescore  without  becoming  convinced  of  how 
much  pretending  ignorance  there  is  in  this  assumption  of 
the  world.  "  Tot  ou  tard  tout  se  scait"  is  a  significant  say- 
ing of  our  old  friends,  the  French,  who  know  as  much  of 
things  in  practice  as  any  other  people  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  ;  "  tot  ou  tard  tout  ne  se  scaitpas" 

"  Is  the  door  shut  ? "  asked  the  deacon,  tremulously,  for 
eagerness  united  to  debility  was  sadly  shaking  his  whole 
frame.  "  See  that  the  door  is  shut  tight,  Mary  ;  this  is  our 
own  secret,  and  nurse  must  remember  that." 

Mary  assured  him  that  they  were  alone,  and  turned  away 
in  sorrow  from  the  bed. 

"  Now,  Gar'ner,"  resumed  the  deacon,  "  open  your  whole 
heart,  and  let  us  know  all  about  it." 

Roswell  hesitated  to  reply  ;  for  he,  too,  was  shocked  at 
witnessing  this  instance  of  a  soul's  clinging  to  mammon 
when  on  the  very  eve  of  departing  for  the  unknown  world. 
There  was  a  look  in  the  glazed  and  sunken  eyes  of  the  old 


THE   SEA    LIOATS.  379 

man  that  reminded  him  unpleasantly  of  that  snapping  of 
the  eyes  which  he  had  so  often  seen  in  Daggett. 

"  You  didn't  forget  the  key,  surely,  Gar'ner  ?  "  asked  the 
deacon,  anxiously. 

"  No,  sir  ;  we  did  our  whole  duty  by  that  part  of  the 
voyage." 

"  Did  you  find  it — was  the  place  accurately  described  ?  " 
"  No  chart  could  have  made  it  better.  We  lost  a  month 
in  looking  for  the  principal  landmark,  which  had  been 
altered  by  the  weather  ;  but  that  once  found,  the  rest  was 
easy.  The  difficulty  we  met  with  in  starting  has  brought 
us  home  so  late  in  the  spring." 

"  Never  mind  the  spring,  Gar'ner  ;  the  part  that  is  past 
is  sartain  to  come  round  ag'in,  in  due  time.     And  so  you 
found  the  very  key  that  was  described  by  Daggett  ?  " 
"We  did,  sir;  and  just  where  he  described  it  to  be." 
"  And  how  about  the  tree,  and  the  little  hillock  of  sand 
at  its  foot  ?  " 

"  Both  were  there,  deacon.  The  hillock  must  have  grown 
a  good  deal,  by  reason  of  the  shifting  sand  ;  but,  all  things 
considered,  the  place  was  well  enough  described." 
**  Well — well — well — you  opened  the  hillock,  of  course  ?  " 
"We  did,  sir  ;  and  found  the  box  mentioned  by  the  pirate." 
"  A  good  large  box,  I'll  warrant  ye  !     Them  pirates  sel- 
dom do  things  by  halves — he  !  he  !  he  !  " 

"I  can't  say  much  for  the  size  of  the  box,  deacon — it 
looked  to  me  as  if  it  had  once  held  window-glass,  and  that 
of  rather  small  dimensions." 

"  But,  the  contents — you  do  not  mention  the  contents." 
"  They  are  here,  sir,"  taking  a  small  bag  from  his 
pocket,  and  laying  it  on  the  bed,  by  the  deacon's  side. 
"  The  pieces  are  all  of  gold,  and  there  are  just  one  hundred 
and  forty-three  of  them. — Heavy  doubloons,  it  is  true,  and 
I  dare  say  well  worth  their  sixteen  dollars  each." 

The  deacon  gave  a  gulp,  as  if  gasping  for  breath,  at  the 
same  time  that  he  clutched  the  bag.  The  next  instant  he 
was  dead  ;  and  there  is  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  de- 
mons who  had  watched  him,  and  encouraged  him  in  his 
besetting  sin,  laughed  at  his  consummation  of  their  ma- 
lignant arts  !  If  angels  in  heaven  did  not  mourn  at  this 
characteristic  departure  of  a  frail  spirit  from  its  earthly 
tenement,  one  who  had  many  of  their  qualities  did.  Heavy 
had  been  the  load  on  Mary  Pratt's  heart,  at  the  previous 
display  of  her  uncle's  weakness,  and  profound  was  now  her 
grief  at  his  having  made  such  an  end. 


380  THE   SEA    L/OWS. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

"4th  Cit.  We'll  hear  the  will :  Read  it,  Mark  Antony. 
Cit.   The  will,  the  will ;  we  will  hear  Caesar's  will. 
Ant.   Have  patience,  gentle  friends,  I  must  not  read  it ; 
It  is  not  meet  you  know  how  Caesar  loved  you." — Jzilius  Ccesar. 

THERE  is  usually  great  haste,  in  this  country,  in  getting 
rid  of  the  dead.  In  no  other  part  of  the  world,  with  which 
we  are  acquainted,  are  funerals  so  simple,  or  so  touching ; 
placing  the  judgment  and  sins  which  lead  to  it,  in  a  far 
more  conspicuous  light  than  rank,  or  riches,  or  personal 
merits.  Scarfs  and  gloves  are  given  in  town,  and  gloves  in 
the  country,  though  scarfs  are  rare  ;  but,  beyond  these,  and 
the  pall,  and  the  hearse,  and  the  weeping  friends,  an  Ameri- 
can funeral  is  a  very  unpretending  procession  of  persons 
in  their  best  attire  ;  on  foot,  when  the  distance  is  short ;  in 
carriages,  in  wagons,  and  on  horseback,  when  the  graVe  is 
far  from  the  dwelling.  There  is,  however,  one  feature  con- 
nected with  a  death  in  this  country,  that  we  could  gladly 
see  altered.  It  is  the  almost  indecent  haste,  which  so 
generally  prevails,  to  get  rid  of  the  dead.  Doubtless  the 
climate  has  had  an  effect  in  establishing  this  custom  ;  but 
the  climate,  in  no  means,  exacts  the  precipitancy  that  is 
usually  practised. 

As  there  were  so  many  friends  from  a  distance  present, 
some  of  whom  took  the  control  of  affairs,  Mary  shrinking 
back  into  herself,  with  a  timidity  natural  to  her  sex  and 
years,  the  moment  her  care  could  no  longer  serve  her 
uncle,  the  funeral  of  the  deacon  took  place  the  day  after 
that  of  his  death.  It  was  the  solemn  and  simple  ceremony 
of  the  country.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  conceived  that  he 
ought  to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  the  extinguish- 
ment of  this  "  bright  and  shining  light,"  and  the  body  was 
carried  to  the  meeting-house,  where  the  whole  congregation 
assembled,  it  being  the  Sabbath.  We  cannot  say  much  for 
the  discourse,  which  had  already  served  as  eulogiums  on 
two  or  three  other  deacons,  with  a  simple  substitution  of 
names.  In  few  things  are  the  credulous  more  imposed  on 
than  in  this  article  of  sermons.  A  clergyman  shall  preach 
the  workings  of  other  men's  brains  for  years,  and  not  one 
of  his  hearers  detect  the  imposition,  purely  on  account  of 
the  confiding  credit  it  is  customary  to  yield  to  the  pulpit 


THE   SKA    LIO.YS.  381 

In  this  respect,  preaching  is  very  much  like  reviewing, — 
the  listener,  or  the  reader,  being  too  complaisant  to  see 
through  the  great  standing  mystifications  of  either.  Yet 
preaching  is  a  work  of  high  importance  to  men,  and  one 
that  doubtless  accomplishes  great  good,  more  especially 
when  the  life  of  the  preacher  corresponds  with  his  doctrine  ; 
and  even  reviewing,  though  infinitely  of  less  moment, 
might  be  made  a  very  useful  art,  in  the  hands  of  upright, 
independent,  intelligent,  and  learned  men.  But  nothing 
in  this  world  is  as  it  should  be,  and  centuries  will  probably 
roll  over  it  ere  the  "  good  time  "  shall  really  come  ! 

The  day  of  the  funeral  being  the  Sabbath,  nothing  that 
touched  on  business  was  referred  to.  On  the  following 
morning,  however,  "  the  friends  "  assembled  early  in  the 
parlor,  and  an  excuse  for  being  a  little  pressing  was  made, 
on  the  ground  that  so  many  present  had  so  far  to  go.  The 
deacon  had  probably  made  a  remove  much  more  distant 
than  any  that  awaited  his  relatives. 

"  It  is  right  to  look  a  little  into  the  deacon's  matters  be- 
fore we  separate,"  said  Mr.  Job  Pratt,  who,  if  he  had  the 
name,  had  not  the  patience  of  him  of  old,  "  in  order  to 
save  trouble  and  hard  feelings.  Among  relatives  and 
friends  there  should  be  nothing  but  confidence  and  affec- 
tion, and  Lam  sure  I  have  no  other  sentiments  toward  any 
here.  I  suppose" — all  Mr.  Job  Pratt  knew,  was  ever  on 
a  supposition — "  I  suppose  I  am  the  proper  person  to  ad- 
minister to  the  deacon's  property,  though  I  don't  wish  to  do 
it,  if  there's  the  least  objection." 

Every  one  assented  that  he  was  the  most  proper  person, 
for  all  knew  he  was  the  individual  the  surrogate  would  be 
the  most  likely  to  appoint. 

"  I  have  never  set  down  ,'the  deacon's  property  as  any- 
thing like  what  common  report  makes  it,"  resumed  Mr. 
Job  Pratt;  "though  I  do  suppose  it  will  fully  reach  ten 
thousand  dollars." 

"  La !  "  exclaimed  a  female  cousin,  and  a  widow,  who 
had  expectations  of  her  own,  "  I'd  always  thought  Deacon 
Pratt  worth  forty  or  fifty  thousand  dollars  !  Ten  thousand 
dollars  won't  make  much  for  each  for  us,  divided  up 
among  so  many  folks  !  " 

"The  division  will  not  be  so  very  great,  Mrs.  Martin," 
returned  Mr.  Job,  "  as  it  will  be  confined  to  the  next  of 
kin  and  their  representatives.  Unless  a  will  should  be 
found — and,  by  all  I  can  learn,  there  is  none  " — emphasiz- 
ing the  last  word  with  point — "unless  a  will  be  found,  the 


382  THE   SEA    LIO.VS. 

whole  estate,  real  and  personal,  must  be  divided  into  just 
five  shares,  which,  accordin'  to  my  calculation,  would 
make  about  two  thousand  dollars  a  share.  No  great 
fortin',  to  be  sure,  though  a  comfortable  addition  to  small 
means.  The  deacon  was  cltiss  (Anglice,  close)  ;  yes,  he 
was  cluss — all  the  Pratts  are  a  little  given  to  be  cluss  ;  but 
I  don't  know  that  they  are  any  the  worse  for  it.  It  is  well 
to  be  curful  (careful)  of  one's  means,  which  are  a  trust 
given  to  us  by  Divine  Providence." 

In  this  manner  did  Mr.  Job  Pratt  often  quiet  his  con- 
science for  being  as  "  curful "  of  his  own  as  of  other  per- 
son's assets.  Divine  Providence,  according  to  his  moral- 
ity, made  it  as  much  a  duty  to  transfer  the  dollar  that  was 
in  his  neighbor's  pocket  to  his  own,  as  to  watch  it  vigi- 
lantly after  the  transposition  had  been  effected. 

"A  body  should  be  curful,  as  you  say,  sir,"  returned 
the  Widow  Martin;  "and  for  that  reason  I  should  like  to 
know  if  there  isn't  a  will.  I  know  the  deacon  set  store  by 
me,  and  I  can  hardly  think  he  has  departed  for  another 
world  without  bethinking  him  of  his  cousin  Jenny,  and  of 
her  widowhood." 

"  I'm  afraid  he  has,  Mrs.  Martin — really  afraid  he  has.  I 
can  hear  of  no  will.  The  doctor  says  he  doubts  if  the  dea- 
con could  ever  muster  courage  to  write  anything  about 
his  own  death,  and  that  he  has  never  heard  of  any  will. 
I  understand  Mary,  that  she  has  no  knowledge  of  any  will, 
and  I  do  not  know  where  else  to  turn  in  order  to  inquire. 
Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  thinks  there  is  a  will,  I  ought  to  say." 

"There  must  be  a  will,"  returned  the  parson,  who  was 
on  the  ground  again  early,  and  on  this  very  errand  ;  "  I 
feel  certain  of  that  from  the  many  conversations  I  have 
held  with  the  deceased.  It  is  not  a  month  since  I  spoke 
to  him  of  divers  repairs  that  were  necessary  to  each  and 
all  of  the  parish  buildings,  including  the  parsonage.  He 
agreed  to  every  word  I  said — admitted  that  we  could  not 
get  on  another  winter  without  a  new  horse-shed  ;  and  that 
the  east  end  of  the  parsonage  ought  to  be  shingled  this 
coming  summer." 

"  All  of  which  may  be  very  true,  parson,  without  the 
deacon's  making  a  will,"  quietly,  and  we  may  now  add 
patiently,  observed  Mr.  Job. 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  returned  the  minister,  with  a  warmth 
that  might  have  been  deemed  indiscreet,  did  it  not  relate 
to  the  horse-shed,  the  parsonage,  and  the  meeting-house, 
all  of  which  were  public  property,  rather  than  to  anything 


THE   SEA    Z/aVS,  383 

in  which  he  had  a  more  direct  legal  interest.  "A  pious 
member  of  the  church  would  hardly  hold  out  the  hopes 
that  Deacon  Pratt  has  held  out  to  me  for  more  than  two 
years,  without  meaning  to  make  his  words  good  in  the  end. 
I  think  all  will  agree  with  me  in  thai-opinion." 

"  Did  the  deacon,  then,  go  so  far  as  to  promise  to  do 
anything?"  asked  Mr.  Job,  a  little  timidly,  for  he  was  by- 
no  means  sure  the  answer  might  not  be  in  the  affirmative, 
in  which  case  he  anticipated  the  worst. 

"  Perhaps  not,"  answered  Minister  Whittle,  too  consci- 
entious to  tell  a  downright  lie,  though  sorely  tempted  so 
to  do.  "  But  a  man  may  promise  indirectly  as  well  as 
directly.  When  I  have  a  thing  much  at  heart,  and  con- 
verse often  about  it  with  a  person  who  can  grant  all  I 
wish,  and  that  person  listens  as  attentively  as  I  could  wish 
him  to  do,  I  regard  that  as  a  promise,  and,  in  church  mat- 
ters, one  of  a  very  solemn  nature." 

All  the  Jesuits  in  the  world  do  not  get  their  educations 
at  Rome,  or  acknowledge  Ignatius  Loyola  as  the  great 
founder  of  their  order.  Some  are  to  be  found  who  have 
never  made  a  public  profession  of  their  faith  and  zeal, 
have  never  assumed  the  tonsure,  or  taken  the  vows. 

"  That's  as  folks  think,"  quietly  returned  Mr.  Job  Pratt, 
though  he  smiled  in  a  manner  so  significant  as  to  cause 
Mrs.  Martin  a  new  qualm,  as  she  grew  more  and  more  ap- 
prehensive that  the  property  was,  after  all,  to  go  by  the 
distribution  law.  "Some  folks  think  a  promise  ought  to 
be  expressed,  while  others  think  it  may  be  understood. 
The  law,  I  believe,  commonly  looks  for  the  direct  expres- 
sion of  any  binding  promise ;  and,  in  matters  of  this  sort, 
one  made  in  writing,  too,  and  that  under  a  seal,  and  before 
three  responsible  witnesses." 

"  I  wish  a  full  inquiry  might  be  made,  to  ascertain  if 
there  be  no  will,"  put  in  the  minister,  anxiously. 

"  I'm  quite  willing  so  to  do,"  returned  Mr.  Job,  whose 
confidence  and  moral  courage  increased  each  instant. 
"  Quite  willing  ;  and  am  rather  anxious  for  it,  if  I  could 
only  see  where  to  go  to  inquire." 

"  Does  no  one  present  know  of  any  will  made  by  the  de- 
ceased ?"  demanded  Minister  Whittle,  authoritatively. 

A  dead  silence  succeeded  to  the  question.  Eye  met  eye, 
and  there  was  g^reat  disappointment  among  the  numerous 
collaterals  present,  including  all  those  who  did  not  come 
in  as  next  of  kin,  or  as  their  direct  representatives.  But 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle  had  been  too  long  and  too  keenly  on 


384  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

the  scent  of  a  legacy,  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  hunt,  just  as 
he  believed  the  game  was  coming  in  sight. 

"  It  might  be  well  to  question  each  near  relative  directly," 
he  added.  "Mr.  Job  Pratt,  doyou  know  nothing  of  any  will  ?" 

"  Nothing  whatever.  At  one  time  I  did  think  the  dea- 
con meant  to  make  his  testament  ;  but  I  conclude  that  he 
must  have  changed  his  mind." 

"And  you,  Mrs.  Thomas,"  turning  to  the  sister — "  as 
next  of  kin,  I  make  the  same  inquiry  of  you  ?" 

"  I  once  talked  with  brother  about  it,"  answered  this 
relative,  who  was  working  away  in  a  rocking-chair  as  if 
she  thought  the  earth  might  stop  in  its  orbit,  if  she  her- 
self ceased  to  keep  in  motion  ;  "  but  he  gave  me  no  satis- 
factory answer — that  is,  nothin'  that  I  call  satisfactory. 
Had  he  told  me  he  had  made  a  will,  and  given  me  a  full 
shear  (share),  I  should  have  been  content ;  or  had  he  told 
me  that  he  had  not  made  a  will,  and  that  the  law  would 
give  me  a  full  shear,  I  should  have  been  content.  I  look 
upon  myself  as  a  person  easily  satisfied." 

This  was  being  explicit,  and  left  little  more  to  be  ob- 
tained from  the  deacon's  beloved  and  only  surviving  sister. 

"And  you,  Mary  ;  do  you  know  anything  of  a  will  made 
by  your  uncle  ?" 

Mary  shook  her  head  ;  but  there  was  no  smile  on  her 
features,  for  the  scene  was  unpleasant  to  her. 

"  Then  no  one  present  knows  of  any  paper  that  the  dea- 
con left  specially  to  be  opened  after  his  death  ?  "  demand- 
ed Rev.  Mr.  Whittle,  putting  the  general  question  pretty 
much  at  random. 

"A  paper!"  cried  Mary,  hastily.  "Yes,  I  know  some- 
thing of  a  paper — I  thought  you  spoke  of  a  will." 

"A  will  is  commonly  written  on  paper,  nowadays,  Miss 
Mary — but,  you  have  a  paper  V 

"  Uncle  gave  me  a  paper,  and  told  me  to  keep  it  till  Ros- 
well  Gardiner  came  back  ;  and,  if  he  himself  should  not 
then  be  living,  to  give  it  to  him."  The  color  now  mounted 
to  the  very  temples  of  the  pretty  girl,  and  she  seemed  to 
speak  with  greater  deliberation  and  care.  "  As  I  was  to 
give  the  paper  to  Roswell,  I  have  always  thought  it  related 
to  him.  My  uncle  spoke  of  it  to  me  as  lately  as  the  day  of 
his  death." 

4 'That's  the  will,  beyond  a  doubt!"  cried  Rev.  Mr. 
Whittle,  with  more  exultation  than  became  his  profession 
and  professions.  "  Do  you  not  think  this  may  be  Deacon 
Pratt's  will,  Miss  Mary  ?  " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  385 

Now  Mary  had  never  thought  any  such  thing.  She 
knew  that  her  uncle  much  wished  her  to  marry  Roswell, 
and  had  all  along  fancied  that  the  paper  she  held,  which 
indeed  was  contained  in  an  envelope  addressed  to  her 
lover,  contained  some  expression  of  his  wishes  on  this  to 
her  the  most  interesting  of  all  subjects,  and  nothing  else. 
Mary  Pratt  thought  very  little  of  her  uncle's  property,  and 
still  less  of  its  future  disposition,  while  she  thought  a  great 
deal  of  Roswell  Gardiner  and  of  his  suit.  It  was,  conse- 
quently, the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  she 
should  have  fallen  into  some  such  error  as  this.  But,  now 
that  the  subject  was  brought  to  her  mind  in  this  new  light, 
she  arose,  went  to  her  own  room,  and  soon  reappeared 
with  the  paper  in  her  hand.  Both  Mr.  Job  Pratt  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Whittle  offered  to  relieve  her  of  the  burden  ;  and  the 
former,  by  a  pretty  decided  movement,  did  actually  suc- 
ceed in  getting  possession  of  the  documents.  The  papers 
were  done  up  in  the  form  of  a  large  business  letter,  which 
was  duly  sealed  with  wax,  and  addressed  to  "  Mr.  Roswell 
Gardiner,  Master  of  the  Schooner  Sea  Lion,  now  absent 
on  a  voyage."  The  superscription  was  read  aloud,  a  little 
under  the  influence  of  surprise  ;  notwithstanding  which, 
Mr.  Job  Pratt  was  very  coolly  proceeding  to  open  the 
packet,  precisely  as  if  it  had  been  addressed  to  himself. 
In  this  decided  step,  Mrs.  Martin,  and  Mrs.  Thomas,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Whittle,  might  be  set  down  as  accessories  before 
the  act ;  for  each  approached  ;  and  so  eager  were  the  two 
women  that  they  actually  assisted  in  breaking  the  seal. 

"  If  that  letter  is  addressed  to  me,"  said  Roswell  Gardi- 
ner, with  firmness  and  authority,  "  I  claim  the  right  to 
open  it  myself.  It  is  unusual  for  those  to  whom  a  letter  is 
not  addressed  to  assume  this  office." 

"  But,  it  comes  from  Deacon  Pratt,"  cried  the  widow 
Martin,  "and  may  contain  his  will."  • 

"  In  which  case,  a  body  would  think  I  have  some  rights 
concerned,"  said  Mr.  Job  Pratt,  a  little  more  coolly,  but 
with  manifest  doubts. 

"  Sartain  !  "  put  in  Mrs.  Thomas.  "  Brothers  and  sisters, 
and  even  cousins,  come  before  strangers,  any  day.  Here 
we  are,  a  brother  and  sister  of  the  deacon,  and  we  ought 
to  have  a  right  to  read  his  letters." 

All  this  time  Roswell  had  stood  with  an  extended  arm, 
and  an  eye  that  caused  Mr.  Job  Pratt  to  control  his  impa- 
tience. Mary  advanced  close  to  his  side,  as  if  to  sustain 
him,  but  she  said  nothing. 


336  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

"There  is  a  law,  with  severe  penalties,  against  knowing, 
jy  opening  a  letter  addressed  to  another,"  resumed  Roswell 
steadily  ;  "  and  it  shall  be  enforced  against  any  one  who 
shall  presume  to  open  one  of  mine.  If  that  letter  has  my 
address,  sir,  I  demand  it ;  and  I  will  have  it,  at  every 
hazard." 

Roswell  advanced  a  step  nearer  Mr.  Job  Pratt,  and  the 
letter  was  reluctantly  yielded  ;  though  not  until  the  widow 
Martin  had  made  a  nervous  but  abortive  snatch  at  it. 

"  At  any  rate,  it  ought  to  be  opened  in  our  presence," 
put  in  this  woman,  "  that  we  may  see  what  is  in  it." 

"  And  by  what  right,  ma'am  ?  Have  I  not  the  privilege 
of  others,  to  read  my  own  letters  when  and  where  I  please  ? 
If  the  contents  of  this,  however,  do  really  relate  to  the  late 
Deacon  Pratt's  property,  I  am  quite  willing  they  should 
be  made  known.  There  is  nothing  on  this  superscription 
to  tell  me  to  open  the  packet  in  the  presence  of  witnesses  ; 
but,  under  all  the  circumstances,  I  prefer  it  should  be 
done." 

Hereupon  Roswell  proceeded  deliberately  to  look  into 
the  package.  The  seal  was  already  broken,  and  he  ex- 
hibited it  in  that  state  to  all  in  the  room,  with  a  meaning 
smile,  after  which  he  brought  to  light  and  opened  some 
written  instrument,  that  was  engrossed  on  a  single  sheet  of 
foolscap,  and  had  the  names  of  several  witnesses  at  its 
bottom. 

"Ay,  ay,  that's  it,"  said  Baiting  Joe,  for  the  room  was 
crowded  with  all  sorts  of  people  ;  "  that's  the  dockerment. 
I  know'd  it  as  soon  as  I  laid  eyes  on  it ! " 

"  And  what  do  you  know  about  it,  Josy  ?"  demanded  the 
widow,  eagerly.  "  Cousin  Job,  this  man  may  turn  out  a 
n?ost  important  and  considerable  witness  ! " 

"  What  do  I  know,  Mrs.  Martin  ?  Why,  I  seed  the 
deacon  sign  for  the  seals,  and  execute.  As  soon  as  I  heard 
Squire  Craft,  who  was  down  here  from  Riverhead  on  that 
'ere  very  business,  talk  so  much  about  seals,  I  know'd 
Captain  Gar'ner  must  have  suthin'  to  do  with  the  matter. 
The  deacon's  very  heart  was  in  the  schooner  and  hei 
v'y'ge,  and  I  think  it  was  the  craft  that  finished  him,  in  the 
end." 

"Won't  that  set  aside  a  codicil,  cousin  Job,  if  so  be 
the  deacon  has  r'ally  codicilled  off  Captain  Gar'ner  and 
Mary? " 

"  We  shall  see,  we  shall  see.  So  you  was  present,  Josy, 
at  the  making  of  a  will  ?  " 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  387 

"  Sartain — and  was  a  witness  to  the  insterment,  as  the 
squire  called  it.  I  s'pose  he  sent  for  me  to  be  a  witness 
as  I  am  some  acquainted  with  the  sealin'  business,  hav- 
ing made  two  v'y'ges  out  of  Stunnin'tun,  many  years  since. 
Ay,  ay  ;  that's  the  insterment,  and  pretty  well  fright- 
ened was  the  deacon  when  he  put  his  name  to  it,  I  can 
tell  you  ! " 

"Frightened!"  echoed  the  brother — "  that's  ag'in  law, 
at  any  rate.  The  instrument  that  a  man  signs  because  he's 
frightened,  is  no  instrument  at  all,  in  law.  As  respects  a 
will,  it  is  what  we  justices  of  the  peace  call  'dies  non,' 
or,  don't  die  :  that  is,  in  law." 

"Can  that  be  so,  Squire  Job?"  asked  the  sister,  who 
had  said  but  little  hitherto,  but  had  thought  all  the  more. 

"  Yes,  that's  Latin,  I  s'pose,  and  good  Latin,  ttfo,  they  tell 
me.  A  man  may  be  dead  in  the  flesh,  but  living  in  law." 

"La!  how  cur'ous!  Law  is  a  wonderful  thing,  to  them 
that  understands  it." 

The  worthy  Mrs.  Thomas  expressed  a  much  more  pro- 
found sentiment  than  that  of  which  she  was  probably 
aware  herself.  Law  is  a  wonderful  thing,  and  most  won- 
derful is  he  who  can  tell  what  it  is  to-day,  or  is  likely 
to  be  to-morrow.  The  law  of  testamentary  devises,  in 
particular,  has  more  than  the  usual  uncertainty,  the  great 
interest  that  is  taken  by  the  community  in  the  large  es- 
tates of  certain  individuals  who  are  placed  without  the 
ordinary  social  categories  by  the  magnitude  of  their  fort- 
unes, preventing  anything  from  becoming  absolutely 
settled,  as  respects  them.  In  Turkey,  and  in  America, 
the  possession  of  great  wealth  is  very  apt  to  ruin  their 
possessors  ;  proscription,  in  some  form  or  other,  being 
pretty  certain  to  be  the  consequences.  In  Turkey,  such 
has  long  and  openly  been  the  fact,  the  bow-string  usually 
lying  at  the  side  of  the  strong  box  ;  but,  in  this  country, 
the  system  is  in  its  infancy,  though  advancing  toward  ma- 
turity with  giant  strides.  Twenty  years  more,  resembling 
the  twenty  that  are  just  past,  in  which  the  seed  recently 
sown  broadcast  shall  have  time  to  reach  maturity,  and,  in 
our  poor  opinion,  the  great  work  of  demoralization,  in  this 
important  particular,  will  be  achieved.  We  are  much 
afraid  that  the  boasted  progress,  of  which  we  hear  so  much, 
will  resemble  the  act  of  the  man  who  fancied  he  could 
teach  his  horse  to  live  without  food — just  as  he  believed 
the  poor  beast  was  perfect,  it  died  of  inanition  ! 

Rosvvell  read  Baiting  Joe's  "  insterment  "  twice,  and  then 


38S  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

he  placed  it,  with  manly  tenderness,  in  the  hands  of  Mary. 
The  girl  read  the  document,  too,  tears  starting  to  her  eyes  ; 
but  a  bright  flush  suffused  her  face,  as  she  returned  the 
will  to  her  lover. 

"Ah  !  do  not  read  it  now,  Roswell,"  she  said,  in  an  un- 
dertone ;  but  the  stillness  and  expectation  were  so  pro- 
found, that  every  syllable  she  uttered  was  heard  by  all  in 
the  room. 

"And  why  not  read  it  now,  Miss  Mary!"  cried  the 
Widow  Martin.  "Methinks  noiv  is  the  proper  time  to 
read  it.  If  I'm  to  be  codicilled  out  of  that  will,  I  want  to 
know  it." 

"  It  is  better,  in  every  respect,  that  the  company  present 
should  know  all  that  is  to  be  known,  at  once,"  observed 
Mr.  Job  Pratt.  "  Before  the  will  is  read,  if  that  be  the 
will,  Captain  Gar'ner " 

"  It  is  the  will  of  the  late  Deacon  Pratt,  duly  signed, 
sealed,  and  witnessed,  I  believe,  sir." 

"  One  word  more,  then,  before  it  is  read.  I  think  you 
said,  Josy.  that  the  deceased  was  frightened  when  he 
signed  that  will  ?  I  do  not  express  any  opinion  until  I 
hear  the  will  ;  perhaps  a'ter  it  is  read,  I  shall  think  or  say 
nothin'  about  this  fright  ;  though  the  instrument  that  a 
man  signs  because  he  is  frightened,  if  the  fright  be  what 
I  call  a  legal  fright,  is  no  instrument  at  all." 

"  But  such  was  not  the  deacon's  case,  Squire  Job,"  put  in 
Baiting  Joe,  at  once.  "  He  did  not  sign  the  insterment 
because  he  was  frightened,  but  was  frightened  because  he 
signed  the  insterment.  Let  the  boat  go  right  eend  fore- 
most, squire." 

"  Read  the  will,  Captain  Gar'ner,  if  you  have  it,"  said 
Mr.  Job  Pratt,  with  decision.  "  It  is  proper  that  we  should 
know  who  is  executor.  Friends,  will  you  be  silent  for  a 
moment  ?" 

Amid  a  death-like  stillness,  Roswell  Gardiner  now  read 
as  follows : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  amen.  I,  Ichabod  Pratt,  of  the 
town  of  Southold,  and  county  of  Suffolk,  and  State  of  New 
York,  being  of  failing  bodily  health,  but  of  sound  mind,  do 
make  and  declare  this  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament. 

"I  bequeath  to  my  niece,  Mary  Pratt,  only  child  of  my 
late  brother,  Israel  Pratt,  all  my  real  estate,  whatsoever  it 
may  be  and  wheresoever  situate,  to  be  held  by  her,  her 
heirs,  and  assigns,  forever,  in  fee. 

"  I  bequeath  to  my  brother,  Job  Pratt,  any  horse  of  whicli 


THE   SEA    LIOKS.  389 

I  shall  die  possessed,  to  be  chosen  by  himself,  as  a  com- 
pensation for  the  injury  inflicted  on  a  horse  of  his,  while 
in  my  use. 

"  I  bequeath  to  my  sister,  Jane  Thomas,  the  large  looking- 
glass  that  is  hanging  up  in  the  east  bedroom  of  my  house, 
and  which  was  once  the  property  of  our  beloved  mother. 

"  I  bequeath  to  the  widow  Catherine  Martin,  my  cousin, 
the  big  pin-cushion  in  the  said  east  chamber,  which  she 
used  so  much  to  praise  and  admire. 

"  I  bequeath  to  my  said  niece,  Mary  Pratt,  the  only  child 
of  my  late  brother,  Israel  Pratt,  aforesaid,  all  of  my  per- 
sonal estate,  whether  in  possession  or  existing  in  equity, 
including  money  at  use,  vessels,  stock  on  farm,  all  other 
sorts  of  stock,  furniture,  wearing  apparel,  book-debts,  money 
in  hand,  and  all  sorts  of  personal  property  whatever. 

"I  nominate  and  appoint  Roswell  Gardiner,  now  absent 
on  a  sealing  voyage,  in  my  employment,  as  the  sole  exec- 
utor of  this  my  last  will,  provided  he  return  home  within 
six  months  of  my  decease  ;  and  should  he  not  return  home 
within  the  said  six  montns,  then  I  appoint  my  above-men- 
tioned niece  and  heiress,  Mary  Pratt,  the  sole  executrix  of 
this  my  will. 

"  I  earnestly  advise  my  said  niece,  Mary  Pratt,  to  marry 
the  said  Roswell  Gardiner  ;  but  I  annex  no  conditions 
whatever  to  this  advice,  wishing  to  leave  my  adopted 
daughter  free  to  do  as  she  may  think  best." 

The  instrument  was,  in  all  respects,  duly  executed,  and 
there  could  not  be  a  doubt  of  its  entire  validity.  Mary  felt 
a  little  bewildered,  as  well  as  greatly  embarrassed.  So 
perfectly  disinterested  had  been  all  her  care  of  her  uncle, 
and  so  humble  her  wishes,  that  she  did  not  for  some  time 
regard  herself  as  the  owner  of  a  property  that  she  had  all 
her  life  been  accustomed  to  consider  as  a  part  of  her  late 
uncle.  The  heirs  expectant,  "  a'ter  reading  the  insterment," 
as  Baiting  Joe  told  his  cronies,  when  he  related  the  cir- 
cumstances over  a  mug  of  cider  that  evening,  "  fore  and 
aft,  and  overhauling  it  from  truck  to  keelson,  give  the 
matter  up,  as  a  bad  job.  They  couldn't  make  nawthin' 
out  of  oppersition,"  continued  Joe,  "and  so  they  took 
the  horse,  and  the  looking-glass,  and  the  pin-cushion, 
and  cleared  out  with  their  cargo.  You  couldn't  get  one 
of  that  breed  to  leave  as  much  as  a  pin  behind,  to  which 
he  thought  the  law  would  give  him  a  right.  Squire  Job 
went  off  very  unwillingly  ;  for  so  strong  was  his  belief 
in  his  claim,  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  as  he  told 


390  THE   SEA    LIONS. 

me  himself,  to  break  up  the  north  meadow,  and  put  it 
in  corn  this  coming  season." 

"  They  say  that  Minister  Whittle  took  it  very  hard  that 
nawthin'  was  said  about  him,  or  about  meetin',  in  the  dea- 
con's will,"  observed  Jake  Davis,  one  of  Baiting  Joe's 
cronies. 

"  That  he  did ;  and  he  tuck  it  so  hard  that  everybody 
allows  that  the  two  sermons  .he  preached  the  next  Sabba' 
day  to  be  the  very  two  worst  he  ever  did  preach." 

"They  must  have  been  pretty  bad,  then,"  quaintly  ob- 
served Davis;  "  I've  long  set  down  Minister  Whittle's  dis- 
courses as  being  a  leetle  the  worst  going,  when  you  give 
him  a  chance." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  relate  any  more  of  this  dialogue,  nor 
should  we  have  given  the  little  we  have,  did  it  not  virtu- 
ally explain  what  actually  occurred  on  the  publication  of 
the  contents  of  the  will.  Roswell  met  with  no  opposition 
in  proving  the  instrument ;  and  the  day  after  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  act  as  executor  he  was  married  to  Mary  Pratt, 
and  became  tenant,  by  the  courtesy,  to  all  her  real  estate  ; 
such  being  the  law  then,  though  it  is  so  no  longer.  Now,  a 
man  and  wife  may  have  a  very  pretty  family  quarrel  about 
the  ownership  of  a  dozen  teaspoons,  and  the  last,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  may  order  the  first  out  of  one  of  her  rocking- 
chairs,  if  she  sees  fit !  Surely  domestic  peace  is  not  so 
trifling  a  matter  that  the  law  should  seek  to  add  new  sub- 
jects of  strife  to  the  many  that  seem  to  be  nearly  insepa- 
rable from  the  married  state. 

Let  this  be  as  it  may,  no  such  law  existed  when  Rosweli 
Gardiner  and  Mary  Pratt  became  man  and  wife.  One  of 
the  first  acts  of  the  happy  young  couple,  after  they  were 
united,  was  to  make  a  suitable  disposition  of  the  money 
found  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  on  the  so-much-talked- 
of  key.  Its  amount  was  a  little  more  than  two  thousand 
dollars  ;  the  pirate  who  made  the  revelation  to  Daggett 
having,  in  all  probability,  been  ignorant  himself  of  the  real 
sum  that  had  been  thus  secreted.  By  a  specific  bargain 
with  the  crew,  all  this  money  belonged  to  the  deacon ;  and, 
consequently,  it  had  descended  to  his  niece,  and  through  her 
was  now  legally  the  property  of  Roswell.  The  young  man 
was  not  altogether  free  from  scruples  about  using  money 
that  had  been  originally  taken  as  booty  by  pirates,  and  his 
conscientious  wife  had  still  greater  objections.  After  con- 
ferring together  on  the  subject,  however,  and  seeing  the  im- 
possibility of  restoring  the  gold  to  those  from  whom  it  had 


THE   SEA    LIONS.  391 

been  forced  in  the  first  place,  the  doubloons  were  distrib- 
uted among  the  families  of  those  who  had  lost  their  lives 
at  Sealer's  Land.  The  shares  did  not  amount  to  much,  it 
is  true,  but  they  did  good,  and  cheered  the  hearts  of  two 
or  three  widows  and  dependent  sisters. 

Nor  did  Roswell  Gardiner's  care  for  their  welfare  stop 
here.  He  had  the  Sea  Lion  put  in  good  order,  removed 
her  decks,  raised  upon  her,  and  put  her  in  her  original  con- 
dition, and  sent  her  to  Sealer's  Land  again,  under  the  or- 
ders of  Hazard,  who  was  instructed  to  take  in  all  the  oil 
and  skins  that  had  been  left  behind,  and  to  fill  up,  if  he 
could,  without  risking  too  much  by  delay.  All  this  was  suc- 
cessfully done,  the  schooner  coming  back  after  a  very  short 
voyage,  and  quite  full.  The  money  made  by  this  highly 
successful  adventure  had  the  effect  to  console  several  of 
those  who  had  great  cause  to  regret  their  previous  losses. 

As  to  Roswell  and  Mary,  they  had  much  reason  to  be 
contented  with  their  lot.  The  deacon's  means  were  found 
to  be  much  more  considerable  than  had  been  supposed. 
When  all  was  brought  into  a  snug  state,  Roswell  found 
that  his  wife  was  worth  more  than  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
a  sum  which  constituted  wealth  on  Oyster  Pond  in  that 
day.  We  have,  however,  already  hinted  that  the  simplicity, 
and  we  fear  with  it  the  happiness,  of  the  place  has  de- 
parted. A  railroad  terminates  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  deacon's  old  residence,  bringing  with  it  the  clatter,  am- 
bition, and  rivalry  of  such  a  mode  of  travelling.  What  is 
even  worse,  the  venerable  and  expressive  name  of  "Oyster 
Pond,"  one  that  conveys  in  its  very  sound  the  ideas  of 
savory  dishes,  and  an  abundance  of  a  certain  and  a  very 
agreeable  sort,  has  been  changed  to  "  Orient."  Heaven 
save  the  mark  !  Long  Island  has  hitherto  been  famous, 
in  the  history  of  New  York,  for  the  homely  piquancy  of 
its  names,  which  usually  conveyed  a  graphic  idea  of  the 
place  indicated.  It  is  true,  " Jerusalem"  cannot  boast  of 
its  Solomon's  Temple,  nor  "  Babylon  "  of  its  Hanging  Gar- 
dens ;  but,  by  common  consent,  it  is  understood  that  these 
two  names,  and  some  half-a-dozen  more  of  the  same  quali- 
ty, are  to  be  taken  by  their  opposites. 

Roswell  Gardiner  did  not  let  Stimson  pass  out  of  his 
sight,  as  is  customary  with  seamen  when  they  quit  a  vessel. 
He  made  him  master  of  a  sloop  that  plied  between  New 
York  and  Southold,  in  which  employment  the  good  old 
man  fulfilled  his  time,  leaving  to  a  widowed  sister  who  dwelt 
with  him  the  means  of  a  comfortable  livelihood  for  life. 


302  THE   SEA    LION'S. 

The  only  bit  of  management  of  which  Mary  could  be 
accused,  was  practised  by  her  shortly  after  Stimson's  death, 
and  some  six  or  eight  years  after  her  own  marriage.  One 
of  her  school  friends,  and  a  relative,  had  married  a  person 
who  dwelt  "  west  of  the  bridge,"  as  it  is  the  custom  to  say 
of  all  the  counties  that  lie  west  of  Cayuga  Lake.  This 
person,  whose  name  was  Hight,  had  mills,  and  made  large 
quantities  of  that  excellent  flour  that  is  getting  to  enjoy 
its  merited  reputation  even  in  the  Old  World.  He  was 
disposed  to  form  a  partnership  with  Roswell,  who  sold  his 
property  and  migrated  to  the  great  West,  as  the  country 
"  west  of  the  bridge  "  was  then  termed,  though  it  is  neces- 
sary now  to  go  a  thousand  miles  farther  in  order  to  reach 
what  is  termed  ''the  western  country."  Mary  had  an  im- 
portant agency  in  bringing  about  this  migration.  She  had 
seen  certain  longings  after  the  ocean,  and  seals,  and  whales, 
in  her  husband  ;  and  did  not  consider  him  safe  so  long  as 
he  could  scent  the  odors  of  a  salt  marsh.  There  is  delight 
in  this  fragrance  that  none  can  appreciate  so  thoroughly 
as  those  who  have  enjoyed  it  in  youth  :  it  remains  as  long 
as  human  senses  retain  their  faculties.  An  increasing 
family,  however,  and  el  dorado  of  the  West,  which,  in  that 
day,  produced  wheat,  were  inducements  for  a  removal 
there,  and,  aided  by  Mary's  gentle  management,  produced 
the  desired  effect ;  and  for  more  than  twenty  years  Roswell 
Gardiner  has  been  a  very  successful  miller,  on  a  large  scale, 
in  one  of  the  western  counties  of  what  is  called  "  the  Em- 
pire State."  We  do  not  think  the  sobriquets  of  this  country 
very  happy,  in  general,  but  shall  quarrel  less  with  this  than 
with  the  phrase  of  "commercial  emporium,"  which  is 
much  as  if  one  should  say,  "  a  townish  town." 

Roswell  Gardiner  has  never  wavered  in  his  faith,  from 
the  time  when  his  feelings  were  awakened  by  the  just  view 
of  his  own  insignificance,  as  compared  to  the  power  of 
God.  He  then  learned  the  first  great  lesson  in  religious 
belief,  that  of  humility  ;  without  which  no  man  can  be 
truly  penitent,  or  truly  a  Christian.  He  no  longer  thought 
of  measuring  the  Deity  with  his  narrow  faculties,  or  of  set- 
ting up  his  blind  conclusions,  in  the  face  of  positive  reve- 
lations. He  saw  that  all  must  be  accepted,  or  none  ;  and 
there  was  too  much  evidence,  too  much  inherent  truth,  a 
morality  too  divine,  to  allow  a  mind  like  his  to  reject  the 
gospel  altogether.  With  Mary  ac  his  side,  he  has  continued 
to  worship  the  Trinity,  accepting  its  mysteries  in  an  hum- 
ble reliance  on  the  words  of  inspired  men. 


"  In  her  was  Mr.  Hardinge,  who  at  that  moment  caught  sight  of  us.'* 

— Afloat  and  Ashore,  page  49- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE 


Sea  gate 


BY 

J.   FENIMORE    COOPER 


"Home  keeping  youth  have  ever  homely  wits" 

—Two  GENTLEMEN  OF  VERONA 


PREFACE. 


THE  writer  has  published  so  much  truth  which  the  world 
has  insisted  was  fiction,  and  so  much  fiction  which  has 
been  received  as  truth,  that,  in  the  present  instance,  he  is 
resolved  to  say  nothing  on  the  subject.  Each  of  his  read- 
ers is  at  liberty  to  believe  just  as  much,  or  as  little,  of  the 
matter  here  laid  before  him,  or  her,  as  may  suit  his  or  her 
notions,  prejudices,  knowledge  of  the  world,  or  ignorance. 
If  anybody  is  disposed  to  swear  he  knows  precisely  where 
Clawbonny  is,  that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  old  Mr. 
Hardinge,  nay,  has  often  heard  him  preach — let  him  make 
his  affidavit  in  welcome.  Should  he  get  a  little  wide  of 
the  mark,  it  will  not  be  the  first  document  of  that  nature 
which  has  possessed  the  same  weakness. 

It  is  possible  that  certain  captious  persons  may  be  dis- 
posed to  inquire  into  the  cut  bono?  of  such  a  book.  The 
answer  is  this.  Everything  which  can  convey  to  the  hu- 
man mind  distinct  and  accurate  impressions  of  events,  so- 
cial facts,  professional  peculiarities,  or  past  history,  whether 
of  the  higher  or  more  familiar  character,  is  of  use.  All 
that  is  necessary  is,  that  the  pictures  should  be  true  to  nat- 
uie,  if  not  absolutely  drawn  from  living  sitters.  The 
knowledge  we  gain  by  our  looser  reading  often  becomes 
serviceable  in  modes  and  manners  little  anticipated  in  the 
moments  when  it  is  acquired. 

Perhaps  the  greater  portion  of  all  our  peculiar  opinions 
have  their  foundations  in  prejudices.  These  prejudices 
are  produced  in  consequence  of  its  being  out  of  the  power 
of  any  man  to  see,  or  know,  everything.  The  most  favored 
mortal  must  receive  far  more  than  half  of  all  that  he  learns 
on  his  faith  in  others  ;  and  it  may  aid  those  who  can  never 
be  placed  in  positions  to  judge  for  themselves  of  certain 
phases  of  men  and  things,  to  get  pictures  of  the  same, 
drawn  in  a  way  to  give  them  nearer  views  than  they  might 


4  PREFA  CE. 

otherwise  obtain.  This  is  the  greatest  benefit  of  all  light 
literature  in  general,  it  being  possible  to  render  that  which 
is  purely  fictitious  even  more  useful  than  that  which  is 
strictly  true,  by  avoiding  extravagances,  by  portraying  with 
fidelity,  and,  as  our  friend  Marble  might  say,  by  "general- 
izing "  with  discretion. 

This  country  has  undergone  many  important  changes 
since  the  commencement  of  the  present  century.  Some  of 
these  changes  have  been  for  the  better  ;  others,  we  think  out 
of  all  question,  for  the  worse.  The  last  is  a  fact  that  can  be 
known  to  the  generation  which  is  coming  into  life  by  re- 
port only,  and  these  pages  may  possibly  throw  some  little 
light  on  both  points,  in  representing  things  as  they  were. 
The  population  of  the  republic  is  probably  something  more 
than  eighteen  millions  and  a  half  to-day  ;  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred,  it  was  but  a  little 
more  than  five  millions.  In  1800,  the  population  of  New 
York  was  somewhat  less  than  six  hundred  thousand  souls  ; 
to-day  it  is  probably  a  little  less  than  two  millions  seven 
.lundred  thousand  souls.  Jn  1800,  the  town  of  New  York 
nad  sixty  thousand  inhabitants  ;  whereas,  including 
Brooklyn  and  Williamsburg,  which  then  virtually  had  no 
existence,  it  must  have  at  this  moment  quite  four  hundred 
thousand.  These  are  prodigious  numerical  changes,  that 
have  produced  changes  of  another  sort.  Although  an  in- 
crease of  numbers  does  not  necessarily  infer  an  increase  of 
high  civilization,  it  reasonably  leads  to  the  expectation  of 
great  melioration  in  the  commoner  comforts.  Such  has 
been  the  result,  and  to  those  familiar  with  facts  as  they 
now  exist,  the  difference  will  probably  be  apparent  in  these 
pages. 

Although  the  moral  changes  in  American  society  have 
not  kept  pace  with  those  that  are  purely  physical,  many 
that  are  essential  have  nevertheless  occurred.  Of  all  the 
British  possessions  on  this  continent,  New  York,  after  its 
conquest  from  the  Dutch,  received  most  of  the  social  or- 
ganization of  the  mother  country.  Under  the  Dutch  even, 
it  had  some  of  these  characteristic  peculiarities  in  its 
patrons  ;  the  lords  of  the  manor  of  the  New  Netherlands. 
Some  of  the  southern  colonies,  it  is  true,  had  their  caciques 
and  other  semi-feudal  and  semi-savage  noblesse,  but  the 
system  was  of  short  continuance  ;  the  peculiarities  of  that 
section  of  the  country  arising  principally  from  the  exist- 
ence of  domestic  slavery  on  an  extended  scale.  With  New 
York  it  was  different.  A  conquered  colony,  the  mothe.- 


PREFACE.  $ 

country  left  the  impression  of  its  own  institutions  more 
deeply  engraved  than  on  any  of  the  settlements  that  were 
commenced  by  grants  to  proprietors,  or  under  charters 
from  the  crown.  It  was  strictly  a  royal  colony,  and  so  con- 
tinued to  be,  down  to  the  hour  of  separation.  The  social 
consequences  of  this  state  of  things  were  to  be  traced  in 
her  habits  until  the  current  of  immigration  became  so 
strong  as  to  bring  with  it  those  that  were  conflicting,  if 
not  absolutely  antagonist.  The  influence  of  these  two 
sources  of  thought  is  still  obvious  to  the  reflecting,  giving 
rise  to  a  double  set  of  social  opinions  ;  one  of  which  bears 
all  the  characteristics  of  its  New  England  and  puritanical 
origin,  while  the  other  may  be  said  to  come  of  the  usages 
and  notions  of  the  Middle  States  proper. 

This  is  said  in  anticipation  of  certain  strictures  that  will 
be  likely  to  follow  some  of  the  incidents  of  our  story,  it 
not  being  always  deemed  an  essential  in  an  American  critic 
that  he  should  understand  his  subject.  Too  many  of  them, 
indeed,  justify  the  retort  of  the  man  who  derided  the  claims 
to  knowledge  of  life  set  up  by  a  neighbor,  that  "  had  been 
to  meetin'  and  had  been  to  mill."  We  can  all  obtain  some 
notions  of  the  portion  of  a  subject  that  is  placed  immedi- 
ately before  our  eyes  ;  the  difficulty  is  to  understand  that 
which  we  have  no  means  of  studying. 

On  the  subject  of  the  nautical  incidents  of  this  book,  we 
have  endeavored  to  be  as  exact  as  our  authorities  will  allow. 
We  are  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  writing  what  the 
world  thinks,  rather  than  what  is  true,  and  are  not  con- 
scious of  any  very  palpable  errors  of  this  nature. 

The  author — perhaps  editor  would  be  the  better  word — 
does  not  feel  himself  responsible  for  all  the  notions  ad- 
vanced by  the  hero  of  this  tale,  and  it  may  be  as  well  to 
say  as  much.  That  one  born  in  the  Revolution  should 
think  differently  from  the  men  of  the  present  day,  in  a 
hundred  things,  is  to  be  expected.  It  is  in  just  this  differ- 
ence of  opinion  that  the  lessons  of  the  book  are  to  be 
found. 


AFLOAT    AND    ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"  And  I — my  joy  of  life  is  fled, 

My  spirit's  power,  my  bosom's  glow; 
The  raven  locks  that  grac'd  my  head, 
Wave  in  a  wreath  of  snow  ! 
And  where  the  star  of  youth  arose 
I  deem'd  life' s  lingering  ray  should  close  ; 
And  those  lov'd  trees  my  tomb  o'ershade, 
Beneath  whose  arching  bowers  my  childhood  play' d." 

— MRS.  HEMANS. 

I  WAS  born  in  a  valley  not  very  remote  from  the  sea. 
My  father  had  been  a  sailor  in  youth,  and  some  of  my 
earliest  recollections  are  connected  with  the  history  of  his 
adventures  and  the  recollections  they  excited.  He  had 
been  a  boy  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  had  seen 
some  service  in  the  shipping  of  that  period.  Among  other 
scenes  he  witnessed,  he  had  been  on  board  the  Trumbull 
in  her  action  with  the  Watt — the  hardest-fought  naval 
combat  of  that  war — and  he  particularly  delighted  in  re- 
lating its  incidents.  He  had  been  wounded  in  the  battle, 
and  bore  the  marks  of  the  injury  in  a  scar  that  slightly 
disfigured  a  face  that,  without  this  blemish,  would  have 
been  singularly  handsome.  My  mother,  after  my  poor 
father's  death,  always  spoke  of  even  this  scar  as  a  beauty- 
spot.  Agreeably  to  my  own  recollections  the  mark 
scarcely  deserved  that  commendation,  as  it  gave  one  side 
of  the  face  a  grim  and  fierce  appearance,  particularly  when 
its  owner  was  displeased. 

My  father  died  on  the  farm  on  which  he  was  born,  and 
which  descended  to  him  from  his  great-grandfather,  an 
English  emigrant  that  had  purchased  it  of  the  Dutch  colo- 
nist who  had  originally  cleared  it  from  the  woods.  The 


8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

place  was  called  Clawbonny,  which  some  said  was  goo$ 
Dutch,  others  bad  .Dutch  ;  and  now  and  then  a  person 
ventured  a  conjecture  that  it  might  be  Indian.  Bonny  it 
was,  in  one  sense  at  least,  for  a  lovelier  farm  there  is  not 
on  the  whole  of  the  wide  surface  of  the  Empire  State. 
What  does  not  always  happen  in  this  wicked  world,  it  was 
as  good  as  it  was  handsome.  It  consisted  of  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-two  acres  of  first-rate  land,  either  arable 
or  rich  river  bottom  in  meadows,  and  of  more  than  a 
hundred  of  rocky  mountain  side,  that  was  very  tolerably 
covered  with  wood.  The  first  of  our  family  who  owned 
the  place  had  built  a  substantial  one-story  stone  house, 
that  bears  the  date  of  1707  on  one  of  its  gables  ;  and  to 
which  each  of  his  successors  had  added  a  little,  until  the 
whole  structure  got  to  resemble  a  cluster  of  cottages 
thrown  together  without  the  least  attention  to  order  or 
regularity.  There  were  a  porch,  a  front  door,  and  a  lawn, 
however  ;  the  latter  containing  half  a  dozen  acres  of 
a  soil  as  black  as  one's  hat,  and  nourishing  eight  or  ten 
elms  that  were  scattered  about  as  if  their  seeds  had  been 
sown  broadcast.  In  addition  to  the  trees  and  a  suitable 
garniture  of  shrubbery,  this  lawn  was  coated  with  a  sward 
that,  in  the  proper  seasons,  rivalled  all  I  have  read  or  imag- 
ined of  the  emerald  and  shorn  slopes  of  the  Swiss  valleys. 

Clawbonny,  while  it  had  all  the  appearance  of  being  the 
residence  of  an  affluent  agriculturist,  had  none  of  the  pre- 
tension of  these  later  times.  The  house  had  an  air  of  sub- 
stantial comfort  without,  an  appearance  that  its  interior  in 
no  manner  contradicted.  The  ceilings  were  low,  it  is  true, 
nor  were  the  rooms  particularly  large  ;  but  the  latter  were 
warm  in  winter,  cool  in  summer,  and  tidy,  neat,  and  re- 
spectable all  the  year  round.  Both  the  parlors  had  carpets, 
as  had  the  passages  and  all  the  better  bedrooms  ;  and 
there  were  an  old-fashioned  chintz  settee,  well  stuffed  and 
cushioned,  and  curtains  in  the  "big  parlor,"  as  we  called 
the  best  apartment — the  pretending  name  of  drawing- 
room  not  having  reached  our  valley  as  far  back  as  the  year 
1796,  or  that  in  which  my  recollections  of  the  place,  as  it 
then  existed,  are  the  most  vivid  and  distinct. 

We  had  orchards,  meadows,  and  ploughed  fields  all  around 
us  ;  while  the  barns,  granaries,  styes,  and  other  buildings 
of  the  farm,  were  of  solid  stone,  like  the  dwelling,  and  all 
in  capital  condition.  In  addition  to  the  place,  which  he 
inherited  from  my  grandfather  quite  without  any  encum- 
tirance,  well  stocked  and  supplied  with  utensils  of  ali 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  9 

sorts,  my  father  had  managed  to  bring  with  him  from  sea 
some  fourteen  or  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  which  he  care- 
fully invested  in  mortgages  in  the  county.  He  got  twenty- 
seven  hundred  pounds  currency  with  my  mother,  similarly 
bestowed  ;  and,  two  or  th^ee  great  landed  proprietors  and 
as  many  retired  merchants  from  York  excepted,  Captain 
Wallingford  was  generally  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  stiffest 
men  in  Ulster  County.  I  do  not  know  exactly  how  true 
was  this  report  ;  though  I  never  saw  anything  but  the 
abundance  of  a  better  sort  of  American  farm  under  the 
paternal  roof,  and  I  know  that  the  poor  were  never  sent 
away  empty-handed.  It  is  true  that  our  wine  was  made  of 
currants  ;  but  it  was  delicious,  and  there  was  always  a  suf- 
ficient stock  in  the  cellar  to  enable  us  to  drink  it  three  X>r 
four  years  old.  My  father,  however,  had  a  small  private 
collection  of  his  own,  out  of  which  he  would  occasionally 
produce  a  bottle  ;  and  I  remember  to  have  heard  Governor 
George  Clinton,  afterward  Vice  President,  who  was  an 
Ulster  County  man,  and  who  sometimes  stopped  at  Claw- 
bonny  in  passing,  say  that  it  was  excellent  East  India  ma- 
deira. As  for  clarets,  burgundy,  hock,  and  champagne, 
ihey  were  wines  then  unknown  in  America,  except  on  the 
tables  of  some  of  the  principal  merchants,  and  here  and 
there  on  that  of  some  travelled  gentleman  of  an  estate 
larger  than  common.  When  I  say  that  Governor  George 
Clinton  used  to  stop  occasionally  and  taste  my  father's 
madeira,  I  do  not  wish  to  boast  of  being  classed  with  those 
who  then  composed  the  gentry  of  the  State.  To  this,  in 
that  day,  we  could  hardly  aspire,  though  the  substantial 
hereditary  property  of  my  family  gave  us  a  local  consider- 
ation that  placed  us  a  good  deal  above  the  station  of  ordi- 
nary yeomen.  Had  we  lived  in  one  of  the  large  towns,  our 
association  would  unquestionably  have  been  with  those 
who  are  usually  considered  to  be  one  or  two  degrees  be- 
neath the  highest  class.  These  distinctions  were  much 
more  marked  immediately  after  the  war  of  the  Revolution 
than  they  are  to-day ;  and  they  are  more  marked  to-day, 
even,  than  all  but  the  most  lucky  or  the  most  meritorious, 
whichever  fortune  dignifies,  are  willing  to  allow. 

The  courtship  between  my  parents  occurred  while  my 
father  was  at  home  to  be  cured  of  the  wounds  he  had  re- 
ceived in  the  engagement  between  the  Trurnbull  and  the 
Watt.  I  have  always  supposed  this  was  the  moving  cause 
why  my  mother  fancied  that  the  grim-looking  scar  on  the 
left  side  of  my  father's  face  was  so  particularly  becoming. 


io  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

The  battle  was  fought  in  June,  1780,  and  my  parents  were 
married  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year.  My  father  did 
not  go  to  sea  again  until  after  my  birth,  which  took  place 
the  very  day  that  Cornwallis  capitulated  at  Yorktown. 
These  combined  events  set  the  young  sailor  in  motion,  for 
he  felt  he  had  a  family  to  provide  for,  and  he  wished  to 
make  one  more  mark  on  the  enemy  in  return  for  the 
beauty-spot  his  wife  so  gloried  in.  He  accordingly  got  a 
commission  in  a  privateer,  made  two  or  three  fortunate 
cruises,  and  was  able  at  the  peace  to  purchase  a  prize- 
brig,  which  he  sailed  as  master  and  owner  until  the  year 
1790,  when  he  was  recalled  to  the  paternal  roof  by  the 
death  of  my  grandfather.  Being  an  only  son,  the  captain, 
as  my  father  was  uniformly  called,  inherited  the  land, 
stock,  utensils,  and  crops,  as  already  mentioned  ;  while  the 
six  thousand  pounds  currency  that  were  "at  use,"  went  to 
my  two  aunts,  who  were  thought  to  be  well  married  to  men 
in  their  own  class  of  life,  in  adjacent  counties. 

My  father  never  went  to  sea  after  he  inherited  Clawbon- 
ny.  From  that  time  down  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  re- 
mained on  his  farm,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  winter 
passed  in  Albany  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  the 
county.  In  his  day  it  was  a  credit  to  a  man  to  represent 
a  county,  and  to  hold  office  under  the  State  ;  though  the 
abuse  of  the  elective  principle,  not  to  say  of  the  appoint- 
ing power,  has  since  brought  about  so  great  a  change. 
Then  a  member  of  Congress  was  somebody  ;  now  he  is  only 
— a  member  of  Congress. 

We  were  but  two  surviving  children,  three  of  the  family 
dying  infants,  leaving  only  my  sister  Grace  and  myself  to 
console  our  mother  in  her  widowhood.  The  dire  accident 
which  placed  her  in  this,  the  saddest  of  all  conditions  for 
a  woman  who  had  been  a  happy  wife,  occurred  in  the  year 
1794,  when  I  was  in  my  thirteenth  year,  and  Grace  was 
turned  eleven.  It  may  be  well  to  relate  the  particulars. 

There  was  a  mill,  just  where  the  stream  that  runs 
through  our  valley  tumbles  down  to  a  level  below  that  on 
which  the  farm  lies,  and  empties  itself  into  a  small  tribu- 
tary of  the  Hudson.  This  mill  was  on  our  property,  and 
was  a  source  of  great  convenience  and  of  some  profit  to 
my  father.  There  he  ground  all  the  grain  that  was  con- 
sumed for  domestic  purposes  for  several  miles  around  ;  and 
the  tolls  enabled  him  to  fatten  his  porkers  and  beeves,  in  a 
way  to  give  both  a  sort  of  established  character.  In  a  word, 
the  mill  was  a  concentrating  point  for  all  the  products  of 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  it 

the  farm,  there  being  a  little  landing  on  the  margin  of  the 
creek  that  put  up  from  the  Hudson,  whence  a  sloop  sailed 
weekly  for  town.  My  father  passed  half  his  time  about 
the  mill  and  landing,  superintending  his  workmen,  and 
particularly  giving  directions  about  the  fitting  of  the  sloop 
which  was  his  property  also,  and  about  the  gear  of  the 
mill.  He  was  clever,  certainly,  and  had  made  several  use- 
ful suggestions  to  the  millwright  who  occasionally  came  to 
examine  and  repair  the  works  ;  but  he  was  by  no  means  so 
accurate  a  mechanic  as  he  fancied  himself  to  be.  He  had 
invented  some  new  mode  of  arresting  the  movement,  and 
of  setting  the  machinery  in  motion  when  necessary  ;  what 
it  was,  I  never  knew,  for  it  was  not  named  at  Clawbonny 
after  the  fatal  accident  occurred.  One  day,  however,  in 
order  to  convince  the  millwright  of  the  excellence  of 
this  improvement,  my  father  caused  the  machinery  to  be 
stopped,  and  then  placed  his  own  weight  upon  the  large 
wheel,  in  order  to  manifest  the  sense  he  felt  in  the  security 
of  his  invention.  He  was  in  the  very  act  of  laughing  ex- 
ultingly  at  the  manner  in  wrhich  the  millwright  shook  his 
head  at  the  risk  he  ran,  when  the  arresting  power  lost  its 
control  of  the  machinery,  the  heavy  head  of  water  burst 
into  the  buckets,  and  the  wheel  whirled  round  carrying  my 
unfortunate  father  with  it.  I  was  an  eye-witness  of  the 
whole,  and  saw  the  face  of  my  parent,  as  the  wheel  turned 
it  from  me,  still  expanded  in  mirth.  There  was  but  one 
revolution  made,  when  the  wright  succeeded  in  stopping 
the  works.  This  brought  the  great  wheel  back  nearly  to 
its  original  position,  and  I  fairly  shouted  with  hysterical 
delight  when  I  saw  my  father  standing  in  his  tracks,  as  it 
might  be,  seemingly  unhurt.  Unhurt  he  would  have  been, 
though  he  must  have  passed  a  fearful  keel-hauling,  but  for 
one  circumstance.  He  had  held  on  to  the  wheel  with  the 
tenacity  of  a  seaman,  since  letting  go  his  hold  would  have 
thrown  him  down  a  cliff  of  near  a  hundred  feet  in  depth, 
and  he  actually  passed  between  the  wheel  and  the  planking 
beneath  it  unharmed,  although  there  was  only  an  inch  or 
two  to  spare  ;  but  in  rising  from  this  fearful  strait,  his 
head  had  been  driven  between  a  projecting  beam  and  one 
of  the  buckets,  in  a  way  to  crush  one  temple  in  upon  the 
brain.  So  swift  and  sudden  had  been  the  whole  thing, 
that,  on  turning  the  wheel,  his  lifeless  body  was  still  in- 
clining on  its  periphery,  retained  erect,  I  believe,  in  con- 
sequence of  some  part  of  his  coat  getting  attached  to  the 
head  of  a  nail.  This  was  the  first  serious  sorrow  of  my 


12  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

life.  I  had  always  regarded  my  father  as  one  of  the  fixt- 
ures of  the  world  ;  as  a  part  of  the  great  system  of  the 
universe  ;  and  had  never  contemplated  his  death  as  a  pos- 
sible thing.  That  another  Revolution  might  occur,  and 
carry  the  country  back  under  the  dominion  of  the  British 
crown,  would  have  seemed  to  me  far  more  possible  than 
that  my  father  could  die.  Bitter  truth  now  convinced  me 
of  the  ifallacy  of  such  notions. 

It  was  months  and  months  before  I  ceased  to  dream  of 
this  frightful  scene.  At  my  age,  all  the  feelings  were 
fresh  and  plastic,  and  grief  took  strong  hold  of  my  heart. 
Grace  and  I  used  to  look  at  each  other  without  speaking, 
long  after  the  event,  the  tears  starting  to  my  eyes,  and  roll- 
ing down  her  cheeks,  our  emotions  being  the  only  com- 
munications between  us,  but  communications  that  no  ut- 
tered words  could  have  made  so  plain.  Even  now,  I  al- 
lude to  my  mother's  anguish  with  trembling.  She  was 
sent  for  to  the  house  of  the  miller,  where  the  body  lay,  a^id 
arrived  unapprised  of  the  extent  of  the  evil.  Never  can  I 
— never  shall  I  forget  the  outbreakings  of  her  sorrow  when 
she  learned  the  whole  of  the  dreadful  truth.  She  was  ic. 
fainting  fits  for  hours,  one  succeeding  another,  and  then 
her  grief  found  tongue.  There  was  no  term  of  endear 
ment  that  the  heart  of  woman  could  dictate  to  her  speech, 
that  was  not  lavished  on  the  lifeless  clay.  She  called  the 
dead  "her  Miles,-'  "her  beloved  Miles,"  "her  husband," 
''her  own  darling  husband,"  and  by  such  other  endearing 
epithets.  Once  she  seemed  as  if  resolute  to  arouse  the 
sleeper  from  his  endless  trance,  and  she  said,  solemnly 
"  Father—  dear,  dearest  father  !  "  appealing  as  it  might  be  to 
the  parent  of  her  children,  the  tenderest  and  most  com- 
prehensive of  all  woman's  terms  of  endearment — "  Father 
— dear,  dearest  father!  open  your  eyes  and  look  upon  your 
babes — your  precious  girl,  and  noble  boy !  Do  not  thus 
shut  out  their  sight  forever  !  " 

But  it  was  in  vain.  There  lay  the  lifeless  corpse,  as  in- 
sensible as  if  the  spirit  of  God  had  never  had  a  dwelling 
within  it.  The  principal  injury  had  been  received  on  that 
much-prized  scar ;  and  again  and  again  did  my  poor 
mother  kiss  both,  as  if  her  caresses  might  yet  restore  her 
husband  to  life.  All  would  not  do.  The  same  evening, 
the  body  was  carried  to  the  dwelling,  and  three  days  later 
it  was  laid  in  the  churchyard,  by  the  s^de  of  three  genera- 
tions of  forefathers,  at  a  distance  of  only  a  mile  from  CLr,1 — 
bonny.  That  funeral  service,  too,  made  a  deep  impression 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  13 

on  my  memory.  We  had  some  Church  of  England  people 
in  the  valley  ;  and  old  Miles  Wallingford,  the  first  of  the 
name,  a  substantial  English  franklin,  had  been  influenced 
in  his  choice  of  a  purchase  by  the  fact  that  one  of  Queen 
Anne's  churches  stood  so  near  the  farm.  To  that  little 
church,  a  tiny  edifice  of  stone,  with  a  high,  pointed  roof, 
without  steeple,  bell,  or  vestry  room,  had  three  generations 
of  us  been  taken  to  be  christened,  and  three,  including  my 
father,  had  been  taken  to  be  buried.  Excellent,  kind- 
hearted,  just-minded  Mr.  Hardinge  read  the  funeral  ser- 
vice over  the  man  whom  his  own  father  had,  in  the  same 
humble  edifice,  christened.  Our  neighborhood  has  much 
altered  of  late  years  ;  but,  then,  few  higher  than  mere 
laborers  dwelt  among  us  who  had  not  some  sort  of  hered- 
itary claim  to  be  beloved.  So  it  was  with  our  clergyman, 
whose  father  had  been  his  predecessor,  having  actually 
married  my  grandparents.  The  son  had  united  my  father 
and  mother,  and  now  he  was  called  on  to  officiate  at  the 
funeral  obsequies  of  the  first.  Grace  and  I  sobbed  as  if 
our  hearts  would  break,  the  whole  time  we  were  in  the 
church  ;  and  my  poor,  sensitive,  nervous  little  sister 
actually  shrieked  as  she  heard  the  sound  of  the  first  clod 
that  fell  upon  the  coffin.  Our  mother  was  spared  that  try- 
ing scene,  finding  it  impossible  to  support  it.  She  re- 
mained at  home,  on  her  kness,  most  of  the  day  on  which 
the  funeral  occurred. 

Time  soothed  our  sorrows,  though  my  mother,  a  woman 
of  more  than  common  sensibility,  or,  it  were  better  to  say, 
of  uncommon  affections,  never  entirely  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  her  irreparable  loss.  She  had  loved  too  well, 
too  devotedly,  too  engrossingly,  ever  to  think  of  a  second 
marriage,  and  lived  only  to  care  for  the  interests  of  Miles 
Wallingford's  children.  I  firmly  believe  we  were  more 
beloved  because  we  stood  in  this  relation  to  the  deceased, 
than  because  we  were  her  own  natural  offspring.  Her 
health  became  gradually  undermined,  and,  three  years  after 
the  accident  of  the  mill,  Mr.  Hardinge  laid  her  at  my 
father's  side.  I  was  now  sixteen,  and  can  better  describe 
what  passed  during  the  last  days  of  her  existence,  than 
what  took  place  at  the  death  of  her  husband.  Grace  and 
I  were  apprised  of  what  was  so  likely  to  occur,  quite  a 
month  before  the  fatal  moment  arrived  ;  and  we  were  not 
so  much  overwhelmed  with  sudden  grief  as  we  had  been 
on  the  first  great  occasion  of  family  sorrow,  though  we 
both  felt  our  loss  keenly,  and  my  sister,  I  think  I  may 


14  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

almost  say,  inextinguishably.  Mr.  Hardinge  had  us  both 
brought  to  the  bedside,  to  listen  to  the  parting  advice  of 
our  dying  parent,  and  to  be  impressed  with  a  scene  that  is 
always  healthful,  if  rightly  improved.  "You  baptized  these 
two  dear  children,  good  Mr.  Hardinge,"  she  said,  in  a  voice 
that  was  already  enfeebled  by  physical  decay,  "  and  you 
signed  them  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  in  token  of  Christ's 
death  for  them  ;  and  I  now  ask  of  your  friendship  and  pas- 
toral care  to  see  that  they  are  not  neglected  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  their  lives — that  when  impressions  are  the 
deepest,  and  yet  the  most  easily  made.  God  will  reward 
all  your  kindness  to  the  orphan  children  of  your  friends." 
The  excellent  divine,  a  man  who  lived  more  for  others 
than  for  himself,  made  the  required  promises,  and  the  soul 
of  my  mother  took  its  flight  in  peace. 

Neither  my  sister  nor  myself  grieved  as  deeply  for  the 
loss  of  this  last  of  our  parents,  as  we  did  for  that  of  the 
first.  We  had  both  seen  so  many  instances  of  her  devout 
goodness,  had  been  witnesses  of  so  great  a  triumph  of  her 
faith,  as  to  feel  an  intimate,  though  silent,  persuasion  that 
her  death  was  merely  a  passage  to  a  better  state  of  exist- 
ence— that  it  seemed  selfish  to  regret.  Still,  we  wept  and 
mourned,  even  while,  in  one  sense,  I  think  we  rejoiced. 
She  was  relieved  from  much  bodily  suffering,  and  I  remem- 
ber, when  I  went  to  take  a  last  look  at  her  beloved  face, 
that  I  gazed  on  its  calm  serenity  with  a  feeling  akin  to 
exultation,  as  I  recollected  that  pain  could  no  longer  exer- 
cise dominion  over  her  frame,  and  that  her  spirit  was  then 
dwelling  in  bliss.  Bitter  regrets  came  later,  it  is  true,  and 
these  were  fully  shared — nay,  more  than  shared — by  Grace. 

After  the  death  of  my  father,  I  had  never  bethought  me 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  disposed  of  his  property. 
I  heard  something  said  of  his  will,  and  gleaned  a  little, 
accidentally,  of  the  forms  that  had  been  gone  through  in 
proving  the  instrument,  and  of  obtaining  its  probate. 
Shortly  after  my  mother's  death,  however,  Mr.  Hardinge 
had  a  free  conversation  with  both  me  and  Grace  on  the 
subject,  when  we  learned,  for  the  first  time,  the  disposition 
that  had  been  made.  My  father  had  bequeathed  to  me  the 
farm,  mill,  landing,  sloop,  stock,  utensils,  crops,  etc.,  etc., 
in  full  property ;  subject,  however,  to  my  mother's  use  of 
the  whole  until  I  attained  my  majority  ;  after  which  I  was 
to  give  her  complete  possession  of  a  comfortable  wing  of 
the  house,  which  had  every  convenience  for  asmalJ  family 
within  itself,  certain  privileges  in  the  fields,  dairy,  styes, 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  15 

orchards,  meadows,  granaries,  etc.,  and  to  pay  her  three 
hundred  pounds  currency  per  annum,  in  money.  Grace 
had  four  thousand  pounds  that  were  "at  use,"  and  I  had 
all  the  remainder  of  the  personal  property,  which  yielded 
about  five  hundred  dollars  a  year.  As  the  farm,  sloop, 
mill,  landing,  etc.,  produced  a  net  annual  income  of  rather 
more  than  a  thousand  dollars,  besides  all  that  was  con- 
sumed in  housekeeping,  I  was  very  well  off,  in  the  way  of 
temporal  things,  for  one  who  had  been  trained  in  habits 
as  simple  as  those  which  reigned  at  Clawbonny. 

My  father  had  left  Mr.  Hardinge  the  executor,  and  my 
mother  an  executrix  of  his  will,  with  survivorship.  He 
had  also  made  the  same  provision  as  respected  the  guar- 
dians. Thus  Grace  and  I  became  the  wards  of  the  clergy- 
man alone  on  the  death  of  our  last  remaining  parent.  This 
was  grateful  to  us  both,  for  we  both  truly  loved  this  good 
man,  and,  what  was  more,  we  loved  his  children.  Of  these 
there  were  two,  of  ages  corresponding  very  nearly  with 
our  own  ;  Rupert  Hardinge  being  not  quite  a  year  older 
than  I  was  myself,  and  Lucy,  his  sister,  about  six  months 
younger  than  Grace.  We  were  all  four  strongly  attached 
to  each  other,  and  had  been  so  from  infancy,  Mr.  Hardinge 
having  had  charge  of  my  education  as  soon  as  I  wras  taken 
from  a  woman's  school. 

I  cannot  say,  however,  that  Rupert  Hardinge  was  ever  a 
boy  to  give  his  father  the  delight  that  a  studious,  well- 
conducted,  considerate,  and  industrious  child  has  it  so 
much  in  his  power  to  yield  to  his  parent.  Of  the  two,  I 
was  much  the  best  scholar,  and  had  been  pronounced  by 
Mr.  Hardinge  fit  to  enter  college,  a  twelvemonth  before 
my  mother  died  ;  though  she  declined  sending  me  to  Yale, 
the  institution  selected  by  my  father,  until  my  school- 
fellow was  similarly  prepared,  it  having  been  her  intention 
to  give  the  clergyman's  son  a  thorough  education,  in  fur- 
therance of  his  father's  views  of  bringing  him  up  to  the 
church.  This  dekiy,  so  well  and  kindly  meant,  had  the 
effect  of  changing  the  whole  course  of  my  subsequent 
life. 

My  father,  it  seems,  wished  to  make  a  lawyer  of  me,  with 
the  natural  desire  of  seeing  me  advanced  to  some  honora- 
ble position  in  the  State.  But  I  was  averse  to  anything 
like  serious  mental  labor,  and  was  greatly  delighted  when 
my  mother  determined  to  keep  me  out  of  college  a  twelve- 
month, in  order  that  my  friend  Rupert  might  be  my  class- 
mate. It  is  true  I  learned  quick,  and  was  fond  of  reading ; 


1 6-  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

but  the  first  I  could  not  very  well  help,  while  the  reading 
I  liked  was  that  which  amused,  rather  than  that  which  in- 
structed me.  As  for  Rupert,  though  not  absolutely  dull, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  absolutely  clever  in  certain  things, 
he  disliked  mental  labor  even  more  than  myself,  while  he 
liked  self-restraint  of  any  sort  far  less.  His  father  was 
sincerely  pious,  and  regarded  his  sacred  office  with  too 
much  reverence  to  think  of  bringing  up  a  "  cosset-priest," 
though  he  prayed  and  hoped  that  his  son's  inclinations,  un- 
der the  guidance  of  Providence,  would  take  that  direction. 
He  seldom  spoke  of  the  subject  himself,  but  I  ascertained 
his  wishes  through  my  confidential  dialogues  with  his  chil- 
dren. Lucy  seemed  delighted  with  the  idea,  looking  for- 
ward to  the  time  when  her  brother  would  officiate  in  the 
same  desk  where  her  father  and  grandfather  had  now  con- 
ducted the  worship  of  God  for  more  than  half  a  century  ; 
a  period  of  time  that  to  us  young  people  seemed  to  lead 
us  back  to  the  dark  ages  of  the  country.  And  all  this  the 
dear  girl  wished  for  her  brother,  in  connection  with  his 
spiritual  rather  than  his  temporal  interests,  inasmuch  as 
the  living  was  worth  only  a  badly-paid  salary  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  currency  per  annum,  together  with 
a  small  but  comfortable  rectory,  and  a  glebe  of  five-and- 
twenty  acres  of  very  tolerable  land,  which  it  was  thought 
no  sin,  in  that  day,  for  the  clergyman  to  work  by  means  of 
two  male  slaves,  whom,  with  as  many  females,  he  had  in- 
herited as  part  of  the  chattels  of  his  mother. 

I  had  a  dozen  slaves,  also  ;  negroes  who,  as  a  race,  had 
been  in  the  family  almost  as  long  as  Clawbonny.  About 
half  of  these  blacks  were  singularly  laborious  and  useful, 
viz.,  four  males  and  three  of  the  females  ;  but  several  of 
the  remainder  were  enjoying  otium,  and  not  altogether 
without  dignitate,  as  heirlooms  to  be  fed,  clothed,  and 
lodged,  for  the  good  or  evil  they  had  done.  There  were 
some  small-fry  in  our  kitchens,  too,  that  used  to  roll  about 
on  the  grass,  and  munch  fruit  in  the  summer  ad  libitum;  and 
stand  so  close  in  the  chimney-corners  in  cold  weather,  that 
I  have  often  fancied  they  must  have  been,  as  a  legal  wit  of 
New  York  once  pronounced  certain  eastern  coal  mines  to 
be,  incombustible.  These  negroes  all  went  by  the  patro- 
nymic of  Clawbonny,  there  being  among  them  Hector 
Clawbonny,  Venus  Clawbonny,  Caesar  Clawbonny,  Rose 
Clawbonny — who  was  as  black  as  a  crow — Romeo  Claw- 
bonny, and  Julietta,  commonly  called  Julee,  Clawbonny; 
who  were,  with  Pharaoh,  Potiphar,  Samson,  and  Nebu- 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  17 

chadnez^ai,  all  Clawbonnys  in  the  last  resort.  Neb,  as  the 
namesake  of  the  herbivorous  King  of  Babylon  was  called, 
was  about  my  own  age,  and  had  been  a  sort  of  humble 
playfellow  from  infancy  ;  and  even  now,  when  it  was 
thought  proper  to  set  him  about  the  more  serious  toil 
which  was  to  mark  his  humble  career,  I  often  interfered  to 
call  him  away  to  be  my  companion  with  the  rod,  the  fowl- 
ing-piece, or  in  the  boat,  of  which  we  had  one  that  fre- 
quently descended  the  creek  and  navigated  the  Hudson 
for  miles  at  a  time,  under  my  command.  The  lad,  by  such 
means,  and  through  an  off-hand  friendliness  of  manner 
that  I  rather  think  was  characteristic  of  my  habits  at  that 
day,  got  to  love  me  as  a  brother  or  comrade.  It  is  not  easy 
to  describe  the  affection  of  an  attached  slave,  which  has 
blended  with  it  the  pride  of  a  partisan,  the  solicitude  of  a 
parent,  and  the  blindness  of  a  lover.  I  do  think  Neb  had 
more  gratification  in  believing  himself  particularly  belong- 
ing to  Master  Miles,  than  I  ever  had  in  any  quality  or 
thing  I  could  call  my  own.  Neb,  moreover,  liked  a  va- 
grant life,  and  greatly  encouraged  Rupert  and  myself  in 
.dleness,  and  a  desultory  manner  of  misspending  hours 
2hat  could  never  be  recalled.  The  first  time  I  ever  played 
Iruant  was  under  the  patronage  of  Neb,  who  decoyed  me 
away  from  my  books  to  go  nutting  on  the  mountain,  stoutly 
maintaining  that  chestnuts  were  just  as  good  as  the  spell- 
ing-book, or  any  primer  that  could  be  bought  in  York. 

I  have  forgotten  to  mention  that  the  death  of  my  mother, 
which  occurred  in  the  autumn,  brought  about  an  imme- 
diate change  in  the  condition  of  our  domestic  economy. 
Grace  was  too  young,  being  only  fourteen,  to  preside  over 
such  a  household,  and  I  could  be  of  little  use  either  in 
the  way  of  directing  or  advising.  Mr.  Hardinge,  who  had 
received  a  letter  to  that  effect  from  the  dying  saint,  that 
was  only  put  into  his  hand  the  day  after  the  funeral,  with 
a  view  to  give  her  request  the  greater  weight,  rented  the 
rectory,  and  came  to  Clawbonny  to  live,  bringing  with 
him  both  his  children.  My  mother  knew  that  his  presence 
would  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  orphans  she  left 
behind  her  ;  while  the  money  saved  from  his  own  house- 
hold expenses  might  enable  tins  single-minded  minister  of 
the  altar  to  lay  by  a  hundred  or  two  for  Lucy,  who,  at  his 
demise,  might  otherwise  be  left  without  a  penny,  as  it  was 
then  said,  cents  not  having  yet  come  much  into  fashion. 

This  removal  gave  Grace  and  me  much  pleasure,  for 
she  was  as  fond  of  Lucy  as  I  was  of  Rupert,  and,  to  tell 


18  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  truth  so  was  I  too.  Four  happier  young  people  were 
not  to  be  found  in  the  State  than  we  thus  became,  each 
and  all  of  us  finding  in  the  arrangement  exactly  the  asso- 
ciation which  was  most  agreeable  to  our  feelings.  Pre- 
viously, we  only  saw  each  other  every  day  ;  now,  we  saw 
each  other  all  day.  At  night  we  separated  at  an  early 
hour,  it  is  true,  each  having  his  or  her  room  ;  but  it  was 
to  meet  at  a  still  earlier  hour  the  next  morning,  and  to 
resume  our  amusements  in  company.  From  study,  all  of 
us  were  relieved  for  a  month  or  two,  and  we  wandered 
through  the  fields,  nutted,  gathered  fruit,  or  saw  \)thers 
gather  it  as  well  as  the  crops,  taking  as  much  exercise  as 
possible  in  the  open  air,  equally  for  the  good  of  our 
bodies  and  the  lightening  of  our  spirits. 

I  do  not  think  vanity,  or  any  feeling  connected  with 
self-love,  misleads  me,  when  I  say  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  find  four  young  people  more  likely  to  attract 
the  attention  of  a  passer-by  than  we  four  were,  in  the  fall 
of  1797.  As  for  Rupert  Hardinge,  he  resembled  his 
mother,  and  was  singularly  handsome  in  face,  as  \vell  as 
graceful  in  movements.  He  had  a  native  gentility  of  air, 
of  which  he  knew  how  to  make  the  most,  and  a  readiness 
of  tongue  and  a  flow  of  spirits  that  rendered  him  an  agree- 
able, if  not  a  very  instructive  companion.  I  was  not  ill- 
looking,  myself,  though  far  from  possessing  the  striking 
countenance  of  my  young  associate.  In  manliness,  strength, 
and  activity,  however,  I  had  essentially  the  advantage 
over  him,  few  vouths  of  my  age  surpassing  me  in  mascu- 
line qualities  of  this  nature,  after  I  had  passed  my  twelfth 
year.  My  hair  was  a  dark  auburn,  and  it  was  the  only 
thing  about  my  face,  perhaps,  that  would  cause  a  stranger 
to  notice  it ;  but  this  hung  about  my  temples  and  down 
my  neck  in  rich  ringlets,  until  frequent  applications  of 
the  scissors  brought  it  into  something  like  subjection.  It 
never  lost  its  beauty  entirely,  and  though  now  white  as 
snow,  it  is  still  admired.  But  Grace  was  the  one  of  the 
party  whose  personal  appearance  would  be  most  likely  to 
attract  attention.  Her  face  beamed  with  sensibility  and 
feeling,  being  one  of  those  countenances  on  which  nature 
sometimes  delights  to  impress  the  mingled  radiance,  sweet- 
ness, truth,  and  sentiment,  that  men  ascribe  to  angels. 
Her  hair  was  lighter  than  mine  ;  her  eyes  of  a  heavenly 
blue,  all  softness  and  tenderness  ;  her  cheeks  just  of  the 
Mnt  of  the  palest  of  the  colored  roses  ;  and  her  smile  so 
full  of  gentleness  and  feeling,  that,  again  and  again,  it  has 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  19 

controlled  my  ruder  and  more  violent  emotions,  when 
they  were  fast  getting  the  mastery.  In  form,  some  per, 
sons  might  have  thought  Grace,  in  a  slight  degree,  too 
fragile,  though  her  limbs  would  have  been  delicate  models 
for  the  study  of  a  sculptor. 

Lucy,  too,  had  certainly  great  perfection,  particularly  in 
figure  ;  though  in  the  crowd  of  beauty  that  has  been  so 
profusely  lavished  on  the  youthful  in  this  country,  she 
would  not  have  been  at  all  remarked  in  a  large  assembly 
of  young  American  girls.  Her  face  was  pleasing,  never- 
theless ;  and  there  was  a  piquant  contrast  between  the 
.raven  blackness  of  her  hair,  the  deep  blue  of  her  eyes,  and 
the  dazzling  whiteness  of  her  skin.  Her  color,  too,  was 
high,  and  changeful  with  her  emotions.  As  for  teeth,  she 
had  a  set  that  one  might  have  travelled  weeks  to  meet  with 
their  equals  ;  and,  though  she  seemed  totally  unconscious 
of  the  advantage,  she  had  a  natural  manner  of  showing 
them  that  would  have  made  a  far  less  interesting  face  alto- 
gether agreeable.  Her  voice  and  laugh,  too,  when  happy 
and  free  from  care,  were  joyousness  itself. 

It  would  be  saying  too  much,  perhaps,  to  assert  that  any 
human  being  was  ever  totally  indifferent  to  his  or  her  per- 
sonal appearance.  Still,  I  do  not  think  either  of  our  party, 
Rupert  alone  excepted,  ever  thought  on  the  subject,  unless 
as  it  related  to  others,  down  to  the  period  of  which  I  am 
now  writing.  I  knew,  and  saw,  and  felt  that  my  sister  was 
far  more  beautiful  than  any  of  the  young  girls  of  her  age 
and  condition  that  I  had  seen  in  her  society  ;  and  I  had 
pleasure  and  pride  in  the  fact.  I  knew  that  I  resembled 
her  in  some  respects,  but  I  was  never  coxcomb  enough  to 
imagine  I  had  half  her  good  looks,  even  allowing  for  dif- 
ference of  sex.  My  own  conceit,  so  far  as  I  then  had  any 
— plenty  of  it  came  a  year  or  two  later — but  my  own  con- 
ceit, in  1797,  rather  ran  in  the  direction  of  my  athletic 
properties,  physical  force,  which  was  unusually  great  for 
sixteen,  and  stature.  As  for  Rupert,  I  would  not  have  ex- 
changed these  manly  qualities  for  twenty  times  his  good 
looks,  and  a  thought  of  envy  never  crossed  my  mind  on 
the  subject.  I  fancied  it  might  be  well  enough  for  a  par- 
son to  be  a  little  delicate,  and  a  good  deal  handsome  ;  but 
for  one  who  intended  to  knock  about  the  world  as  I  had  it 
already  in  contemplation  to  do,  strength,  health,  vigor, 
courage,  and  activity,  were  much  more  to  be  desired  than 
beauty. 

Lucy  I  never  thought  of  as  handsome  at  all.     I  saw  she 


20          .  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

was  pleasing  ;  fancied  she  was  even  more  so  to  me  than 
to  any  one  else  ;  and  I  never  looked  upon  her  sunny,  cheer- 
ful, and  yet  perfectly  feminine  face,  without  a  feeling  of 
serenity  and  happiness.  As  for  her  honest  eyes,  they  in- 
variably met  my  own  with  an  open  frankness  that  said,  as 
plainly  as  eyes  could  say  anything,  that  there  was  nothing 
to  be  concealed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"Cease  to  persuade,  my  loving  Proteus  ; 
Home-keeping  youth  have  ever  homely  wits  ; — 
I  rather  would  entreat  thy  company 
To  see  the  wonders  of  the  world  abroad." 

— T%vo  Gentlemen  of—  Clawbonny. 

DURING  the  year  that  succeeded  after  I  was  prepared 
for  Yale,  Mr.  Hardinge  had  pursued  a  very  judicious 
course  with  my  education.  Instead  of  pushing  me  into 
books  that  were  to  be  read  in  the  regular  course  of  that 
institution,  with  the  idea  of  lightening  my  future  labors, 
which  would  only  have  been  providing  excuses  for  future 
idleness,  wTe  went  back  to  the  elementary  works,  until  even 
he  was  satisfied  that  nothing  more  remained  to  be  done  in 
that  direction.  I  had  my  two  grammars  literally  by  heart, 
notes  and  all.  Then  we  revised  as  thoroughly  as  possible, 
reading  everything  anew,  and  leaving  110  passage  unex- 
plained. I  learned  to  scan,  too,  a  fact  that  was  sufficient 
-to  make  a  reputation  for  a  scholar,  in  America,  half  a  cen- 
tury since.*  After  this  we  turned  our  attention  to  mathe- 
matics, a  science  Mr.  Hardinge  rightly  enough  thought  there 
was  no  danger  of  my  acquiring  too  thoroughly.  We  mas- 
tered arithmetic,  of  which  I  had  a  good  deal  of  previous 
knowledge,  in  a  few  weeks,  and  then  I  went  through  trigo- 
nometry, with  some  of  the  more  useful  problems  in  ge- 
ometry. This  was  the  point  at  which  I  had  arrived  when 
my  mother's  death  occurred. 

*  The  writer's  master  taught  him  to  scan  Virgil  in  1801.  This  gentle- 
man was  a  graduate  of  Oxford.  In  1803,  the  class  to  which  the  writer 
then  belonged  in  Yale,  was  the  first  that  ever  attempted  to  scan  in  that 
institution.  The  quantities  were  in  discredit  in  this  country  years  after 
this,  though  Columbia  and  Harvard  were  a  little  in  advance  of  Yale. 
All  that  was  ever  done  in  the  last  college,  during  the  writer's  time,  was  to 
scan  the  ordinary  hexameter  of  Homer  and  Virgil. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  21 

As  for  myself,  I  frankly  admit  a  strong  disinclination  to 
be  learned.  The  law  I  might  be  forced  to  study,  but  prac- 
tising it  was  a  thing  my  mind  had  long  been  made  up  never 
to  do.  There  was  a  small  vein  of  obstinacy  in  my  dispo- 
sition that  would  have  been  very  likely  to  carry  me  through 
in  such  a  determination  even  had  my  mother  lived,  though 
deference  to  her  wishes  would  certainly  have  carried  me  as 
far  as  the  license.  Even  now  she  was  no  more  I  was  anxious 
to  ascertain  whether  she  had  left  any  directions  or  requests 
on  the  subject,  either  of  which  would  have  been  laws  to 
me.  I  talked  with  Rupert  on  this  matter,  and  was  a  little 
shocked  with  the  levity  with  which  he  treated  it.  "  What 
difference  can  it  make  to  your  parents,  now"  he  said  with 
an  emphasis  that  grated  on  my  nerves,  "  whether  you  be- 
come a  lawyer,  or  a  merchant,  or  a  doctor,  or  stay  here  on 
your  farm  and  be  a  farmer,  like  your  father  ? " 

"My  father  had  been  a  sailor,"  I  answered,  quick  as 
lightning. 

"  True  ;  and  a  noble,  manly,  gentleman-like  calling  it  is  ! 
I  never  see  a  sailor  that  I  do  not  envy  him  his  advantages. 
Why,  Miles,  neither  of  us  has  ever  been  in  town  evea 
while  your  mother's  boatmen,  or  your  own  as  they  ar* 
now,  go  there  regularly  once  a  week.  I  would  give  the 
world  to  be  a  sailor." 

"You,  Rupert!  Why,  you  know  that  your  father  in- 
tends, or  rather  wishes,  that  you  should  become  a  clergy-, 
man." 

"A  pretty  appearance  a  young  man  of  my  figure  would 
make  in  the  pulpit,  Miles,  or  wearing  a  surplice.  No,  no  ; 
there  have  been  two  Hardinges  in  the  Church  in  this  cen- 
tury, and  I  have  a  fancy  also  to  the  sea.  I  suppose  you 
know  that  my  great-grandfather  was  a  captain  in  the  navy, 
and  he  brought  his  son  up  a  parson  ;  now  turn  about  is  fair 
play,  and  the  parson  ought  to  give  a  son  back  to  a  man-of- 
war.  I've  been  reading  the  lives  of  naval  men,  and  it's 
surprising  how  many  clergymen's  sons,  in  England,  go  in- 
to the  navy,  and  how  many  sailors'  sons  get  to  be  priests." 

"  But  there  is  no  navy  in  this  country  now — not  even  a 


single  ship-of-war,  I  believe." 
"That  is 


the  worst  of  it.  Congress  did  pass  a  law  two 
or  three  years  since,  to  build  some  frigates,  but  they  have 
never  been  launched.  Now  Washington  has  gone  out  of 
office  I  suppose  we  shall  never  have  anything  good  in  the 
country." 

I  revered  the  name  of  Washington,  in  common  with  the 


22  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE, 

whole  country,  but  I  did  not  see  the  sequitur.  Rupert,  how- 
ever, cared  little  for  logical  inferences,  usually  asserting 
such  things  as  he  wished,  and  wishing  such  as  he  asserted. 
After  a  short  pause,  he  continued  the  discourse.  "You 
are  now  substantially  your  own  master,"  he  said,  "and 
can  do  as  you  please.  Should  you  go  to  sea  and  not  like 
it,  you  have  only  to  come  back  to  this  place,  where  you 
will  be  just  as  much  the  master  as  if  you  had  remained 
here  superintending  cattle,  cutting  hay,  and  fattening  pork, 
the  whole  time." 

"I  am  not  my  own  master,  Rupert,  any  more  than  you 
are,  yourself.  I  am  your  father's  ward,  and  must  so  remain 
for  more  than  five  years  to  come.  I  am  just  as  much  un- 
der his  control  as  you,  yourself." 

Rupert  laughed  at  this,  and  tried  to  persuade  me  it 
would  be  a  good  thing  to  relieve  his  worthy  father  of  all 
responsibility  in  the  affair,  if  I  had  seriously  determined 
never  to  go  to  Yale,  or  to  be  a  lawyer,  by  going  off  to  sea 
clandestinely,  and  returning  when  I  was  ready.  If  I  ever 
was  to  make  a  sailor,  no  time  was  to  be  lost  ;  for  all  with 
whom  he  had  conversed  assured  him  the  period  of  life 
when  such  things  were  best  learned,  was  between  sixteen 
and  twenty.  This  I  thought  probable  enough,  and  I  part- 
ed from  my  friend  with  a  promise  of  conversing  further 
with  him  on  the  subject  at  an  early  opportunity. 

I  am  almost  ashamed  to  confess  that  Rupert's  artful 
sophism  nearly  blinded  my  eyes  to  the  true  distinction  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  If  Mr.  Hardinge  really  felt  him- 
self bound  by  my  father's  wishes  to  educate  me  for  the  bar, 
and  my  own  repugnance  to  the  profession  was  unconquer- 
able, why  should  I  not  relieve  him  from  the  responsibility 
at  once  by  assuming  the  right  to  judge  for  myself,  and  act 
accordingly  ?  So  far  as  Mr.  Hardinge  was  concerned,  I 
had  little  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  conclusion,  though  the 
profound  deference  I  still  felt  for  my  father's  wishes,  and 
more  especially  for  those  of  my  sainted  mother,  had  a  hold 
on  my  heart,  and  an  influence  on  my  conduct,  that  was  not 
so  easily  disposed  of.  I  determined  to  have  a  frank  con- 
versation with  Mr.  Hardinge,  therefore,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain how  far  either  of  my  parents  had  expressed  anything 
that  might  be  considered  obligatory  to  me.  My  plan  went 
as  far  as  to  reveal  my  own  desire  to  be  a  sailor,  and  to  see 
the  world,  but  not  to  let  it  be  known  that  I  might  go  off 
without  his  knowledge,  as  this  would  not  be  absolutely 
relieving  the  excellent  divine  "from  all  responsibility  in 


AFLOAT  A.VD   ASHORE.  23 

the  premises,"  as  was  contemplated  in  the  scheme  of  his 
own  son. 

An  opportunity  soon  occurred,  when  I  broached  the 
subject  by  asking  Mr.  Hardinge  whether  my  father,  in  his 
will,  had  ordered  that  I  should  be  sent  to  Yale,  and  there 
be  educated  forthe  bar.  He  had  done  nothing  of  the  sort. 
Had  he  left  any  particular  request,  writing,  or  message  on 
the  subject,  at  all  ?  Not  that  Mr.  Hardinge  knew.  It  is 
true,  the  last  had  heard  his  friend,  once  or  twice,  make 
some  general  remark  which  would  lead  one  to  suppose 
that  Captain  Wallingford  had  some  vague  expectations  I 
might  go  to  the  bar,  but  nothing  further.  My  mind  felt 
vastly  relieved  by  these  admissions,  for  I  knew  my  mother's 
tenderness  too  well  to  anticipate  that  she  would  dream  of 
absolutely  dictating  in  a  matter  that  was  so  clearly  con- 
nected with  my  own  happiness  and  tastes.  When  ques- 
tioned on  this  last  point,  Mr.  Hardinge  did  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  my  mother  had  conversed  with  him  several  times 
concerning  her  views,  as  related  to  my  career  in  life.  She 
wished  me  to  go  to  Yale,  and  then  to  read  law,  even  though 
I  did  not  practise.  As  soon  as  this  much  was  said,  the 
conscientious  servant  of  God  paused,  to  note  the  effect  on 
me.  Reading  disappointment  in  my  countenance,  I  pre- 
sume, he  immediately  added,  "  But  your  mother,  Miles, 
laid  no  restraint  on  you  ;  for  she  knew  it  was  you  who  was 
to  follow  the  career,  and  not  herself.  *  I  should  as  soon 
think  of  commanding  whom  he  was  to  marry,  as  to  think 
of  forcing  a  profession  on  him,'  she  added.  *  He  is  the 
one  who  is  to  decide  this,  and  he  only.  We  may  try  to 
guide  and  influence  him,  but  not  go  beyond  this.  I  leave 
you,  dear  sir,  to  do  all  you  think  best  in  this  matter,  cer- 
tain that  your  own  wisdom  will  be  aided  by  the  providence 
of  a  kind  Master.'  " 

I  now  plainly  told  Mr.  Hardinge  my  desire  to  see  the 
world,  and  to  be  a  sailor.  The  divine  was  astounded  at 
this  declaration,  and  I  saw  that  he  was  grieved.  I  believe 
some  religious  objections  were  connected  with  his  reluc- 
tance to  consent  to  my  following  the  sea,  as  a  calling.  At 
any  rate,  it  was  easy  to  discover  that  these  objections  were 
lasting  and  profound.  In  that  day,  few  Americans  trav- 
elled, by  way  of  an  accomplishment,  at  all  ;  and  those  few 
belonged  to  a  class  in  society  so  much  superior  to  mine, 
as  to  render  it  absurd  to  think  of  sending  me  abroad  with 
similar  views.  Nor  would  my  fortune  justify  such  an  ex- 
penditure. I  was  well  enough  off  to  be  a  comfortable  and 


24  AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE. 

free  house-keeper,  and  as  independent  as  a  king  on  my 
own  farm  ;  living  in  abundance,  nay,  in  superfluity,  so  far 
as  all  the  ordinary  wants  were  concerned  ;  but  men  hesi- 
tated a  little  about  setting  up  for  gentlemen  at  large,  in 
the  year  1797.  The  country  was  fast  getting  rich,  it  is 
true,  under  the  advantages  of  its  neutral  position  ;  but  it 
had  not  yet  been  long  enough  emancipated  from  its  em- 
barrassments to  think  of  playing  the  nabob  on  eight  hun- 
dred pounds  currency  a  year.  The  interview  terminated 
with  a  strong  exhortation  from  my  guardian  not  to  think 
of  abandoning  my  books  for  any  project  as  visionary  and 
useless  as  the  hope  of  seeing  the  world  in  the  character  of 
a  common  sailor. 

I  related  all  this  to  Rupert,  who,  I  now  perceived  for 
the  first  time,  did  not  hesitate  to  laugh  at  some  of  his 
father'-s  notions,  as  puritanical  and  exaggerated.  He 
maintained  that  every  one  was  the  best  judge  o:  what  he 
liked,  and  that  the  sea  had  produced  quite  as  fair  a  pro- 
portion of  saints  as  the  land.  He  was  not  certain,  consid- 
ering the  great  difference  there  was  in  numbers,  that  more 
^ood  men  might  not  be  traced  in  connection  with  the 
ocean  than  in  connection  with  any  other  pursuit. 

"  Take  the  lawyers,  now,  for  instance,  Miles,"  he  said, 
"and  what  can  you  make  out  of  them,  in  the  way  of  re- 
ligion, I  should  like  to  know?  They  have  their  con- 
sciences out  at  so  much  fler difm,  and  talk  and  reason  just 
as  zealously  for  the  wrong  as  they  do  for  the  right." 

"  By  George,  that  is  true  enough,  Rupert.  There  is  old 
David  Dockett,  I  remember  to  have  heard  Mr.  Hardinge 
say,  always  did  double  duty  for  his  fee,  usually  acting  as 
witness  as  well  as  advocate.  They  tell  me  he  will  talk  by 
the  hour  of  facts  that  he  and  his  clients  get  up  between 
them,  and  look  the  whole  time  as  if  he  believed  all  he  said 
to  be  true." 

Rupert  laughed  at  this  sally,  and  pushed  the  advantage 
it  gave  him  by  giving  several  other  examples  to  prove  how 
much  his  father  was  mistaken  by  supposing  that  a  man 
was  to  save  his  soul  from  perdition  simply  by  getting  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  After  discussing  the  matter  a  little 
longer,  to  my  astonishment,  Rupert  came  out  with  a  plain 
proposal  that  he  and  I  should  elope,  go  to  New  York,  and 
ship  as  foremast-lads  in  some  Indiaman,  of  which  there 
were  then  many  sailing,  at  the  proper  season,  from  that 
port.  I  did  not  dislike  the  idea,  so  far  as  I  was  myself 
concerned  ;  but  the  thought  of  accompanying  Rupert  in 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


25 


such  an  adventure  startled  me.  I  knew  I  was  sufficiently 
secure  of  the  future  to  be  able  to  risk  a  little  at  the  present 
moment  ;  but  such  was  not  the  case  with  my  friend.  If  I 
made  a  false  step  at  so  early  an  age,  I  had  only  to  return  to 
Clawbonny,  where  I  was  certain  to  find  competence  and  a 
home  ;  but,  with  Rupert,  it  was  very  different  Of  the 
moral  hazards  I  ran,  I  then  knew  nothing,  and,  of  course, 
they  gave  me  no  concern.  Like  all  inexperienced  persons, 
I  supposed  myself  too  strong  in  virtue  to  be  in  any  dangei 
of  contamination  ;  and  this  portion  of  the  adventure  was 
regarded  with  the  self-complacency  with  which  the  untried 
are  apt  to  regard  their  own  powers  of  endurance.  I  thought 
myself  morally  invulnerable. 

But  Rupert  might  find  it  difficult  to  retrace  any  serious 
error  made  at  his  time  of  life.  This  consideration  would 
have  put  an  end  to  the  scheme,  so  far  as  my  companion 
was  concerned,  had  not  the  thought  suggested  itself  that  I 
should  always  have  it  in  my  own  power  to  aid  my  friend.  Let- 
ting something  of  this  sort  escape  me,  Rupert  was  not  slow 
m  enlarging  on  it,  though  this  was  done  with  great  tact 
and  discretion.  He  proved  that,  by  the  time  we  both  came 
of  age,  he  would  be  qualified  to  command  a  ship,  and  that, 
doubtless,  I  would  naturally  desire  to  invest  some  of  my 
spare  cash  in  a  vessel.  The  accumulations  of  my  estate 
alone  would  do  this  much,  within  the  next  five  years,  and 
then  a  career  of  wealth  and  prosperity  would  lie  open  be- 
fore us  both. 

"  It  is  a  good  thing,  Miles,  no  doubt,"  continued  this 
tempting  sophist,  "  to  have  money  at  use,  and  a  large  farm, 
and  a  mill,  and  such  things  ;  but  many  a  ship  nets  more 
money  in  a  single  voyage  than  your  whole  estate  would 
sell  for.  Those  that  begin  with  nothing,  too,  they  tell  me, 
are  the  most  apt  to  succeed  ;  and  if  we  go  off  with  our 
clothes  only,  we  shall  begin  with  nothing  too.  Success 
may  be  said  to  be  certain.  I  like  the  notion  of  beginning 
with  nothing,  it  is  so  American ! r' 

It  is,  in  truth,  rather  a  besetting  weakness  of  America 
to  suppose  that  men  who  have  never  had  any  means  for 
qualifying  themselves  for  particular  pursuits  are  the  most 
likely  to  succeed  in  them  ;  and  especially  to  fancy  that 
those  who  "  begin  poor"  are  in  a  much  better  way  for  ac- 
quiring wealth  than  they  who  commence  with  some  means  ; 
and  I  was  disposed  to  lean  to  this  latter  doctrine  myself, 
though  I  confess  I  cannot  recall  an  instance  in  which  any 
person  of  my  acquaintance  has  given  away  his  capital,  how- 


26  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ever  large  and  embarrassing  it  may  have  been,  in  order  to 
start  fair  with  his  poorer  competitors.  Nevertheless,  there 
was  something  taking,  to  my  imagination,  in  the  notion  of 
being  the  fabricator  of  my  own  fortune.  In  that  day,  it 
was  easy  to  enumerate  every  dwelling  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson  that  aspired  to  be  called  a  seat,  and  I  had  often 
heard  them  named  by  those  who  were  familiar  with  the 
river.  I  liked  the  thought  of  erecting  a  house  on  the 
Clawbonny  property  that  might  aspire  to  equal  claims,  and 
to  be  the  owner  of  a  seat ;  though  only  after  I  had  acquired 
the  means,  myself,  to  carry  out  such  a  project.  At  present, 
I  owned  only  a  house  ;  my  ambition  was  to  o\vn  a  seat. 

In  a  word,  Rupert  and  I  canvassed  this  matter  in  every 
possible  way  for  a  month,  now  leaning  to  one  scheme,  and 
now  to  another,  until  I  determined  to  lay  the  whole  affair 
before  the  two  girls,  under  a  solemn  pledge  of  secrecy. 
As  we  passed  hours  in  company  daily,  opportunities  were 
not  wanting  to  effect  this  purpose.  I  thought  my  friend 
was  a  little  shy  on  this  project  ;  but  I  had  so  much  affec- 
tion for  Grace,  and  so  much  confidence  in  Lucy's  sound 
judgment,  that  I  was  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  the  com- 
pletion of  my  purpose.  It  is  now  more  than  forty  years 
since  the  interview  took  place  in  which  this  confidence  was 
bestowed  ;  but  every  minute  occurrence  connected  with  it 
is  as  fresh  in  my  mind  as  if  the  whole  had  taken  place 
only  yesterday. 

We  were  all  four  of  us  seated  on  a  rude  bench  that  my 
mother  had  caused  to  be  placed  under  the  shade  of  an 
enormous  oak  that  stood  on  the  most  picturesque  spot, 
perhaps,  on  the  whole  farm,  and  which  commanded  a  dis- 
tant view  of  one  of  the  loveliest  reaches  of  the  Hudson. 
Our  side  of  the  river,  in  general,  does  not  possess  as  fine 
views  as  the  eastern,  for  the  reason  that  all  our  own 
broken,  and  in  some  instances  magnificent  background  of 
mountains,  fills  up  the  landscape  for  our  neighbors,  while 
we  are  obliged  to  receive  the  picture  as  it  is  set  in  an  hum- 
bler frame  ;  but  there  are  exquisite  bits  to  be  found  on  the 
western  bank,  and  this  was  one  of  the  very  best  of  them. 
The  water  was  as  placid  as  molten  silver,  and  the  sails  of 
every  vessel  in  sight  were  hanging  in  listless  idleness  from 
their  several  spars,  representing  commerce  asleep.  Grace 
had  a  deep  feeling  for  natural  scenery,  and  she  had  a  bet- 
ter mode  of  expressing  her  thoughts,  on  such  occasions, 
than  is  usual  with  girls  of  fourteen.  She  first  drew  our  at- 
tention to  the  view  by  one  of  her  strong,  eloquent  bursts 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  97 

of  eulogium  ;  and  Lucy  met  the  remark  with  a  truthful, 
simple  answer,  that  showed  abundant  sympathy  with  the 
sentiment,  though  with  less  of  exaggeration  of  manner  and 
feeling,  perhaps.  I  seized  the  moment  as  favorable  for 
my  purpose,  and  spoke  out 

"If  you  admire  a  vessel  so  much,  Grace,"  I  said,  "you 
will  probably  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  think  of  becoming  a 
sailor." 

A  silence  of  near  two  minutes  succeeded,  during  which 
time  I  affected  to  be  gazing  at  the  distant  sloops,  and  then 
I  ventured  to  steal  a  glance  at  my  companion.  I  found 
Grace's  mild  eyes  earnestly  riveted  on  my  face  ;  and,  turn- 
ing from  their  anxious  expression  with  a  little  uneasiness, 
I  encountered  those  of  Lucy  looking  at  me  as  intently 
as  if  she  doubted  whether  her  ears  had  not  deceived 
her. 

"A  sailor,  Miles!" — my  sister  now  slowly  repeated — 
"  I  thought  it  settled  you  were  to  study  law." 

"  As  far  from  that  as  we  are  from  England  ;  I've  fully 
made  up  my  mind  to  see  the  world  if  I  can  ;  and  Rupert, 
here " 

"  What  of  Rupert,  here  ?  "  Grace  asked,  a  sudden  change 
again  coming  over  her  sweet  countenance,  though  I  was 
altogether  too  inexperienced  to  understand  its  mean- 
ing. "  He  is  certainly  to  be  a  clergyman — his  dear 
father's  assistant,  and  a  long,  long,  very  long  time  hence, 
his  successor." 

I  could  see  that  Rupert  was  whistling  on  a  low  key, 
and  affecting  to  look  cool  ;  but  my  sister's  solemn,  earnest, 
astonished  manner  had  more  effect  on  us  both,  I  believe, 
than  either  would  have  been  willing  to  own. 

"Come,  girls,"  I  said  at  length,  putting  the  best  face  on 
the  matter,  "  there  is  no  use  in  keeping  secrets  from  you. — 
out  remember  that  what  I  am  about  to  tell  you  is  a  se- 
cret, and  on  no  account  is  to  be  betrayed." 

"To  no  one  but  Mr.  Hardinge,"  answered  Grace.  "If 
you  intend  to  be  a  sailor,  he  ought  to  know  it." 

"That  comes  from  looking  at  our  duties  superficially" — 
I  had  caught  this  phrase.from  my  friend — "and  not  dis- 
tinguishing properly  between  their  shadows  and  their  sub- 
stance." 

"Duties  superficially!  I  do  not  understand  you,  Miles. 
Certainly  Mr.  Hardinge  ought  to  be  told  what  profession 
you  mean  to  follow.  Remember,  brother,  he  now  fills  the 
place  of  a  parent  to  you." 


28  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  He  is  not  more  my  parent  than  Rupert's— I  fancy  you 
will  admit  that  much  ! " 

"  Rupert,  again  !  What  has  Rupert  to  do  with  your  going 
to  sea  ?  " 

"  Promise  me,  then,  to  keep  my  secret,  and  you  shall 
know  all ;  both  you  and  Lucy  must  give  me  your  words. 
I  know  you  will  not  break  them  when  once  given." 

"  Promise  him,  Grace,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  low  tone,  and  a 
voice  that,  even  at  that  age,  I  could  perceive  was  tremu- 
lous. "If  we  promise,  we  shall  learn  everything,  and 
then  may  have  some  effect  on  these  headstrong  boys  by 
our  advice.'* 

"  Boys  I  You  cannot  mean,  Lucy,  that  Rupert  is  not 
to  be  a  clergyman — your  father's  assistant ;  that  Rupert 
means  to  be  a  sailor,  too  ?  " 

"One  never  knows  what  boys  will  do.  Let  us  promise 
them,  dear  ;  then  we  can  better  judge." 

"I  do  promise  you,  Miles,"  said  my  sister,  in  a  voice  so 
solemn  as  almost  to  frighten  me. 

"And  I,  Miles,"  added  Lucy  ;  but  it  was  so  low,  I  had 
to  lean  forward  to  catch  the  syllables. 

"This  is  honest  and  right  " — it  was  honest,  perhaps,  but 
very  wrong — -"and  it  convinces  me  that  you  are  both 
reasonable,  and  will  be  of  use  to  us.  Rupert  and  I  have 
both  made  up  our  minds,  and  intend  to  be  sailors." 

Exclamations  followed  from  both  girls,  and  another  long 
silence  succeeded. 

"  As  for  the  law,  hang  all  law  ! "  I  continued,  hemming, 
and  determined  to  speak  like  a  man.  "  I  never  heard  of  a 
Wallingford  who  was  a  lawyer." 

"But  you  have  loth  heard  of  Hardinges  who  were 
clergymen,"  said  Grace,  endeavoring  to  srnile,  though  the 
expression  of  her  countenance  was  so  painful  that  even 
now  I  dislike  to  recall  it. 

"And  sailors,  too,"  put  in  Rupert,  a  little  more  stoutly 
than  I  thought  possible.  "My  father's  grandfather  was 
an  officer  in  the  navy.'* 

"And  my  father  was  a  sailor  himself — in  the  navy,  too." 

"But  there  is  no  navy  in  this  country  now,  Miles,"  re- 
turned Lucy,  in  an  expostulating  tone. 

"What  of  that !  There  are  plenty  of  ships.  The  ocean 
is  just  as  big,  and  the  world  just  as  wide,  as  if  we  had  a 
navy  to  cover  the  first  I  see  no  great  objection  on  that 
account — do  you,  Ru  ? " 

"Certainly  not.     What  we  want  is,  to  go  to  sea,  and 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  29 

that  can  be  done  in  an  Indiaman,  as  well  as  in  a  man-of- 
war." 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  stretching  myself  with  a  little  importance. 
"  I  fancy  an  Indiaman,  a  vessel  that  goes  all  the  way  to 
Calcutta,  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  the  track  of 
Vasquez  de  Gama,  isn't  exactly  an  Albany  sloop." 

"  Who  is  Vasquez  de  Gama?"  demanded  Lucy,  with  so 
much  quickness  as  to  surprise  me. 

"Why,  a  noble  Portuguese,  who  discovered  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  and  first  sailed  round  it,  and  then  went  to  the 
Indies.  You  see,  girls,  even  nobles  are  sailors,  and  why 
should  not  Rupert  and  I  be  sailors  ? " 

"  It  is  not  that,  Miles,"  my  sister  answered  ;  "  every 
honest  calling  is  respectable.  Have  you  and  Rupert  spoken 
to  Mr.  Hardinge  on  this  subject  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly — not  spoken — hinted  only — that  is,  blindly 
— not  so  as  to  be  understood,  perhaps." 

"  He  will  never  consent,  boys  !  "  and  this  was  uttered  with 
something  very  like  an  air  of  triumph. 

"  We  have  no  intention  of  asking  it  of  him,  Grace. 
Rupert  and  I  intend  to  be  off  next  week,  without  saying 
a  word  to  Mr.  Hardinge  on  the  subject." 

Another  long,  eloquent  silence  succeeded,  during  which 
I  saw  Lucy  bury  her  face  in  her  apron,  while  the  tears 
openly  ran  down  my  sister's  cheek. 

"  You  do  not — cannot  mean  to  do  anything  so  cruel, 
Miles?"  Grace  at  length  said. 

"  It  is  exactly  because  it  will  not  be  cruel,  that  we  in- 
tend to  do  it."  Here  I  nudged  Rupert  with  my  elbow,  as 
a  hint  that  I  wanted  assistance  ;  but  he  made  no  other  re- 
ply than  an  answering  nudge,  which  I  interpreted  into  as 
much  as  if  he  had  said  in  terms,  "  You've  got  into  the 
scrape  in  your  own  way,  and  you  may  get  out  of  it  in  the 
same  manner."  "Yes,"  I  continued,  finding  succor  hope- 
less— "yes,  that's  just  it." 

"  What  is  just  it,  Miles  ?  You  speak  in  a  way  to  show 
that  you  are  not  satisfied  with  yourself — neither  you  nor 
Rupert  is  satisfied  with  himself,  if  the  truth  were  known." 

"  I  not  satisfied  with  myself!  Rupert  not  satisfied  with 
himself!  You  were  never  more  mistaken  in  your  life, 
Grace.  If  there  ever  were  two  boys  in  New  York  State 
that  were  well  satisfied  with  themselves  they  are  just  Ru- 
pert and  I." 

Here  Lucy  raised  her  face  from  her  apron  and  burst  into 
a  laugh  the  tears  filling  her  eyes  all  the  while. 


00  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  Believe  them,  dear  Grace,"  she  said.  "  They  are  pre« 
cisely  two  self-satisfied,  silly  fellows,  that  have  got  some  ri- 
diculous notions  in  their  heads,  and  then  begin  to  talk  about 
*  superficial  views  of  duties,'  and  all  such  nonsense.  My  fa- 
ther will  set  it  all  right,  and  the  boys  will  have  had  their  talk." 

"  Not  so  fast,  Miss  Lucy,  if  you  please.  Your  father  will 
not  know  a  syllable  of  the  matter  until  you  tell  him  all 
about  it,  after  we  are  gone.  We  intend  to  *  relieve  him 
from  all  responsibility  in  the  premises.'" 

This  last  sounded  very  profound,  and  a  little  magnifi- 
cent, to  my  imagination  ;  and  I  looked  at  the  girls  to  note 
the  effect.  Grace  was  weeping,  and  weeping  only  ;  but 
Lucy  looked  saucy  and  mocking,  even  while  the  tears  be- 
dewed her  smiling  face,  as  rain  sometimes  falls  while  the 
sun  is  shining. 

"  Yes,"  I  repeated,  with  emphasis,  "  'of  all  responsibility 
in  the  premises.'  I  hope  that  is  plain  English,  and  good 
English,  although  I  know  that  Mr.  Hardinge  has  been 
trying  to  make  you  both  so  simple  in  your  language,  that 
you  turn  up  your  noses  at  a  profound  sentiment,  whenever 
you  hear  one." 

In,  1797  the  grandiose  had  by  no  means  made  the  deep 
invasion  into  the  every-day  language  of  the  country,  that 
it  has  since  done.  Anything  of  the  sublime,  or  of  the 
recondite  school  was  a  good  deal  more  apt  to  provoke  a 
smile,  than  it  is  to-day — the  improvement  proceeding,  as  I 
have  understood  through  better  judges  than  myself,  from 
the  great  melioration  of  mind  and  manners  that  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  speeches  in  Congress,  and  to  profundities  of 
the  newspapers.  Rupert,  however,  frequently  ornamented 
his  ideas,  and,  I  may  truly  say,  everything  ambitious  that 
adorned  my  discourse  was  derived  from  his  example.  I 
almost  thought  Lucy  impertinent  for  presuming  to  laugh 
at  sentiments  which  came  from  such  a  source,  and,  by  way 
of  settling  my  own  correctness  of  thought  and  terms,  I 
made  no  bones  of  falling  back  on  my  great  authority,  by 
fairly  pointing  him  out. 

4<  I  thought  so  !  "  exclaimed  Lucy,  now  laughing  with  all 
her  heart,  though  a  little  hysterically  ;  "  I  thought  so,  for 
this  is  just  like  Rupert,  who  is  always  talking  to  me  about 

1  assuming   the   responsibility,'    and    '  conclusions   in   the 
premises,'  and*  all  such  nonsense.     Leave  the  boys  to  my 
father,  Grace,  and  he  will  'assume  the  responsibility'  of 
'concluding  the  premises,'  and  the  whole  of  the  foolish 
scheme  along  with  it !  " 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOXE.  31 

This  would  have  provoked  me,  had  not  Grace  mani- 
fested so  much  sisterly  interest  in  my  welfare  that  I  was 
soon  persuaded  to  tell  her — that  minx  Lucy  overhearing 
every  syllable,  though  I  had  half  a  mind  to  tell  her  to  go 
away — all  about  our  project 

"  You  see,".  I  continued,  "  if  Mr.  Hardinge  know  any- 
thing about  our  plan,  people  will  say  he  ought  to  have 
stopped  us.  *  He  a  clergyman,  and  not  able  to  keep  two 
lads  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  from  running  away  and  going 
to  sea  ! '  they  will  say,  as  if  it  were  so  easy  to  prevent  two 
spirited  youths  from  seeing  the  world.  Whereas,  if  he 
knew  nothing  about  it,  nobody  can  blame  him.  That  is 
what  I  call  '  relieving  him  from  the  responsibility.'  Now, 
we  intend  to  be  off  next  week,  or  as  soon  as  the  jackets 
and  trousers  that  are  making  for  us,  under  the  pretence  of 
being  boat-dresses,  are  finished.  We  mean  to  go  down  the 
river  in  the  sail-boat,  taking  Neb  with  us  to  bring  the  boat 
back.  Now  you  know  the  whole  story,  there  will  be  no 
occasion  to  leave  a  letter  for  Mr.  Hardinge  ;  for,  three 
hours  after  we  have  sailed,  you  can  tell  him  everything. 
We  shall  be  gone  a  year  ;  at  the  end  of  that  time  you  may 
look  for  us  both  ;  and  glad  enough  shall  we  all  be  to  see 
each  other.  Rupert  and  I  will  be  young  men  then,  though 
you  call  us  boys  now." 

This  last  picture  a  good  deal  consoled  the  girls.  Rupert 
too,  who  had  unaccountably  kept  back,  throwing  the  labor- 
ing-oar altogether  on  me,  came  to  the  rescue,  and,  with  his 
subtle  manner  and  oily  tongue,  began  to  make  the  wrong 
appear  the  right.  I  do  not  think  he  blinded  his  own  sister 
in  the  least,  but  I  fear  he  had  too  much  influence  over 
mine.  Lucy,  though  all  heart,  was  as  much  matter-of-fact 
as  her  brother  was  a  sophist.  He  was  ingenious  in  glozing 
over  truths  ;  she,  nearly  unerring  in  detecting  them.  I 
never  knew  a  greater  contrast  between  two  human  beings, 
than  there  was  between  these  two  children  of  the  same 
parents,  in  this  particular.  I  have  heard  that  the  son  took 
after  the  mother,  in  this  respect,  and  that  the  daughter 
took  after  the  father  ;  though  Mrs.  Hardinge  died  too  early 
to  have  had  any  moral  influence  on  the  character  of  her 
children. 

We  came  again  and  again  to  the  discussion  of  our  sub- 
ject during  the  next  two  or  three  days.  The  girls  en- 
deavored earnestly  to  persuade  us  to  ask  Mr.  Hardinge's 
permission  for  the  step  we  were  about  to  undertake  ;  but 
all  in  Vain.  We  lads  were  so  thoroughly  determined  to 


32  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"relieve  the  divine  from  all  the  responsibility  in  the  prem- 
ises," that  they  might  as  well  have  talked  to  stones.  We 
knew  these  just-minded,  sincere,  upright  girls  would  not 
betray  us,  and  continued  obdurate  to  the  last.  As  we  ex- 
pected, as  soon  as  convinced  their  importunities  were  use- 
less, they  seriously  set  about  doing  all  they  could  to  render 
us  comfortable.  They  made  us  duck  bags  to  hold  our 
clothes,  two  each,  and  mended  our  linen,  stockings,  etc., 
and  even  helped  to  procure  us  some  clothes  more  suited  to 
the  contemplated  expedition  than  most  of  those  we  already 
possessed.  Our  "  long  togs,"  indeed,  we  determined  to 
leave  behind  us,  retaining  just  one  suit  each,  and  that  of 
the  plainest  quality.  In  the  course  of  a  week  everything 
was  ready,  our  bags  well  lined,  being  concealed  in  the 
storehouse  at  the  landing.  Of  this  building  I  could  at  any 
moment  procure  the  key,  my  authority  as  -heir-apparent 
being  very  considerable,  already,  on  the  farm. 

As  for  Neb,  he  was  directed  to  have  the  boat  all  ready 
for  the  succeeding  Tuesday  evening,  it  being  the  plan  to 
sail  the  day  after  the  Wallingford  of  Clawbonny  (this  was 
the  name  of  the  sloop)  had  gone  on  one  of  her  regular 
trips,  in  order  to  escape  a  pursuit.  I  had  made  all  the  cal- 
culations about  the  tide,  and  knew  that  the  Wallingford 
would  go  out  about  nine  in  the  morning,  leaving  us  to  fol- 
low before  midnight.  It  was  necessary  to  depart  at  night 
and  when  the  wharf  was  clear,  in  order  to  avoid  observa- 
tion. 

Tuesday  was  an  uneasy,  nervous,  and  sad  day  for  us  all, 
Mr.  Hardinge  excepted.  As  the  last  had  not  the  smallest 
distrust,  he  continued  calm,  quiet,  and  cheerful  as  was  his 
wont.  Rupert  had  a  conscience-stricken  and  furtive  air 
about  him,  while  the  eyes  of  the  two  dear  girls  were  scarcely 
a  moment  without  tears.  Grace  seemed  now  the  most 
composed  of  the  two,  and  I  have  since  suspected  that  she 
had  had  a  private  conversation  with  my  ingenious  friend, 
whose  convincing  powers  were  of  a  very  extraordinary 
quality,  when  he  set  about  their  use  in  downright  earnest. 
As  for  Lucy,  she  seemed  to  me  to  have  been  weeping  the 
entire  day. 

At  nine  o'clock  it  was  customary  for  the  whole  family  to 
separate,  after  prayers.  Most  of  us  went  to  bed  at  that 
early  hour,  though  Mr.  Hardinge  himself  seldom  sought 
his  pillow  until  midnight.  This  habit  compelled  us  to  use 
a  good  deal  of  caution  in  getting  out  of  the  house,  in  which 
Rupert  and  myself  succeeded,  however,  without  discovery, 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  33 

just  as  the  clock  struck  eleven.  We  had  taken  leave  of 
the  girls  in  a  hasty  manner,  in  a  passage,  shaking  hands, 
and  each  of  us  kissing  his  own  sister,  as  he  affected  to  re- 
tire for  the  night.  To  own  the  truth,  we  were  much  grati- 
fied in  finding  how  reasonably  Grace  and  Lucy  behaved  on 
the  occasion,  and  not  a  little  surprised,  for  we  had  ex- 
pected a  scene,  particularly  with  the  former. 

We  walked  away  from  the  house  with  heavy  hearts,  few 
leaving  the  paternal  roof  for  the  first  time,  to  enter  upon 
the  chances  of  the  world,  without  a  deep  sense  of  the  de- 
pendence in  which  they  had  hitherto  lived.  We  walked 
fast  and  silently,  and  reached  the  wharf  in  less  than  half  an 
hour,  a  distance  of  near  two  miles.  I  was  just  on  the  point 
of  speaking  to  Neb,  whose  figure  I  could  see  in  the  boat, 
when  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  two  female  forms  within  six 
feet  of  us.  There  were  Grace  and  Lucy,  in  tears,  both 
waiting  our  arrival,  with  a  view  to  see  us  depart !  I  con- 
fess I  was  shocked  and  concerned  at  seeing  these  two  deli- 
cate girls  so  far  from  their  home,  at  such  an  hour  ;  and  my 
first  impulse  was  to  see  them  both  safely  back  before  I 
would  enter  tfre  boat  ;  but  to  this  neither  would  consent. 
All  my  entreaties  were  thrown  away,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
submit. 

I  know  not  Exactly  how  it  happened,  but  of  the  fact  I 
am  certain  ;  odd  as  it  may  seem,  at  a  moment  like  that, 
when  aboiit  to  separate,  instead  of  each  youth's  getting  his 
own  sister  aside  to  make  his  last  speeches,  and  say  his  last 
say  to,  each  of  us  got  his  friend's  sister  aside.  I  do  not 
mean  that  we  were  making  love,  or  anything  of  the  sort ; 
we  were  a  little  too  young,  perhaps,  for  that ;  but  we 
obeyed  an  impulse  which,  as  Rupert  would  have  said, 
"  produced  that  result." 

What  passed  between  Grace  and  her  companion,  I  do 
not  know.  As  for  Lucy  and  myself,  it  was  all  plain  sail- 
ing and  fair  dealing.  The  excellent  creature  forced  on  me 
six -gold  pieces,  which  I  knew  had  come  to  her  as  an  heir- 
loom from  her  mother,  and  which  I  had  often  heard  her 
declare  she  never  meant  to  use,  unless  in  the  last  extremity. 
She  knew  I  had  but  five  dollars  on  earth,  and  that  Rupert 
had  not  one  ;  and  she  offered  rne  this  gold.  I  told  her 
Rupert  had  better  take  it  ;  no,  I  had  better  take  it.  I 
should  use  it  more  prudently  than  Rupert,  and  would  use 
it  for  the  good  of  both.  "  Besides,  you  are  rich,"  she  said, 
smiling  through  her  tears,  "andean  repay  me — I  /<?#;/ them 
to  you  ;  to  Rupert  I  should  have  to  give  them."  I  could 


34 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


not  refuse  the  generous  girl,  and  took  the  money,  all  half- 
joes,  with  a  determination  to  repay  them  with  interest 
Then  I  folded  her  to  my  heart,  and  kissed  her  six  or  eight 
times  with  fervor,  the  first  time  I  had  done  such  a  thing  in 
two  years,  and  tore  myself  away.  I  do  not  think  Rupert 
embraced  Grace,  but  I  confess  I  do  not  know,  although  we 
were  standing  within  three  or  four  yards  of  each  other,  the 
whole  time. 

"  Write,  Miles — write,  Rupert,"  said  the  sobbing  girls, 
leaning  forward  from  the  wharf,  as  we  shoved  off.  It  was 
not  so  dark  but  we  could  see  their  dear  forms  for  several 
minutes,  or  until  a  bend  in  the  creek  put  a  dark  mass  of 
earth  between  us  and  them. 

Such  was  the  manner  of  my  departure  from  Clawbonny, 
in  the  month  of  September,  1797.  I  wanted  a  few  days  of 
being  seventeen  ;  Rupert  was  six  months  older,  and  Neb 
was  his  senior,  again,  by  near  a  twelvemonth.  Everything 
was  in  the  boat  but  our  hearts.  Mine,  I  can  truly  say,  re- 
mained with  the  two  beloved  creatures  we  left  on  the 
wharf  ;  while  Rupert's  was  betwixt  and  between,  I  fancy — 
seldom  absolutely  deserting  the  dear  tenement  in  which  it 
was  incased  by  nature. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  There's  a  youth  in  this  city,  it  were  a  great  pity 
That  he  from  our  lasses  should  wander  awa' ; 
For  he's  bonny  and  braw,  weel-favored  witha', 
And  his  hair  has  a  natural  buckle  and  a'. 
His  coat  is  the  hue  of  his  bonnet  so  blue  ; 
His  pocket  is  white  as  the  new-driven  snaw  ; 
His  hose  they  are  blae,  and  his  shoon  like  the  slae, 
And  his  clean  siller  buckles  they  dazzle  us  a'." — BURNS. 

WE  had  selected  our  time  well,  as  respects  the  hour  of 
departure.  It  was  young  ebb,  and  the  boat  floated  swiftly 
down  the  creek,  though  the  high  banks  of  the  latter  would 
have  prevented  our  feeling  any  wind,  even  if  there  were  a 
breeze  on  the  river.  Our  boat  was  of  some  size,  sloop- 
rigged  and  half-decked  ;  but  Neb's  vigorous  arms  made 
her  move  through  the  water  with  some  rapidity,  and,  to 
own  the  truth,  the  lad  sprung  to  his  work  like  a  true  run- 
away negro.  I  was  a  skilful  oarsman  myself,  having  re- 
ceived many  lessons  from  my  father  in  early  boyhood,  and 


A  FLOAT  A  ND  A  SHORE.  35 

being  in  almost  daily  practice  for  seven  months  in  the  year. 
The  excitement  of  the  adventure,  its  romance,  or  what  for 
a  short  time  seemed  to  me  to  be  romance,  and  the  secret 
apprehension  of  being  detected,  which  I  believe  accom- 
panies every  clandestine  undertaking,  soon  set  me  in  motion 
also.  I  took  one  of  the  oars,  and,  in  less  than  twenty  min- 
utes, the  Grace  and  Lucy,  for  so  the  boat  was  called, 
emerged  from  between  two  high,  steep  banks,  and  entered 
on  the  broader  bosom  of  the  Hudson. 

Neb  gave  a  half-suppressed,  negro-like  cry  of  exultation, 
as  we  shot  out  from  our  cover,  and  ascertained  that  there 
was  a  pleasant  and  fair  breeze  blowing.  In  three  minutes 
we  had  the  jib  and  mainsail  on  the  boat  ;the  helm  was  up, 
the  sheet  was  eased  off,  and  we  were  gliding  down-stream 
at  the  rate  of  something  like  five  miles  an  hour.  I  took 
the  helm,  almost  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  Rupert  being 
much  too  indolent  to  do  anything  unnecessarily,  while 
Neb  was  far  too  humble  to  aspire  to  such  an  office  while 
Master  Miles  was  there,  willing  and  ready.  In  that  day, 
indeed,  it  was  so  much  a  matter  of  course  for  the  skipper 
of  a  Hudson  River  craft  to  steer,  that  most  oi  the  people 
who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  stream  imagined  that  Sir 
John  Jervis,  Lord  Anson,  and  the  other  great  English  ad- 
mirals of  whom  they  had  read  and  heard,  usually  amused 
themselves  with  that  employment  out  on  the  ocean.  I  re- 
member the  hearty  laugh  in  which  my  unfortunate  father 
indulged,  when  Mr.  Hardinge  once  asked  him  how  he 
could  manage  to  get  any  sleep  on  account  of  this  very 
duty.  But  we  were  very  green,  up  at  Clawbonny,  in  most 
things  that  related  to  the  world. 

The  hour  that  succeeded  was  one  of  the  most  painful  I 
ever  passed  in  my  life.  I  recalled  my  father,  his  manly 
frankness,  his  liberal  bequests  in  my  favor,  and  his  pre- 
cepts of  respect  and  obedience  ;  all  of  which,  it  now  seemed 
to  me,  I  had  openly  dishonored.  Then  came  the  image  of 
my  mother,  with  her  love  and  sufferings,  her  prayers,  and 
her  mild,  but  earnest  exhortations  to  be  good.  I  thought 
I  could  see  both  these  parents  regarding  me  with  sorrow- 
ful, though  not  with  reproachful  countenances.  They  ap- 
E eared  to  be  soliciting  my  return  with  a  species  of  silent, 
ut  not  the  less  eloquent  warnings  of  the  consequences. 
Grace  and  Lucy,  and  their  sobs,  and  admonitions,  and  en- 
treaties to  abandon  my  scheme,  and  to  write,  and  not  to 
remain  away  long,  and  all  that  tender  interest  had  induced 
two  warm-hearted  girls  to  utter  at  our  parting,  came  fresh 


3tf  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

and  vividly  to  my  mind.  The  recollection  proved  nearly 
too  much  for  me.  Nor  did  I  forget  Mr.  Hardinge,  and 
the  distress  he  would  certainly  feel  when  he  discovered 
that  he  had  not  only  lost  his  ward,  but  his  only  son.  Then 
Clawbonny  itself,  the  house,  the  orchards,  the  meadows, 
the  garden,  the  mill,  and  all  that  belonged  to  the  farm  be- 
gan to  have  a  double  value  in  my  eyes,  and  to  serve  as  so 
many  cords  attached  to  my  heart-strings,  and  to  remind 
me  that  the  rover 

"  Drags  at  each  remove  a  lengthening  chain." 

I  marvelled  at  Rupert's  tranquillity.  I  did  not  then  under- 
stand his  character  as  thoroughly  as  I  subsequently  got  to 
know  it.  All  that  he  most  prized  was  with  him  in  the 
boat,  in  fact,  and  this  lessened  his  grief  at  parting  from 
less  beloved  objects.  Where  Rupert  was,  there  was  his 
paradise.  As  for  Neb,  I  do  believe  his  head  was  over  his 
shoulder,  for  he  affected  to  sit  with  his  face  down-stream, 
so  long  as  the  hills  that  lay  in  the  rear  of  Clawbonny 
could  be  at  all  distinguished.  This  must  have  proceeded 
from  tradition,  or  instinct,  or  some  latent  negro  quality  ; 
for  I  do  not  think  the  fellow  fancied  he  was  running  away. 
He  knew  that  his  two  young  masters  were  ;  but  he  was 
fully  aware  he  was  my  property,  and,  no  doubt,  thought, 
as  long  as  he  stayed  in  my  company,  he  was  in  the  line  of 
his  legitimate  duty.  Then  it  was  my  plan  that  he  should 
return  with  the  boat,  and,  perhaps,  these  backward  glances 
were  no  more  than  the  shadows  of  coming  events,  cast,  in 
his  case,  behind. 

Rupert  was  indisposed  to  converse,  for,  to  tell  the  truth, 
he  had  eaten  a  hearty  supper,  and  began  to  feel  drowsy  ; 
and  I  was  too  much  wrapped  up  in  my  own  busy  thoughts 
to  solicit  any  communications.  I  found  a  sort  of  saddened 
pleasure  in  setting  a  watch  for  the  night,  therefore,  which 
had  an  air  of  seaman-like  duty  about  it,  that  in  a  slight  de- 
gree revived  my  old  taste  for  the  profession.  It  was  mid- 
night, and  I  took  the  first  watch  myself,  bidding  my  two 
companions  to  crawl  under  the  half-deck  and  go  to  sleep. 
This  they  both  did  without  any  parley,  Rupert  occupying 
an  inner  place,  while  Neb  lay  with  his  legs  exposed  to  the 
night  air. 

The  breeze  freshened,  and  for  some  time  I  thought  it 
might  be  necessary  to  reef,  though  we  wrere  running  dead 
before  the  wind.  I  succeeded  in  holding  on,  however,  an^ 
I  found  the  Grace  and  Lucy  was  doing  wonders  in  mf 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  37 

watch.  When  I  gave  Rupert  his  call  at  four  o'clock,  the 
boat  was  just  approaching  two  frowning  mountains,  where 
the  river  was  narrowed  to  a  third  or  fourth  of  its  former 
width  ;  and,  by  the  appearance  of  the  shores,  and  the  dim 
glimpses  I  had  caught  of  a  village  of  no  great  size  on  the 
right  bank,  I  knew  we  were  in  what  is  called  Nevvburg 
Bay.  This  was  the  extent  of  our  former  journeyings  south, 
all  three  of  us  having  once  before,  and  only  once,  been  as 
low  as  Fishkili  Landing,  which  lies  opposite  to  the  place 
that  gives  this  part  of  the  river  its  name, 

Rupert  now  took  the  helm,  and  I  went  to  sleep.  The 
wind  still  continued  fresh  and  fair,  and  I  felt  no  uneasiness 
on  account  of  the  boat.  It  is  true,  there  were  two  parts  of 
the  navigation  before  us,  of  which  I  had  thought  a  little 
seriously,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  keep  me  awake.  These 
were  the  Race,  a  passage  in  the  Highlands,  and  Tappan 
Sea  ;  both  points  on  the  Hudson  of  which  the  navigators  of 
that  classical  stream  were  fond  of  relating  the  marvels.  The 
first  I  knew  was  formidable  only  later  in  the  autumn,  and, 
as  for  the  last,  I  -hoped  to  enjoy  some  of  its  wonders  in  the 
morning.  In  this  very  justifiable  expectation,  I  fell  asleep. 

Neb  did  not  call  me  until  ten  o'clock.  I  afterward  dis- 
covered that  Rupert  kept  the  helm  for  only  an  hour,  and 
then,  calculating  that  from  five  until  nine  were  four  hours, 
he  thought  it  a  pity  the  negro  should  not  have  his  share 
of  the  glory  of  that  night.  When  I  was  awakened,  it  was 
merely  to  let  me  know  that  it  was  time  to  eat  something 
— Neb  would  have  starved  before  he  would  precede  his 
young  master  in  that  necessary  occupation — and  I  found 
Rupert  in  a  deep  and  pleasant  sleep  at  my  side. 

We  were  in  the  centre  of  Tappan,  and  the  Highlands  had 
been  passed  in  safety.  Neb  expatiated  a  little  on  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  navigation,  the  river  having  many  windings, 
besides  being  bounded  by  high  mountains  ;  but,  after  all, 
he  admitted  that  there  was  water  enough,  wind  enough,  and 
a  road  that  was  plain  enough.  From  this  moment,  excite- 
ment kept  us  wide  awake.  Everything  was  new,  and  every- 
thing seemed  delightful.  The  day  was  pleasant,  the  wind 
continued  fair,  and  nothing  occurred  to  mar  our  joy.  I 
had  a  little  map,  one  neither  particularly  accurate,  nor  very 
well  engraved  ;  and  I  remember  the  importance  with  which, 
after  having  ascertained  the  fact  myself,  I  pointed  out  to  my 
two  companions  the  rocky  precipices  on  the  western  bank, 
as  New  Jersey  !  Even  Rupert  was  struck  with  this  im- 
portant circumstance.  As  for  Neb,  he  was  actually  in. 


38  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ecstasies,  rolling  his  large  black  eyes,  and  showing  his 
white  teeth,  until  he  suddenly  closed  his  truly  coral  ancj 
plump  lips,  to  demand  what  New  Jersey  meant.  Of  course 
I  gratified  this  laudable  desire  to  obtain  knowledge,  and 
Neb  seemed  still  more  pleased  than  ever,  now  he  had  ascer 
tained  that  New  Jersey  was  a  State.  Travelling  was  not 
as  much  of  an  every-day  occupation,  at  that  time,  as  it  is 
now  ;  and  it  was,  in  truth,  something  for  three  American 
lads,  all  under  nineteen,  to  be  able  to  say  that  they  had  seen 
a  State,  other  than  their  own. 

Notwithstanding  the  rapid  progress  we  had  made  fol 
the  first  few  hours  of  our  undertaking,  the  voyage  was  far 
from  being  ended.  About  noon  the  wind  came  out  light 
from  the  southward,  and,  having  a  flood- tide,  we  were 
compelled  to  anchor.  This  made  us  all  uneasy,  for,  while 
we  were  stationary,  we  did  not  seem  to  be  running  away. 
The  ebb  came  again,  at  length,  however,  and  then  we 
made  sail,  and  began  to  turn  down  with  the  tide.  It  was 
near  sunset  before  we  got  a  view  of  the  two  or  three  spires 
that  then  piloted  strangers  to  the  town.  New  York  was  not 
the  "commercial  emporium  "  in  1796  ;  so  high-sounding  a 
title,  indeed,  scarce  belonging  to  the  simple  English  of 
the  period,  it  requiring  a  very  great  collection  of  half-edu- 
cated men  to  venture  on  so  ambitious  an  appellation — the 
only  emporium  that  existed  in  America,  during  the  last 
century,  being  a  slop-shop  in  Water  Street,  and  on  the 
Island  of  Manhattan.  Commercial  emporium  was  a  flight 
of  fancy,  indeed,  that  must  have  required  a  whole  board  of 
aldermen,  and  an  extra  supply  of  turtle  to  sanction.  What 
is  meant  by  a  literary  emporium,  I  leave  those  editors  who 
are  "  native  and  to  the  manor  born,"  to  explain. 

We  first  saw  the  State  prison,  which  was  then  new,  and 
a  most  imposing  edifice,  according  to  our  notions,  as  we 
drew  near  the  town.  Like  the  gallows  first  seen  by  a 
traveller  in  entering  a  strange  country,  it  was  a  pledge  of 
civilization.  Neb  shook  his  head,  as  he  gazed  at  it,  with 
a  moralizing  air,  and  said  it  had  a  "  wicked  look." 

For  myself,  I  own  I  did  not  regard  it  altogether  without 
dread.  On  Rupert  it  made  less  impression  than  on  any  of 
the  three.  He  was  always  somewhat  obtuse  on  the  sub- 
ject of  morals.* 

*  It  may  be  well  to  tell  the  European  who  shall  happen  to  read  this 
book,  that  in  America  a  "State's  prison"  is  not  for  prisoners  of  state, 
but  for  common  rogues  ;  the  term  coming  from  the  name  borne  by  the 
local  governments. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


39 


New  York,  in  that  day,  and  on  the  Hudson  side  of  the 
town,  commenced  a  short  distance  above  Duane  Street. 
Between  Greenwich,  as  the  little  hamlet  around  the  State 
prison  was  called,  and  the  town  proper,  was  an  interval  of 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  open  fields,  dotted  here  and  there  with 
country  houses.  Much  of  this  space  was  in  broken  hills, 
and  a  few  piles  of  lumber  lay  along  the  shores.  St.  John's 
Church  had  no  existence,  and  most  of  the  ground  in  its 
vicinity  was  in  low  swamp.  As  we  glided  along  the 
wharves,  we  caught  sight  of  the  first  market  I  had  then  ever 
seen — such  proofs  of  an  advanced  civilization  not  having 
yet  made  their  way  into  the  villages  of  the  interior.  It 
was  called  "  The  Bear,"  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
first  meat  ever  exposed  for  sale  in  it  was  of  that  animal, 
but  the  appellation  has  disappeared  before  the  intellectual 
refinement  of  these  later  times — the  name  of  the  soldier 
and  statesman,  Washington,  having  fairly  supplanted  that 
of  the  bear  !  Whether  this  great  moral  improvement  was 
brought  about  by  the  Philosophical  Society,  or  the  Histor- 
ical Society,  or  "  The  Merchants,"  or  the  Aldermen  of  New 
York,  I  have  never  ascertained.  If  the  latter,  one  cannot 
but  admire  their  disinterested  modesty  in  conferring  this 
notable  honor  on  the  Father  of  his  Country,  inasmuch  as 
all  can  see  that  there  never  has  been  a  period  when  tneir 
own  board  has  not  possessed  distinguished  members,  every 
way  qualified  to  act  as  godfathers  to  the  most  illustrious 
markets  of  the  republic.  But  Manhattan,  in  the  way  of 
taste,  has  never  had  justice  done  it.  So  profound  is  its 
admiration  for  all  the  higher  qualities,  that  Franklin  and 
Fulton  have  each  a  market  to  himself,  in  addition  to  this 
bestowed  on  Washington.  Doubtless  there  would  have 
been  Newton  Market,  and  Socrates  Market,  and  Solomon 
Market,  but  for  the  patriotism  of  the  town,  which  has 
forbidden  it  from  going  out  of  the  hemisphere  in  quest  of 
names  to  illustrate.  Bacon  Market  would  doubtless  have 
been  too  equivocal  to  be  tolerated,  under  any  circum- 
stances. Then  Bacon  was  a  rogue,  though  a  philosopher, 
and  markets  are  always  appropriated  to  honest  people.  At 
all  events,  I  am  rejoiced  the  reproach  of  having  a  market 
called  "The  Bear"  has  been  taken  away,  as  it  was  tacitly 
admitting  our  living  near,  if  not  absolutely  in,  the  woods. 

We  passed  the  Albany  basin,  a  large  receptacle  for  North 
River  craft,  that  is  now  in  the  bosom  of  the  town  and  built 
on,  and  recognized  in  it  the  mast-head  of  the  Wallingford. 
Neb  was  shown  the  place,  for  he  was  to  bring  the  boat 


40  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

round  to  it,  and  join  the  sloop,  in  readiness  to  return  in 
her.  We  rounded  the  Battery,  then  a  circular  strip  of 
grass,  with  an  earthen  and  wooden  breastwork  running 
along  the  margin  of  the  water,  leaving  a  narrow  prome- 
nade on  the  exterior.  This  brought  us  to  Whitehall,  since 
so  celebrated  for  its  oarsmen,  where  we  put  in  for  a  haven. 
I  had  obtained  the  address  of  a  better  sort  of  sailor-tavern 
in  that  vicinity,  and,  securing  the  boat,  we  shouldered  the 
bags,  got  a  boy  to  guide  us,  and  were  soon  housed.  As  it 
was  near  night,  Rupert  and  I  ordered  supper,  and  Neb 
was  directed  to  pull  the  boat  round  to  the  sloop,  and  to 
return  to  us  in  the  morning ;  taking  care,  however,  not  to 
let  our  lodgings  be  known. 

The  next  day,  I  own  I  thought  but  little  of  the  girls, 
Clawbonny,  or  Mr.  Hardinge.  Neb  was  at  my  bedside 
before  I  was  up,  and  reported  the  Grace  and  Lucy  safe 
alongside  of  the  Wallingford,  and  expressed  himself  ready 
to  wait  on  me  in  my  progress  in  quest  of  a  ship.  As  this 
was  the  moment  of  action,  little  was  said,  but  we  all  break- 
fasted, and  sallied  forth,  in  good  earnest,  on  the  important 
business  before  us.  Neb  was  permitted  to  follow,  but  at 
such  a  distance  as  to  prevent  his  being  suspected  of  be- 
longing to  our  party — a  gentleman  with  a  serving-man  at 
his  heels,  not  being  the  candidate  most  likely  to  succeed 
in  his  application  for  a  berth  in  the  forecastle. 

So  eager  was  I  to  belong  to  some  sea-going  craft,  that  I 
would  not  stop  even  to  look  at  the  wonders  of  the  town 
before  we  took  the  direction  of  the  wharves.  Rupert  was 
for  pursuing  a  different  policy,  having  an  inherent  love  of 
the  genteeler  gayeties  of  a  town,  but  I  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  his  hints,  and  this  time  I  was  master.  He  followed  me 
with  some  reluctance,  but  follow  he  did,  after  some  remon- 
strances that  bordered  on  warmth,  Any  inexperienced 
eye  that  had  seen  us  passing,  would  have  mistaken  us  for 
two  well-looking,  smart  young  sailor  boys,  who  had  just  re- 
turned from  a  profitable  voyage,  and  who,  well-clad,  tidy, 
and  semi-genteel,  were  strolling  along  the  wharfs  as  admi- 
rateurs,  not  to  say  critics,  of  the  craft.  Admirateurs  we 
were,  certainly,  or  I  was,  at  least  ;  though  knowledge  was 
a  point  on  which  we  were  sadly  deficient. 

The  trade  of  America  was  surprisingly  active  in  1797. 
It  had  been  preyed  upon  by  the  two  great  belligerents  of 
the  period,  England  and  France,  it  is  true  ;  and  certain 
proceedings  of  the  latter  nation  were  about  to  bring  the 
relations  of  the  two  countries  into  a  very  embarrassed 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  41 

state  ;  but  still  the  shipping  interest  was  wonderfully  active, 
and,  as  a  whole,  singularly  successful.  Almost  every  tide 
brought  in  or  took  out  ships  for  foreign  ports,  and  scarce 
a  week  passed  that  vessels  did  not  arrive  from,  or  sail  for, 
all  the  different  quarters  of  the  world.  An  Indiaman, 
however,  was  our  object ;  the  voyage  being  longer,  the 
ships  better,  and  the  achievement  greater,  than  merely  to 
cross  the  Atlantic  and  return.  We  accordingly  proceeded 
toward  the  Fly  Market,  in  the  vicinity  of  which,  we  had 
been  given  to  understand,  some  three  or  four  vessels  of 
that  description  were  fitting  out.  This  market  has  since 
used  its  \vings  to  disappear,  altogether. 

I  kept  my  eyes  on  every  ship  we  passed.  Until  the  pre- 
vious day,  I  had  never  seen  a  square-rigged  vessel  ;  and  no 
enthusiast  in  the  arts  ever  gloated  on  a  fine  picture  or 
statue  with  greater  avidity  than  my  soul  drank  in  the  won- 
der and  beauty  of  every  ship  I  passed.  I  had  a  large,  full- 
rigged  model  at  Clawbonny  ;  and  this  I  had  studied  under 
my  father  so  thoroughly,  as  to  know  the  name  of  every 
rope  in  it,  and  to  have  some  pretty  distinct  notions  of  their 
uses.  This  early  schooling  was  now  of  great  use  to  me, 
though  I  found  it  a  little  difficult  at  first  to  trace  my  old 
acquaintances  on  the  large  scale  in  which  they  now  pre- 
sented themselves,  and  amid  the  intricate  mazes  that  were 
drawn  against  the  skies.  The  braces,  shrouds,  stays  and 
halyards,  were  all  plain  enough,  and  I  could  point  to  either, 
at  a  moment's  notice  ;  but  when  it  came  to  the  rest  of  the 
running  rigging,  I  found  it  necessary  to  look  a  little,  be- 
fore I  could  speak  with  certainty. 

Eager  as  I  was  to  ship,  the  indulgence  of  gazing  at  all  I 
saw  was  so  attractive,  that  it  was  noon  before  we  reached 
an  Indiaman.  This  was  a  pretty  little  ship  of  about  four 
hundred  tons,  that  was  called  the  John.  Little  I  say,  for 
such  she  would  now  be  thought,  though  a  vessel  of  her 
size  was  then  termed  large.  The  Manhattan,  much  the 
largest  ship  out  of  the  port,  measured  but  about  seven  hun- 
dred tons  ;  while  few  even  of  the  Indiamen  were  much  be- 
yond five  hundred.  I  can  see  the  John  at  this  moment, 
near  fifty  years  after  I  first  laid  eyes  on  her,  as  she  then 
appeared.  She  was  not  bright-sided,  but  had  a  narrow, 
cream-colored  streak,  broken  into  ports.  She  was  a  straight, 
black-looking  craft,  with  a  handsome  billet,  low,  thin  bul- 
warks, and  waist  cloths  secured  to  ridge-ropes.  Her  larger 
spars  were  painted  the  same  color  as  her  streak,  and  her 
stern  had  a  few  ornaments  of  a  similar  tint. 


42  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

We  went  on  board  the  John,  where  we  found  the  offu 
cers  just  topping  off  with  the  riggers  and  stevedores,  hav- 
ing stowed  all  the  provisions  and  water,  and  the  mere  trifle 
of  cargo  she  carried.  The  mate,  whose  name  was  Marble, 
and  a  well-veined  bit  of  marble  he  was,  his  face  resem- 
bling a  map  that  had  more  rivers  drawn  on  it  than  the  land 
could  feed,  winked  at  the  captain  and  nodded  his  head 
toward  us  as  soon  as  we  met  his  eye.  The  latter  smiled, 
but  did  not  speak. 

"Walk  this  way,  gentlemen — walk  this  way,  if  you 
please,"  said  Mr.  Marble,  encouragingly,  passing  a  ball  of 
spun-yarn,  all  the  while,  to  help  a  rigger  serve  a  rope. 
"  When  did  you  leave  the  country  ? " 

This  produced  a  general  laugh,  even  the  yellow  rascal 
of  a  mulatto,  who  was  passing  into  the  cabin  with  some 
crockery,  grinning  in  our  faces  at  this  salutation.  I  saw  it 
was  now  or  never,  and  determined  not  to  be  browbeaten, 
while  I  was  too  truthful  to  attempt  to  pass  for  that  I  was 
not. 

"  We  left  home  last  night,  thinking  to  be  in  time  to 
find  berths  in  one  of  the  Indiamen,  that  is  to  sail  this 
week." 

"  Not  this  week,  my  son — not  till  next"  said  Mr.  Marble, 
jocularly.  "  Sunday  is  the  day.  We  run  from  Sunday  to 
Sunday — the  better  day,  the  better  deed,  you  know.  How 
did  you  leave  father  and  mother  ?  " 

"  I  have  neither,"  I  answered,  almost  choked.  "  My 
mother  died  a  few  months  since,  and  my  father,  Captain 
Wallingford,  has  now  been  dead  some  years." 

The  master  of  the  John  was  a  man  of  about  fifty,  red- 
faced,  hard-looking,  pock-marked,  square-rigged,  and  of 
an  exterior  that  promised  anything  but  sentiment.  Feel- 
ing, however,  he  did  manifest,  the  moment  I  mentioned 
my  father's  name.  He  ceased  his  employment,  came  close 
to  me,  gazed  earnestly  in  my  face,  and  even  looked  kind. 

"Are  you  a  son  of  Captain  Miles  Wallingford?"  he 
asked  in  a  low  voice — "  of  Miles  Wallingford,  from  up  the 
river  ? " 

"  I  am,  sir  ;  his  only  son.  He  left  but  two  of  us,  a  son 
and  a  daughter  ;  and,  though  under  no  necessity  to  work 
at  all,  I  wish  to  make  this  Miles  Wallingford  as  good  a 
seaman  as  the  last,  and,  I  hope,  as  honest  a  man." 

This  was  said  manfully,  and  with  a  spirit  that  must  have 
pleased  ;  for  I  was  shaken  cordially  by  the  hand,  wel- 
comed on  board,  invited  into  the  cabin,  and  asked  to  take 


A F  10 AT  AND   ASHORE.  43 

a  seat  at  a  table  on  which  the  dinner  had  just  been  placed. 
Rupert,  of  course,  shared  in  all  these  favors.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  explanations.  Captain  Robbins  of  the  John 
had  first  gone  to  sea  with  my  father,  for  whom  I  believe 
he  entertained  a  profound  respect.  He  had  even  served 
with  him  once  as  mate,  and  talked  as  if  he  felt  that  he 
had  been  under  obligations  to  him.  He  did  not  question 
me  very  closely,  seeming  to  think  it  natural  enough  that 
Miles  Wallingford's  only  son  should  wish  to  be  a  sea- 
man. 

As  we  sat  at  the  table,  even,  it  was  agreed  that  Rupert 
and  I  should  join  the  ship,  as  green  hands,  the  very  next 
morning,  signing  the  articles  as  soon  as  we  went  on  shore. 
This  was  done  accordingly,  and  I  had  the  felicity  of  writ- 
ing Miles  Wallingford  to  the  roll  d'equipage,  to  the  tune 
of  eighteen  dollars  per  month — seamen  then  actually  re- 
ceiving thirty  and  thirty-five  dollars  per  month — wages. 
Rupert  was  taken  also,  though  Captain  Robbins  cut  him 
down  to  thirteen  dollars,  saying,  in  a  jesting  way,  that  a 
parson's  son  could  hardly  be  worth  as  much  as  the  son  of 
one  of  the  best  old  ship-masters  who  ever  sailed  out  of 
America.  He  was  a  shrewd  observer  of  men  and  things, 
this  new  friend  of  mine,  and  I  believe  understood  "  by  the 
cut  of  his  jib,"  that  Rupert  was  not  likely  to  make  a 
weather-earing  man.  The  money,  however,  was  not  of 
much  account  in  our  calculations  ;  and  lucky  enough  did 
I  think  myself  in  finding  so  good  a  berth,  almost  as  soon 
as  looked  for.  We  returned  to  the  tavern  and  stayed  that 
night,  taking^  formal  leave  of  Neb,  who  was  to  carry  the 
good  news  home,  as  soon  as  the  sloop  should  sail. 

In  the  morning  a  cart  was  loaded  with  our  effects,  the 
bill  was  discharged,  and  we  left  the  tavern.  I  had  the  pre- 
caution not  to  go  directly  alongside  the  ship.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  proceeded  to  an  opposite  part  of  the  town,  placing 
the  bags  on  a  wharf  resorted  to  by  craft  from  New  Jersey, 
as  if  we  intended  to  go  on  board  one  of  them.  The 
cartman  took  his  quarter,  and  drove  off,  troubling  himself 
very  little  about  the  future  movements  of  two  young  sail- 
ors. Waiting  half  an  hour,  another  cart  was  called,  when 
we  went  to  the  John,  and  were  immediately  installed  in 
her  forecastle.  Captain  Robbins  had  provided  us  both  with 
chests,  paid  for  out  of  the  three  months'  advance,  and  in 
them  we  iound  the  slops  necessary  for  so  long  a  voyage. 
Rupert  and  I  immediately  put  on  suits  of  these  new  clothes 
with  regular  little  round  tarpaulins,  which  so  much  altered 


44  AFLOAT  A"£)  ASVORL. 

us  in  appearance,  even  from  those  produced  by  our  Ulster 
County  fittings,  that  we  scarce  knew  each  other. 

Rupert  now  went  on  deck  to  lounge  and  smoke  a  cigar, 
while  I  went  aloft,  visiting  every  yard,  and  touching  all 
three  of  the  trucks,  before  I  returned  from  this,  my  explor- 
ing expedition.  The  captain  and  mates  and  riggers  smiled 
at  my  movements,  and  I  overheard  the  former  telling  his 
mate  that  I  was  "old  Miles  over  again."  In  a  word,  all 
parties  seemed  pleased  with  the  arrangement  that  had  been 
made.  I  had  told  the  officers  aft  of  my  knowledge  of  the 
names  and  uses  of  most  of  the  ropes  ;  and  never  did  I  feel 
so  proud  as  when  Mr.  Marble  called  out,  in  a  loud  tone — 

"  D'ye  hear  there,  Miles — away  aloft  and  unreeve  them 
fore-topgallant  halyards,  and  send  an  end  down  to  haul  up 
this  new  rope,  to  reeve  a  fresh  set." 

Away  I  went,  my  head  buzzing  with  the  complicated 
order,  and  yet  I  had  a  very  tolerable  notion  of  what  was  to 
be  done.  The  unreeving  might  have  been  achieved  by 
any  one,  and  I  got  through  with  that  without  difficulty  ; 
and,  the  mate  himself  helping  me  and  directing  me  from 
the  deck,  the  new  rope  was  rove  with  distinguished  success. 
This  was  the  first  duty  I  ever  did  in  a  ship,  and  I  was 
prouder  of  it  than  of  any  that  was  subsequently  performed 
by  the  same  individual.  The  whole  time  I  was  thus  occu- 
pied, Rupert  stood  lounging  against  the  foot  of  the  main- 
stay, smoking  his  cigar  like  a  burgomaster.  His  turn  came 
next,  however,  the  captain  sending  for  him  to  the  cabin, 
where  he  set  him  to  work  to  copy  some  papers.  Rupert 
wrote  a  beautiful  hand,  and  he  wrote  rapidly.  That  even- 
ing I  heard  the  chief  mate  tell  the  dickey  that  the  parson's 
son  was  likely  to  turn  out  a  regular  "  barber's  clerk  "  to 
the  captain.  "The  old  man,"  he  added  "makes  so  many 
traverses  himself  on  a  bit  of  paper,  that  he  hardly  knows 
at  which  end  to  begin  to  read  it ;  and  I  shouldn't  \vonder 
if  he  just  stationed  this  chap,  with  a  quill  behind  his  ear, 
for  the  v'y'ge." 

For  the  next  two  or  three  days  I  was  delightfully  busyy 
passing  half  the  time  aloft.  All  the  sails  were  to  be  bent 
and  I  had  my  full  share  in  the  performance  of  this  duty. 
I  actually  furled  the  mizzen-royal  with  my  own  hands—- 
the ship  carrying  standing  royals — and  it  was  said  to  be 
very  respectably  done  ;  a  little  rag-baggish  in  the  bunt, 
perhaps,  but  secured  in  a  way  that  took  the  next  fellow 
who  touched  the  gasket  five  minutes  to  cast  the  sail  loose. 
Then  it  rained,  and  sails  were  to  be  loosened  to  drv.  i 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  45 

let  everything1  fall  forward  with  my  own  hands,  and  when 
we  came  to  roll  up  the  canvas  again,  I  actually  managed 
all  three  of  the  royals  alone  ;  one  at  a  time,  of  course.  My 
father  had  taught  me  to  make  a  flat-knot,  a  bowline,  a 
clove-hitch,  two  half-hitches,  and  such  sort  of  things  ;  and 
I  got  through  with  both  a  long  and  a  short  splice  toler- 
ably well.  I  found  all  this,  and  the  knowledge  I  had 
gained  from  my  model  ship  at  home,  of  great  use  to  me  ; 
so  much  so,  indeed,  as  to  induce  even  that  indurated  bit  of 
mortality,  Marble,  to  say  I  "  was  the  ripest  piece  of  green 
stuff  he  had  ever  fallen  in  with." 

All  this  time  Rupert  was  kept  at  quill-driving.  Once 
he  got  leave  to  quit  the  ship — it  was  the  day  before  we 
sailed — and  I  observed  he  went  ashore  in  his  long  togs,  of 
which  each  of  us  had  one  suit.  I  stole  away  the  same 
afternoon  to  find  the  post-office,  and  work  up  stream  as 
far  as  Broadway,  not  knowing  exactly  which  way  to  shape 
my  course.  In  that  day  everybody  who  was  #/{ybody,  and 
unmarried,  promenaded  the  west  side  of  this  street,  from 
the  Battery  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  between  the  hours  of 
twelve  and  half-past  two,  wind  and  weather  permitting. 
There  I  saw  Rupert  in  his  country  guise,  nothing  remark- 
able, of  a  certainty,  strutting  about  with  the  best  of  them, 
and  looking  handsome  in  spite  of  his  rusticity.  It  was 
getting  late,  and  he  left  the  street  just  as  I  saw  him.  I 
followed,  waiting  until  we  got  to  a  private  place  before  I 
would  speak  to  him,  however,  as  I  knew  he  would  be  mor- 
tified to  be  taken  for  the  friend  of  a  Jack-tar  in  such  a 
scene. 

Rupert  entered  a  door,  and  then  reappeared  with  a  let- 
ter in  his  hand.  He,  too,  had  gone  to  the  post-office,  and 
I  no  longer  hesitated  about  joining  him. 

"  Is  it  from  Clawbonny  ? "  I  asked  eagerly.  "  If  so,  from 
Lucy,  doubtless?" 

"  From  Clawbonny — but  from  Grace,"  he  answered  with 
a  slight  change  of  color.  "  I  desire  the  poor  girl  to  let  me 
know  how  things  passed  off  after  we  left  them  ;  and  as  for 
Lucy,  her  pothooks  are  so  much  out  of  the  way,  I  never 
want  to  see  them." 

I  felt  hurt,  offended,  that  my  sister  should  write  to  any 
youngster  but  myself.  It  is  true  the  letter  was  to  a  bosom 
friend — a  co-adventurer,  one  almost  a  child  of  the  same 
family — and  I  had  come  to  the  office  expecting  to  get  a 
letter  from  Rupert's  sister,  who  had  promised,  while  weep- 
ing on  the  wharf,  to  do  exactly  the  same  thing  for  me  ;  but 


46  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

there  is  a  difference  between  one's  sister  writing  to  another 
young  man,  and  another  young  man's  sister  writing  to 
one's  self.  I  cannot  even  now  explain  it  ;  but  that  there  is 
a  difference  I  am  sure.  Without  asking  to  see  a  line  that 
Grace  had  written,  I  went  into  the  office,  and  returned  in 
a  minute  or  two,  with  an  air  of  injured  dignity,  holding 
Lucy's  epistle  in  my  hand. 

After  all,  there  was  nothing  in  either  letter  to  excite 
much  sensibility.  Each  was  written  with  the  simplicity, 
truth  and  feeling  of  a  generous-minded,  warm-hearted, 
female  friend,  of  an  age  not  to  distrust  her  own  motives, 
to  a  lad  who  had  no  right  to  view  the  favor  other  than  it 
was,  as  an  evidence  of  early  and  intimate  friendship.  But 
epistles  are  now  before  me,  and  I  copy  them  as  the  short- 
est way  of  letting  the  reader  know  the  effect  our  disappear- 
ance had  produced  at  Clawbonny.  That  of  Grace  was 
couched  in  the  following  terms  : 

"DEAR  RUPERT: — Clawbonny  was  in  commotion  at  nine 
o'clock  this  morning,  and  well  it  might  be  !  When  your 
father's  anxiety  got  to  be  painful,  I  told  him  the  whole 
and  gave  him  the  letters.  I  am  sorry  to  say  he  wept.  I 
wish  never  to  see  such  a  sight  again.  The  tears  of  two 
such  silly  girls  as  Lucy  and  I  are  of  little  account — but, 
Rupert,  to  behold  an  aged  man  we  love  and  respect  like 
him,  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  too,  in  tears  !  It  was  a  hard 
sight  to  bear.  He  did  not  reproach  us  for  our  silence, 
saying  he  did  not  see,  after  our  promises,  how  we  could 
well  do  otherwise.  I  gave  your  reasons  about  '  responsi- 
bility in  the  premises;'  but  I  don't  think  he  understood 
them.  Is  it  too  late  to  return  ?  The  boat  that  carried  you 
down  can  bring  you  back  ;  and  oh  !  how  much  rejoiced 
shall  we  all  be  to  see  you  !  Wherever  you  go  and  what- 
ever you  do,  boys — for  I  write  as  much  to  one  as  to  the 
other,  and  only  address  to  Rupert  because  he  so  earnestly 
desired  it — but  wherever  you  go,  and  whatever  you  do, 
remember  the  instructions  you  have  both  received  in  youth, 
and  how  much  all  of  us  are  interested  in  your  conduct  and 
happiness. 

"  Affectionately  yours, 

"  GRACE  WALLINGFORD. 

"  To  Mr.  Rupert  Hardinge." 

Lucy  had  been  less  guarded,  and  possibly  a  little  more 
honest.  She  wrote  as  follows  : 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  47 

'*  DEAR  MILES  : — I  believe  I  cried  for  one  whole  hour 
after  you  and  Rupert  left  us,  and,  now  it  is  all  over,  I  am 
vexed  at  having  cried  so  much  about  two  such  foolish  fel- 
lows. Grace  has  told  you  all  about  my  dear,  dear  father, 
who  cried  too.  I  declare,  I  don't  know  when  I  was  so 
frightened  !  I  thought  it  must  bring  you  back,  as  soon  as 
you  hear  of  it.  What  will  be  done  I  do  not  know  ;  but 
something,  I  am  certain.  Whenever  father  is  in  earnest  he 
says  but  little.  I  know  he  is  in  earnest  now.  I  believe 
Grace  and  I  do  nothing  but  think  of,  you  ;  that  is,  she  of 
you,  and  I  of  Rupert  ;  and  a  little  the  other  way,  too — so 
now  you  have  the  whole  truth.  Do  not  fail,  on  any  ac- 
count, to  write  before  you  go  to  sea,  if  you  do  go  to  sea, 
as  I  hope  and  trust  you  will  not.  Good  by. 

"Lucy  HARDINGE. 

"  To  Mr.  Miles  Wallingford. 

"  P.S.  Neb's  mother  protests,  if  the  boy  is  not  home  by 
Saturday  night,  she  will  go  after  him.  No  such  disgrace 
as  a  runaway  ever  befell  her  or  hers,  and  she  says  she  will 
not  submit  to  it.  But  I  suppose  we  shall  see  him  soon, 
and  with  him  letters." 

Now  Neb  had  taken  his  leave,  but  no  letter  had  been 
trusted  to  his  care.  As  often  happens,  I  regretted  the  mis- 
take when  it  was  too  late  ;  and  all  that  day  I  thought  how 
disappointed  Lucy  would  be,  when  she  came  to  see  the 
negro  empty-handed. 

Rupert  and  I  parted  in  the  street,  as  he  did  not  wish  to 
walk  with  a  sailor,  while  in  his  own  long  togs.  He  did  not 
say  as  much,  but  I  knew  him  well  enough  to  ascertain  it 
without  his  speaking.  I  was  walking  very  fast  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  ship,  and  had  actually  reached  the  wharves, 
when,  in  turning  a  corner,  I  came  plump  upon  Mr.  Har- 
dinge.  My  guardian  was  walking  slowly,  his  face  sorrow- 
ful and  dejected,  and  his  eyes  fastened  on  every  ship  he 
passed,  as  if  looking  for  his  boys.  He  saw  me,  casting  a 
vacant  glance  over  my  person  ;  but  I  was  so  much  changed 
by  dress,  and  particularly  by  the  little  tarpaulin,  that  he 
did  not  know  me.  Anxiety  immediately  drew  his  look 
toward  the  vessels,  and  I  passed  him  unobserved.  Mr. 
Hardinge  was  walking  from,  and  I  toward  the  John,  and 
of  course  all  my  risk  terminated  as  soon  as  out  of  sight. 

That  evening  I  had  the  happiness  of  being  under  way, 
in  a  real  full-rigged  ship.  It  is  true,  it  was  under  very 
short  canvas,  and  merely  to  go  into  the  stream.  Taking 


48  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

advantage  of  a  favorable  wind  and  tide,  the  John  left  the 
wharf  under  her  jib,  main-topmast  staysails,  and  spanker, 
and  dropped  down  as  low  as  the  Battery,  when  she  sheered 
into  the  other  channel  and  anchored.  Here  I  was,  then, 
fairly  at  anchor  in  the  stream,  half  a  mile  from  any  land 
but  the  bottom,  and  burning  to  see  the  ocean.  That  after- 
noon the  crew  came  on  board,  a  motley  collection  of  late- 
ly drunken  seamen,  of  whom  about  half  were  Americans, 
and  the  rest  natives  of  as  many  different  countries  as  there 
were  men.  Mr.  Marble  scanned  them  with  a  knowing 
look,  and,  to  my  surprise,  he  told  the  captain  there  was 
good  stuff  among  them.  It  seems  he  wras  a  better  judge 
than  I  was  myself,  fora  more  unpromising  set  of  wretches, 
as  to  looks,  I  never  saw  grouped  together.  A  few,  it  is 
true,  appeared  well  enough ;  but  most  of  them  had  the  air 
of  having  been  dragged  through — a  place  I  will  not  name, 
though  it  is  that  which  sailors  usually  quote  when  describ- 
ing themselves  on  such  occasions.  But  Jack,  after  he  has 
been  a  week  at  sea,  and  Jack  coming  on  board  to  duty  after 
a  month  of  excesses  on  shore,  are  very  different  creatures, 
morally  and  physically. 

I  now  began  to  regret  that  I  had  not  seen  a  little  of  the 
town.  In  1797  New  York  could  not  have  had  more  than 
fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  though  it  was  just  as  much  of 
a  paragon  then,  in  the  eyes  of  all  good  Americans,  as  it  is 
to-day.  It  is  a  sound  patriotic  rule  to  maintain  that  our 
best  is  always  the  best,  for  it  never  puts  us  in  the  wrong. 
I  have  seen  enough  of  the  world  since  to  understand  that 
we  get  a  great  many  things  wrong-end  foremost  in  this 
country  of  ours  ;  undervaluing  those  advantages  and  excel- 
lences of  which  we  have  great  reason  to  be  proud,  and  boast- 
ing of  others  that,  to  say  the  least,  are  exceedingly  equivo- 
cal. But  it  takes  time  to  learn  all  this,  and  I  have  no  in- 
tention of  getting  ahead  of  my  story,  or  of  my  country  ; 
the  last  being  a  most  suicidal  act. 

We  received  the  crew  of  a  Saturday  afternoon,  and  half 
of  them  turned  in  immediately.  Rupert  and  I  had  a  good 
berth,  intending  to  turn  in  and  out  together,  during  the 
voyage  ;  and  this  made  us  rather  indifferent  to  the  move- 
ments of  the  rest  of  our  extraordinary  associates.  The 
kid,  at  supper,  annoyed  us  both  a  little ;  the  notion  of  see- 
ing one's  food  in  a  round  trough,  to  be  tumbled  over  and 
cut  from  by  all  hands,  being  particularly  disagreeable  to 
those  who  have  been  accustomed  to  plates,  knives,  and 
forks,  and  other  such  superfluities.  I  confess  I  thought 


A  FLO  A  7^  AND  ASHORE.  49 

of  Grace's  and  Lucy's  little  white  hands,  and  of  silver 
sugar-tongs,  and  of  clean  plates  and  glasses,  and  table- 
cloths— napkins  and  silver  forks  were  then  unknown  in 
America,  except  on  the  very  best  tables,  and  not  always  on 
them,  unless  on  high-days  and  holidays — as  we  were  going 
through  the  unsophisticated  manipulations  of  this  first 
supper.  Forty-seven  years  have  elapsed,  and  the  whole 
scene  is  as  vivid  to  my  mind  at  this  moment  as  if  it  oc- 
curred last  night.  I  wished  myself  one  of  the  long-snouted 
tribe,  several  times,  in  order  to  be  in  what  is  called  "keep- 
ing." 

I  had  the  honor  of  keeping  an  anchor-watch  in  company 
with  a  grum  old  Swede,  as  we  lay  in  the  Hudson.  The 
wind  was  light,  and  the  ship  had  a  good  berth,  so  my  asso- 
ciate chose  a  soft  plank,  told  me  to  give  him  a  call  should 
anything  happen,  and  lay  down  to  sleep  away  his  two 
hours  in  comfort.  Not  so  with  me.  I  strutted  the  deck 
with  as  much  importance  as  if  the  weight  of  the  State  lay 
on  my  shoulders — paid  a  visit  every  five  minutes  to  the 
bows,  to  see  that  the  cable  had  not  parted,  and  that  the 
anchor  did  not  "come  home" — and  then  looked  aloft,  to 
ascertain  that  everything  was  in  its  place.  Those  were  a 
happy  two  hours ! 

About  ten  next  morning,  being  Sunday,  and,  as  Mr. 
Marble  expressed  it,  "the  better  day,  the  better  deed," the 
pilot  came  off,  and  all  hands  were  called  to  "up  anchor." 
The  cook,  cabin-boy,  Rupert,  and  I,  were  intrusted  with 
the  duty  of  "  fleeting  jig"  and  breaking  down  the  coils  of 
the  cable,  the  handspikes  requiring  heavier  hands  than  ours. 
The  anchor  was  got  in  without  any  difficulty,  however, 
when  Rupert  and  I  were  sent  aloft  to  loose  the  fore-top- 
sail. Rupert  got  into  the  top  via  the  lubber's  hole,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  and  the  loosing  of  the  sail  on  both  yard-arms 
fell  to  my  duty.  A  hand  was  on  the  fore-yard,  and  I  was 
next  ordered  up  to  loose  the  topgallant-sail.  Canvas  be- 
gan to  fall  and  open  all  over  the  ship,  the  topsails  were 
mast-headed,  and,  as  I  looked  down  from  the  foretop-mast 
cross-trees  where  I  remained  to  overhaul  the  clew-lines,  I 
saw  that  the  ship  was  falling  off,  and  that  her  sails  were 
filling  with  a  stiff  northwest  breeze.  Just  as  my  whole 
being  was  entranced  with  the  rapture  of  being  under  way 
for  Canton,  which  was  then  called  the  Indies,  Rupert 
called  out  to  me  from  the  top.  He  was  pointing  at  some 
object  on  the  water,  and,  turning,  I  saw  a  boat  within  a 
hundred  feet  of  the  ship.  In  her  was  Mr.  Hardin<re  who 


50  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

at  that  moment  caught  sight  of  us.  But  the  ship's  sails 
were  now  all  full,  and  no  one  on  deck  saw,  or  at  least 
heeded,  the  boat.  The  John  glided  past  it,  and,  the  last  I 
saw  of  my  venerated  guardian,  he  was  standing  erect, 
bareheaded,  holding  both  arms  extended,  as  if  entreating 
us  not  to  desert  him  !  Presently  the  ship  fell  off  so  much, 
that  the  after-sails  hid  him  from  my  view. 

I  descended  into  the  top,  where  I  found  Rupert  had 
shrunk  down  out  of  sight,  looking  frightened  and  guilty. 
As  for  myself,  I  got  behind  the  head  of  the  mast,  and  fairly 
sobbed.  This  lasted  a  few  minutes,  when  an  order  from 
the  mate  called  us  both  below.  When  I  reached  the  deck, 
the  boat  was  already  a  long  distance  astern,  and  had  evi- 
dently given  up  the  idea  of  boarding  us.  I  do  not  know 
whether  I  felt  the  most  relieved  or  pained  by  the  certainty 
of  this  fact. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune. 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows,  and  in  miseries. 
On  such  a  full  sea  are  we  now  afloat ; 
And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves, 
Or  lose  our  ventures." — Bruttis — Julius  C&sar. 

IN  four  hours  from  the  time  when  Rupert  and  I  last 
saw  Mr.  Hardinge,  the  ship  was  at  sea.  She  crossed  the  bar, 
and  started  on  her  long  journey,  with  a  fresh  northwester, 
and  with  everything  packed  on  that  she  would  bear.  We 
took  a  diagonal  course  out  of  the  bight  formed  by  the 
coasts  of  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey,  and  sunk  the  land 
entirely  by  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  I  watched  the 
highlands  of  Navesink,  as  they  vanished  like  watery  clouds 
in  the  west,  and  then  I  felt  I  was  at  last  fairly  out  of  sight 
of  land.  But  a  foremast-hand  has  little  opportunity  for 
indulging  in  sentiment  as  he  quits  his  native  shore  ;  and 
few,  I  fancy,  have  the  disposition.  As  regards  the  oppor- 
tunity, anchors  are  to  be  got  in  off  the  bows,  and  stowed  ; 
cables  are  to  be  unbent  and  coiled  down  ;  studding-gear  is 
to  be  hauled  out  and  got  ready  ;  frequently  boom-irons 
are  to  be  placed  upon  the  yards,  and  the  hundred  prepara- 
tions made,  that  render  the  work  of  a  ship  as  ceaseless  a 
round  of  activity  as  that  of  a  house.  This  kept  us  all  busy 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  5! 

until  night,  when  the  watches  were  told  off  and  set.  I  was 
in  the  larboard,  or  chief  mate's  watch,  having  actually 
been  chosen  by  that  hard-featured  old  seaman,  the  fourth 
man  he  named  ;  an  honor  for  which  I  was  indebted  to  the 
activity  I  had  already  manifested  aloft.  Rupert  was  less 
distinguished,  being  taken  by  the  captain  for  the  second 
mate's  watch,  the  very  last  person  chosen.  That  night  Mr. 
Marble  dropped  a  few  hints  on  the  subject,  which  let  me 
into  the  secret  of  these  two  selections.  "You  and  I  will 
get  along  well  together,  I  see  that  plainly,  Miles,"  he  said, 
"for  there's  quicksilver  in  your  body.  As  for  your  friend 
in  t'other  watch,  it's  all  as  it  should  be  ;  the  captain  has 
got  one  hand  the  most,  and  such  as  he  is,  he  is  welcome  to 
him.  He'll  blacken  more  writing  paper  this  v'y'ge,  I 
reckon,  than  he'll  tar  down  riggiri'."  I  thought  it  odd, 
however,  that  Rupert,  who  had  been  so  forward  in  all  the 
preliminaries  of  our  venture,  should  fall  so  far  astern  in  its 
first  practical  results. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  on  all  the  minute  inci- 
dents of  this,  my  first  voyage  to  sea,  else  would  it  spin  out 
the  narrative  unnecessarily,  and  render  my  task  as  fatig- 
uing to  the  reader  as  it  might  prove  to  myself.  One  occur- 
rence, however,  which  took  place  three  days  out,  must  be 
mentioned,  as  it  will  prove  to  be  connected  with  important 
circumstances  in  the  end.  The  ship  was  now  in  order, 
and  was  at  least  two  hundred  leagues  from  the  land,  hav- 
ing had  a  famous  run  off  the  coast,  when  the  voice  of  the 
cook,  who  had  gone  below  for  water,  was  heard  down 
among  the  casks,  in  such  a  clamor  as  none  but  a  black  can 
raise,  with  all  his  loquacity  awakened. 

"  There's  two  niggers  at  that  work  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Mar- 
ble, after  listening  an  instant,  glancing  his  eye  round  to 
make  certain  the  mulatto  steward  was  not  in  the  discus- 
sion. "  No  one  darkey  ever  could  make  all  that  outcry. 
Bear  a  hand  below,  Miles,  and  see  if  Africa  has  come 
aboard  us  in  the  night." 

I  was  in  the  act  of  obeying  when  Cato,  the  cook,  was 
seen  rising  through  the  steerage-hatch,  dragging  after  him 
the  dark  poll  of  another  black,  whom  he  had  gripped  by 
the  wool.  In  an  instant  both  were  on  deck,  when,  to  my 
astonishment,  I  discovered  the  agitated  countenance  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  Clawbonny.  Of  course  the  secret  was 
out,  the  instant  the  lad's  glistening  features  were  recog- 
nized. 

Neb,  in  a  word,  had  managed  to  get  on  board  the  ship 


52  AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORE. 

before  she  hauled  out  into  the  stream,  and  lay  concealed 
among  the  water-casks,  his  pockets  crammed  with  ginger- 
bread and  apples,  until  discovered  by  the  cook,  in  one  oi 
his  journeys  in  quest  of  water.  The  food  of  the  lad  had 
been  gone  twenty-four  hours,  and  it  is  not  probable  the 
fellow  could  have  remained  concealed  much  longer,  had 
not  this  discovery  taken  place.  The  instant  he  was  on 
deck,  Neb  looked  eagerly  around  to  ascertain  how  far  the 
ship  had  got  from  the  land,  and,  seeing  nothing  but  water 
on  every  side  of  him,  he  fairly  grinned  with  delight.  This 
exasperated  Mr.  Marble,  who  thought  it  was  adding  insult 
to  injury,  and  he  gave  the  lad  a  cuff  on  the  ear  that  would 
have  set  a  white  reeling.  On  Neb,  however,  this  sharp 
blow  produced  no  effect,  falling  as  it  did  on  the  impregna- 
able  part  of  his  system. 

"Oh  !  you're  a  nigger,  be  you  ?"  exclaimed  the  mate, 
waxing  warmer  and  warmer,  as  he  fancied  himself  baffled 
by  the  other's  powers  of  endurance.  "  Take  that,  and  let 
us  see  if  you're  fulUblooded  !  " 

A  smart  rap  on  the  shin  accompanying  these  words,  Neb 
gave  in  on  the  instant.  He  begged  for  mercy,  and  pro- 
fessed a  readiness  to  tell  all,  protesting  he  was  not  u  a  run- 
away nigger  " — a  term  the  mate  used  while  applying  the 
kicks. 

I  now  interfered  by  telling  Mr.  Marble,  with  all  the  re- 
spect due  from  a  green  hand  to  a  chief  mate,  who  Neb 
really  was,  and  what  I  supposed  to  be  his  motives  for  fol- 
lowing me  to  the  ship.  This  revelation  cost  me  a  good 
deal  in  the  end,  the  idea  of  Jack's  having  a  "  waiting-man  " 
on  board  giving  rise  to  a  great  many  jokes  at  my  expense 
during  the  rest  of  the  voyage.  Had  I  not  been  so  active, 
and  so  willing,  a  great  source  of  favor  on  board  a  ship,  it  is 
probable  these  jokes  would  have  been  much  broader  and 
more  frequent.  As  it  was,  they  annoyed  me  a  good  deal  ; 
and  it  required  a  strong  exercise  of  all  the  boyish  regard  I 
really  entertained  for  Neb,  to  refrain  from  turning-to  and 
giving  him  a  sound  thrashing  for  his  exploit,  at  the  first 
good  occasion.  And  yet,  what  was  his  delinquency  com- 
pared to  my  own  ?  He  had  followed  his  master  out  of 
deep  affection,  blended  somewhat,  it  is  true,  with  a  love  of 
adventure  ;  while  in  one  sense,  I  had  violated  all  the  ties 
of  the  heart,  merely  to  indulge  the  latter  passion. 

The  captain  coming  on  deck,  Neb's  story  was  told,  and, 
finding  that  no  wages  would  be  asked  in  behalf  of  this  ath- 
letic, healthy  young  negro,  he  had  no  difficulty  in  receiv 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  53 

Ing  him  into  favor.  To  Neb's  great  delight,  he  was  sent 
forward  to  take  his  share  on  the  yards  and  in  the  rigging, 
there  being  no  vacancy  for  him  to  fill  about  the  caboose, 
or  in  the  cabin.  In  an  hour  the  negro  was  fed,  and  he  was 
regularly  placed  in  the  starboard  watch.  I  was  rejoiced  at 
this  last  arrangement,  as  it  put  the  fellow  in  a  watch  dif- 
ferent from  my  own,  and  prevented  his  officious  efforts  to 
do  my  work.  Rupert,  I  discovered,  however,  profited  often 
by  his  zeal,  employing  the  willing  black  on  every  possible 
occasion.  On  questioning  Neb,  I  ascertained  that  he  had 
taken  the  boat  round  to  the  Wallingford,  and  had  made 
use  of  a  dollar  or  two,  I  had  given  him  at  parting,  to  board 
in  a  house  suitable  to  his  color,  until  the  ship  was  ready 
for  sea,  when  he  got  on  board,  and  stowed  himself  among 
the  water-casks,  as  mentioned. 

Neb's  apparition  soon  ceased  to  be  a  subject  of  discourse, 
and  his  zeal  quickly  made  him  a  general  favorite.  Hardy, 
strong,  resolute,  and  accustomed  to  labor,  he  was  early  of 
great  use  in  all  the  heavy  drags  ;  and  aloft,  even,  though 
less  quick  than  a  white  would  have  been,  he  got  to  be  ser- 
viceable and  reasonably  expert.  My  own  progress — and  I 
say  it  without  vanity,  but  simply  because  it  was  true — was 
the  subject  of  general  remark.  One  week  made  me  familiar 
with  the  running-gear  ;  and,  by  that  time,  I  could  tell  a 
rope  by  its  size,  the  manner  in  which  it  led,  and  the  place 
where  it  was  belayed,  in  the  darkest  night,  as  well  as  the 
oldest  seaman  on  board.  It  is  true,  my  model-ship  had 
prepared  the  way  for  much  of  this  expertness  ;  but  free 
from  all  sea-sickness,  of  which  I  never  had  a  moment  in 
Iny  life,  I  set  about  learning  these  things  in  good  earnest, 
and  was  fully  rewarded  for  my  pains.  I  passed  the  weather- 
earing  of  the  mizzen-topsail  when  we  had  been  out  a 
fortnight,  and  went  to  those  of  the  fore  and  main  before 
we  crossed  the  line.  The  mate  put  me  forward  on  all  oc- 
casions, giving  me  much  instruction  in  private  ;  and  the 
captain  neglected  no  opportunity  of  giving  me  useful 
hints,  or  practical  ideas.  I  asked,  and  was  allowed,  to  take 
my  regular  trick  at  the  wheel  before  got  into  the  latitude 
of  St.  Helena  ;  and  from  that  time  did  my  full  share  of 
seaman's  duty  on  board,  the  nicer  work  of  knotting,  splic- 
ing, etc.,  excepted.  These  last  required  a  little  more  time  ; 
but  I  am  satisfied  that,  in  all  things  but  judgment,  a  clever 
lad,  who  has  a  taste  for  the  business,  can  make  himself  a 
very  useful  and  respectable  mariner  in  six  months  of  active 
service. 


54  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

China  voyages  seldom  produce  much  incident.  If  the 
moment  of  sailing  has  been  judiciously  timed,  the  ship  has 
fair  winds  much  of  the  way,  and  generally  moderate 
weather.  To  be  sure,  there  are  points  on  the  long  road 
that  usually  give  one  a  taste  of  what  the  seas  sometimes 
are  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  a  Canton  voyage,  though  a  long 
one,  cannot  be  called  a  rough  one.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
we  had  gales,  and  squalls,  and  the  usual  vicissitudes  of  the 
ocean,  to  contend  with,  though  our  voyage  to  Canton 
might  have  been  called  quiet,  rather  than  the  reverse. 
We  were  four  months  under  our  canvas,  and,  when  we 
anchored  in  the  river,  the  clewing  up  of  our  sails,  and  get- 
ting from  beneath  their  shadows,  resembled  the  rising  of  a 
curtain  on  some  novel  scenic  representation.  John  China- 
man, however,  has  been  so  often  described,  particularly 
of  late,  that  I  shall  not  dwell  on  his  peculiarities.  Sailors, 
as  a  class,  are  very  philosophical,  so  far  as  the  pecul- 
iarities and  habits  of  strangers  are  concerned,  appear- 
ing to  think  it  beneath  the  dignity  of  those  who  visit  ail 
lands,  to  betray  wonder  at  the  novelties  of  any.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  no  man  on  board  the  John,  the  officers,  steward 
and  cook  excepted,  had  ever  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  before  this  voyage  ;  and  yet  our  crew  regarded  the 
shorn  polls,  slanting  eyes,  long  cues,  clumsy  dress,  high 
cheek-bones,  and  lumbering  shoes  of  the  people  they  now 
saw  for  the  first  time,  with  just  as  much  indifference  as 
they  would  have  encountered  a  new  fashion  at  home. 
Most  of  them,  indeed,  had  seen,  or  fancied  they  had  seen, 
much  stranger  sights  in  the  different  countries  they  had 
visited  ;  it  being  a  standing  rule  with  Jack  to  compress 
everything  that  is  wonderful  into  the  "  last  voyage  " — that 
in  which  he  is  engaged  for  the  present  time  being  usually 
set  down  as  commonplace,  and  unworthy  of  particular 
comment.  On  this  principle,  my  Canton  excursion  ought 
to  be  full  of  marvels,  as  it  was  the  progenitor  of  all  that  I 
subsequently  saw  and  experienced  as  a  sailor.  Truth  com- 
pels me  to  confess,  notwithstanding,  that  it  was  one  of  the 
least  wonderful  of  all  the  voyages  I  ever  made,  until  near 
its  close. 

We  lay  some  months  in  the  river,  getting  cargo,  receiv 
ing  teas,  nankins,  silks,  and  other  articles,  as  our  supercargo 
could  lay  hands  on  them.  In  all  this  time,  we  saw  just  a? 
much  of  the  Chinese  as  it  is  usual  for  strangers  to  see,  and 
not  a  jot  more.  I  was  much  up  at  the  factories  with  the 
captain,  having  charge  of  his  boat ;  and,  as  for  Rupert,  he 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  55 

passed  most  of  his  working-hours  either  busy  with  the  su- 
percargo ashore,  or  writing  in  the  cabin.  I  got  a  good  in- 
sight, however,  into  the  uses  of  the  serving-mallet,  the  fid, 
marlinspike  and  winch,  and  did  something  with  the  needle 
and  palm.  Marble  was  very  good  to  me,  in  spite  of  his 
nor'west  face,  and  never  let  slip  an  occasion  to  give  a  use- 
ful hint.  I  believe  my  exertions  on  the  outward-bound 
passage  fully  equalled  expectations,  and  the  officers  had  a 
species  of  pride  in  helping  to  make  Captain  Wallingford's 
son  worthy  of  his  honorable  descent.  I  had  taken  occa- 
sion to  let  it  be  known  that  Rupert's  great-grandfather  had 
been  a  man-of-war  captain  ;  but  the  suggestion  was  met 
by  a  flat  refusal  to  believe  it  from  Mr.  Kite,  the  second 
mate,  though  Mr.  Marble  remarked  it  might  be  so,  as  I  ad- 
mitted that  both  his  father  and  grandfather  had  been,  or 
were,  in  the  Church.  My  friend  seemed  fated  to  achieve 
nothing  but  the  glory  of  a  "barber's  clerk." 

Our  hatches  were  got  on  and  battened  down,  and  we 
sailed  for  home  early  in  the  spring  of  1798.  The  ship  had 
a  good  run  across  the  China  Sea,  and  reached  the  Indies 
in  rather  a  short  passage.  We  had  cleared  all  the  islands, 
and  were  fairly  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  when  an  adventure 
occurred,  which  was  the  first  really  worthy  of  being  related 
that  we  met  in  the  whole  voyage.  I  shall  give  it,  in  as  few 
words  as  possible. 

We  had  cleared  the  Straits  of  Sunda  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  had  made  a  pretty  fair  run  in  the  course  of  the 
day,  though  most  of  the  time  in  thick  weather.  Just  as 
the  sun  set,  however,  the  horizon  became  clear,  and  we  got 
a  sight  of  two  small  sail,  seemingly  heading  in  toward  the 
coast  of  Sumatra,  proas  by  their  rig  and  dimensions.  They 
were  so  distant,  and  were  so  evidently  steering  for  the 
land,  that  no  one  gave  them  much  thought,  or  bestowed 
on  them  any  particular  attention.  Proas  in  that  quarter 
were  usually  distrusted  by  ships,  it  is  true  ;  but  the  sea  is 
full  of  them,  and  far  more  are  innocent  than  are  guilty  of 
any  acts  of  violence.  Then  it  became  dark  soon  after  these 
craft  were  seen,  and  night  shut  them  in.  An  hour  after 
the  sun  had  set,  the  wind  fell  to  a  light  air,  that  just  kept 
steerage-way  on  the  ship.  Fortunately,  the  John  was  not 
only  fast,  but  she  minded  her  helm,  as  a  light-footed  girl 
turns  in  a  lively  dance.  I  never  was  in  a  better  steering 
ship,  most  especially  in  moderate  weather. 

Mr.  Marble  had  the  middle  watch  that  night,  and,  of 
course,  I  was  on  deck  from  midnight  until  four  in  the 


$6  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

morning.  It  proved  misty  most  of  the  watch,  and  for 
quite  an  hour  we  had  a  light  drizzling  rain.  The  ship  the 
whole  time  was  close-hauled,  carrying  royals.  As  every 
body  seemed  to  have  made  up  his  mind  to  a  quiet  night, 
one  without  any  reefing  or  furling,  most  of  the  watch  were 
sleeping  about  the  decks,  or  wherever  they  could  get  good 
quarters  and  be  least  in  the  way.  I  do  not  know  what  kept 
me  awake,  for  lads  of  my  age  are  apt  to  get  all  the  sleep 
they  can  ;  but  I  believe  I  was  thinking  of  Clawbonny,  and 
Grace,  and  Lucy  ;  for  the  latter,  excellent  girl  as  she  was, 
often  crossed  my  mind  in  those  days  of  youth  and  com- 
parative innocence.  Awake  I  was,  and  walking  in  the 
weather  gangway,  in  a  sailor's  trot.  Mr.  Marble,  he  I  do 
believe  was  fairly  snoozing  on  the  hen-coops,  being,  like 
the  sails,  as  one  might  say,  barely  "  asleep."  At  that 
moment  I  heard  a  noise,  one  familiar  to  seamen  ;  that  of 
an  oar  falling  in  a  boat.  So  completely  was  my  rnind  bent 
on  other  and  distant  scenes,  that  at  first  I  felt  no  surprise, 
as  if  we  were  in  a  harbor  surrounded  by  craft  of  various 
sizes,  coming  and  going  at  all  hours.  But  a  second 
thought  destroyed  this  illusion,  and  I  looked  eagerly  about 
me.  Directly  on  our  weather-bow,  distant,  perhaps,  a 
cable's  length,  I  saw  a  small  sail,  and  I  could  distinguish  it 
sufficiently  well  to  perceive  it  was  a  proa.  I  sang  out, 
"  Sail  ho  !  and  close  aboard  !  " 

Mr.  Marble  wras  on  his  feet  in  an  instant.  He  afterward 
told  me  that  when  he  opened  his  eyes,  for  he  admitted  this 
much  to  me  in  confidence,  they  fell  directly  on  the  stranger. 
He  was  too  much  of  a  seaman  to  require  a  second  look  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  was  to  be  done.  "  Keep  the  ship 
away — keep  her  broad  off  !  "  he  called  out  to  the  man  at 
the  wheel.  "  Lay  the  yards  square — call  all  hands,  one  of 
you.  Captain  Robbins,  Mr.  Kite,  bear  a  hand  up  ;  the 
bloody  proas  are  aboard  us  !  "  The  last  part  of  this  call 
was  uttered  in  a  loud  voice,  with  the  speaker's  head  down 
the  companion-way.  It  was  heard  plainly  enough  below, 
but  scarcely  at  all  on  deck. 

In  the  meantime  everybody  was  in  motion.  It  is  amaz- 
ing how  soon  sailors  are  wide  awake  when  there  is  really 
anything  to  do  !  It  appeared  to  me  that  all  our  people 
mustered  on  deck  in  less  than  a  minute,  most  of  them  with 
nothing  on  but  their  shirts  and  trousers.  The  ship  was 
nearly  before  the  wind  by  the  time  I  heard  the  captain's 
voice  ;  and  then  Mr.  Kite  came  bustling  in  among  us  for« 
ward,  ordering  most  of  the  men  to  lay  ?Jft  to  the  braces, 


AFLOAT  AlVD  ASHORE.  57 

remaining  himself  on  the  forecastle,  and  keeping  me  with 
him  to  let  go  the  sheets.  On  the  forecastle,  the  strange 
sail  was  no  longer  visible,  being  now  abaft  the  beam  ;  but 
I  could  hear  Mr.  Marble  swearing  there  were  two  of  them, 
and  that  they  must  be  the  very  chaps  we  had  seen  to  lee- 
ward, and  standing  in  for  the  land  at  sunset.  I  also  heard 
the  captain  calling  out  to  the  steward  to  bring  him  a 
powder-horn.  Immediately  after,  orders  were  given  to  let 
fly  all  our  sheets  forward,  and  then  I  perceived  that  they 
were  wearing  ship.  Nothing  saved  us  but  the  prompt  order 
of  Mr.  Marble  to  keep  the  ship  away,  by  which  means,  in- 
stead of  moving  toward  the  proas,  we  instantly  began  to 
move  from  them.  Although  they  went  three  feet  to  our 
two,  this  gave  us  a  moment  of  breathing  time. 

As  our  sheets  were  all  flying  forward,  and  remained  so 
for  a  few  minutes,  it  gave  me  leisure  to  look  about.  I  soon 
saw  both  proas,  and  glad  enough  was  I  to  perceive  that 
/hey  had  not  approached  materially  nearer.  Mr.  Kite  ob- 
served this  also,  and  remarked  that  our  movements  had 
been  so  prompt  as  to  "  take  the  rascals  aback."  He  meant 
they  did  not  exactly  know  what  we  were  at,  and  had  not 
kept  away  with  us. 

At  this  instant,  the  captain  and  five  or  six  of  the  oldest 
seamen  began  to  cast  loose  all  our  starboard,  or  weather 
guns,  four  in  all,  and  sixes.  We  had  loaded  these  guns 
in  the  Straits  of  Banca,  with  grape  and  canister,  in  readi- 
ness for  just  such  pirates  as  were  now  coming  down  upon 
us  ;  and  nothing  was  wanting  but  the  priming  and  a  hot 
loggerhead.  It  seems  two  of  the  last  had  been  ordered  in 
the  fire,  when  we  saw  the  proas  at  sunset,  and  they  were 
now  in  excellent  condition  for  service,  live  coals  being 
kept  around  them  all  night  by  command.  I  saw  a  cluster 
of  men  busy  with  the  second  gun  from  forward,  and  could 
distinguish  the  captain  pointmg  it. 

"  There  cannot  well  be  any  mistake,  Mr.  Marble  ? "  the 
captain  observed,  hesitating  whether  to  fire  or  not. 

"  Mistake,  sir  ?  Lord,  Captain  Robbins,  you  might  can- 
nonade any  of  the  islands  astern  for  a  week,  and  never 
hurt  an  honest  man.  Let  'em  have  it,  sir  ;  I'll  answer  for 
it,  you  do  good." 

This  settled  the  matter.  The  loggerhead  was  applied, 
and  one  of  our  sixes  spoke  out  in  a  smart  report.  A 
breathless  stillness  succeeded.  The  proas  did  not  alter 
their  course,  but  neared  us  fast.  The  captain  levelled  his 
night-glass,  and  !  heard  him  tell  Kite,  in  a  low  voice,  that 


58  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

they  were  full  of  men.  The  word  was  now  passed  to  cleaf 
away  all  the  guns,  and  to  open  the  arm-chest,  to  come  at 
the  muskets  and  pistols.  I  heard  the  rattling  of  the  board- 
ing-pikes, too,  as  they  were  cut  adrift  from  the  spanker- 
boom,  and  fell  upon  the  deck.  All  this  sounded  very 
ominous,  and  I  began  to  think  we  should  have  a  desperate 
engagement  first,  and  then  have  all  our  throats  cut  after- 
ward. 

I  expected  now  to  hear  the  guns  discharged  in  quick 
succession,  but  they  were  got  ready  only,  not  fired.  Kite 
went  aft,  and  returned  with  three  or  four  muskets,  and  as 
many  pikes.  He  gave  the  latter  to  those  of  the  people 
who  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  guns.  By  this  time  the 
ship  was  on  a  wind,  steering  a  good  full,  while  the  two 
proas  were  just  abeam,  and  closing  fast.  The  stillness 
that  reigned  on  both  sides  was  like  that  of  death.  The 
proas,  however,  fell  a  little  more  astern  ;  the  result  of  their 
own  manoeuvring,  out  of  all  doubt,  as  they  moved  through 
the  water  much  faster  than  the  ship,  seeming  desirous  of 
dropping  into  our  wake,  with  a  design  of  closing  under 
our  stern,  and  avoiding  our  broadside.  As  this  would 
never  do,  and  the  wind  freshened  so  as  to  give  us  four  or 
five  knot  way,  a  most  fortunate  circumstance  for  us,  the 
captain  determined  to  tack  while  he  had  room.  The  John 
behaved  beautifully,  and  came  round  like  a  top.  The 
proas  saw  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  and  attempted  to  close 
before  we  could  fill  again  ;  and  this  they  would  have  done 
with  ninety-nine  ships  in  a  hundred.  The  captain  knew 
his  vessel,  however,  and  did  not  let  her  lose  her  way,  mak- 
ing everything  draw  again  as  it  might  be  by  instinct.  The 
proas  tacked,  too,  and,  laying  up  much  nearer  to  the  wind 
than  we  did,  appeared  as  if  about  to  close  on  our  lee-bow. 
The  question  was,  now,  whether  we  could  pass  them  or 
not  before  they  got  near  enough  to  grapple.  If  the  pirates 
got  on  board  us,  we  were  hopelessly  gone  ;  and  everything 
depended  on  coolness  and  judgment.  The  captain  behaved 
perfectly  well  in  this  critical  instant,  commanding  a  dead 
silence,  and  the  closest  attention  to  his  orders. 

I  was  too  much  interested  at  this  moment  to  feel  the  con- 
cern  that  I  might  otherwise  have  experienced.  On  the 
forecastle,  it  appeared  to  us  all  that  we  should  be  boarded 
in  a  minute,  for  one  of  the  proas  was  actually  within  a 
hundred  feet,  though  losing  her  advantage  a  little  by  get- 
ting under  the  lee  of  our  sails.  Kite  had  ordered  us  to 
muster  forward  of  the  rigging,  to  meet  the  expected  leap 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHOKE.  59 

with  a  discharge  of  muskets,  and  then  to  present  our  pikes, 
when  I  felt  an  arm  thrown  around  my  body,  and  was  turned 
in-board,  while  another  person  assumed  my  place.  This 
was  Neb,  who  had  thus  coolly  thrust  himself  before  me,  in 
order  to  meet  the  danger  first.  I  felt  vexed,  even  while 
touched  with  the  fellow's  attachment  and  self-devotion, 
but  had  no  time  to  betray  either  feeling  before  the  crews 
of  the  proas  gave  a  yell,  and  discharged  some  fifty  or  sixty 
matchlocks  at  us.  The  air  was  full  of  bullets,  but  they 
all  went  over  our  heads.  Not  a  soul  on  board  the  John 
was  hurt.  On  our  side,  we  gave  the  gentlemen  the  four 
sixes,  two  at  the  nearest  and  two  at  the  sternmost  proa, 
which  was  still  near  a  cable's  length  distant.  As  often  hap- 
pens, the  one  seemingly  furthest  from  danger,  fared  the 
worst.  Our  grape  and  canister  had  room  to  scatter,  and  I 
can  at  this  distant  day  still  hear  the  shrieks  that  arose  from 
that  craft !  They  were  like  the  yells  of  fiends  in  anguish. 
The  effect  on  that  proa  was  instantaneous  ;  instead  of  keep- 
ing on  after  her  consort,  she  wore  short  round  on  her  heel, 
and  stood  away  in  our  wake,  on  the  other  tack,  apparently 
to  get  out  of  the  range  of  our  fire. 

I  doubt  if  we  touched  a  man  in  the  nearest  proa.  At  any 
rate,  no  noise  proceeded  from  her,  and  she  came  up  under 
our  bows  fast.  As  every  gun  was  discharged,  and  there 
was  not  time  to  load  them,  all  now  depended  on  repelling 
the  boarders.  Part  of  our  people  mustered  in  the  waist 
where  it  was  expected  the  proa  would  fall  alongside,  and 
part  on  the  forecastle.  Just  as  this  distribution  was  made, 
the  pirates  cast  their  grapnel.  It  was  admirably  thrown, 
but  caught  only  by  a  ratlin.  I  saw  ihis,  and  was  about  to 
jump  into  the  rigging  to  try  what  I  could  do  to  clear  if 
when  Neb  again  went  ahead  of  me,  and  cut  the  ratlin  with 
his  knife.  This  wras  just  as  the  pirates  had  abandoned 
sails  and  oars,  and  had  risen  to  haul  up  alongside.  So  sud- 
den was  the  release,  that  twenty  of  them  fell  over  by 
their  own  efforts.  In  this  state  the  ship  passed  ahead,  all 
her  canvas  being  full,  leaving  the  proa  motionless  in  her 
wake.  In  passing,  however,  the  two  vessels  were  so  near, 
that  those  aft  in  the  John  distinctly  saw  the  swarthy  faces 
of  their  enemies. 

We  were  no  sooner  clear  of  the  proas  than  the  order  was 
given,  "  ready  about ! '  The  helm  was  put  down,  and  the 
ship  came  into  the  wind  in  a  minute.  As  we  came  square 
with  the  two  proas,  all  our  larboard  guns  were  given  to 
them,  and  this  ended  the  affair.  I  think  the  nearest  of  the 


60  AFLOAT   AND  ASHORE. 

rascals  got  it  this  time,  for  away  she  went,  after  her  con- 
sort, both  running  off  toward  the  islands.  We  made  a 
little  show  of  chasing,  but  it  was  only  a  feint ;  for  we  were 
too  glad  to  get  away  from  them,  to  be  in  earnest.  In  ten 
minutes  after  we  tacked  the  last  time,  we  ceased  firing, 
having  thrown  some  eight  or  ten  round-shot  after  the 
proas,  and  were  close-hauled  again,  heading  to  the  south- 
west. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  we  went  to  sleep  again  imme- 
diately. Neb  was  the  only  man  on  board  who  did,  but  he 
never  missed  an  occasion  to  eat  or  sleep.  The  captain 
praised  us,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course  in  that  day,  he  called 
all  hands  to  "  splice  the  main-brace."  After  this,  the  watch 
was  told  to  go  below,  as  regularly  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened. As  for  the  captain  himself,  he  and  Mr.  Marble  and 
Mr.  Kite  went  prying  about  the  ship  to  ascertain  if  any- 
thing material  had  been  cut  by  what  the  chief  mate  called 
"the  bloody  Indian  matchlocks."  A  little  running-rig- 
ging had  suffered,  and  we  had  to  reeve  a  few  new  ropes  in 
the  morning  ;  but  this  terminated  the  affair. 

I  need  hardly  say,  all  hands  of  us  were  exceedingly 
proud  of  our  exploit.  Everybody  was  praised  but  Neb 
who,  being  a  "  nigger,"  was  in  some  way  or  other  over- 
looked. I  mentioned  his  courage  and  readiness  to  Mr 
Marble,  but  I  could  excite  in  no  one  else  the  same  respect 
for  the  poor  fellow's  conduct  that  I  certainly  felt  myself. 
I  have  since  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  as  the  gold  of 
the  rich  attracts  to  itself  the  gold  of  the  poor,  so  do  the 
deeds  of  the  unknown  go  to  swell  the  fame  of  the  known. 
This  is  as  true  of  nations,  and  races,  and  families,  as  it  is 
of  individuals  ;  poor  Neb  belonging  to  a  proscribed  color, 
it  was  not  in  reason  to  suppose  he  could  ever  acquire  ex- 
actly the  same  credit  as  a  white  man. 

''Them  darkeys  do  sometimes  blunder  on  a  lucky  idee," 
answered  Mr.  Marble  to  one  of  my  earnest  representations, 
"and  I've  known  chaps  among  'em  that  were  almost  as 
knowing  as  dullish  whites  :  but  everything  out  of  the  com- 
mon way  with  'em  is  pretty  much  chance.  As  for  Neb, 
however,  I  will  say  this  for  him  :  that,  for  a  nigger,  he 
takes  things  quicker  than  any  of  his  color  I  ever  sailed 
with.  Then  he  has  no  sa'ce,  and  that  is  a  good  deal  with 
a  black.  White  sa'ce  is  bad  enough  ;  but  that  of  a  nigger 
is  unbearable." 

Alas  !  Neb.  Born  in  slavery,  accustomed  to  consider  it 
arrogance  to  think  of  receiving  even  his  food  until  the? 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  6i 

meanest  white  has  satisfied  his  appetite,  submissive,  un- 
repining,  laborious,  and  obedient — the  highest  eulogium 
that  all  these  patient  and  unobtrusive  qualities  could  ob- 
tain, was  a  reluctant  acknowledgment  that  he  had  "no 
sa'ce."  His  quickness  and  courage  saved  the  John,  never- 
theless ;  and  I  have  always  said  it,  and  ever  shall. 

A  day  after  the  affair  of  the  proas,  all  hands  of  us  began 
to  brag.  Even  the  captain  was  a  little  seized  with  this 
mania  ;  and,  as  for  Marble,  he  was  taken  so  badly,  that, 
had  I  not  known  he  behaved  well  in  the  emergency,  I  cer- 
tainly should  have  set  him  down  as  a  Bobadil.  Rupert 
manifested  this  feeling,  too,  though  I  heard  he  did  his  duty 
that  night.  The  result  of  all  the  talk  was  to  convert  the 
affair  into  a  very  heroic  exploit  ;  and  it  subsequently 
figured  in  the  journals  as  one  of  the  deeds  that  illustrate 
the  American  name. 

From  the  time  we  were  rid  of  the  proas,  the  ship  got 
along  famously  until  we  were  as  far  west  as  about  52°, 
when  the  wind  came  light  from  the  southward  and  west- 
ward, with  thick  wreather.  The  captain  had  been  two  or 
three  times  caught  in  here,  and  he  took  it  into  his  head 
that  the  currents  would  prove  more  favorable,  could  he 
stand  in  closer  to  the  coast  of  Madagascar  than  common. 
Accordingly,  we  brought  the  ship  on  a  bowline,  and  headed 
up  well  to  the  northward  and  westward.  We  were  a  week 
on  this  tack,  making  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  miles  a  day, 
expecting  hourly  to  see  the  land.  At  length  we  made  it, 
enormously  high  mountains,  apparently  a  long  distance 
from  us,  though,  as  we  afterward  ascertained,  a  long  dis- 
tance inland  ;  and  we  continued  to  near  it.  The  captain 
had  a  theory  of  his  own  about  the  currents  of  this  part  of 
the  ocean,  and,  having  set  one  of  the  peaks  by  compass,  at 
the  time  the  land  was  seen,  he  soon  convinced  himself, 
and  everybody  else  whom  he  tried  to  persuade,  Marble  ex- 
cepted,  that  we  were  setting  to  windward  with  visible 
speed.  Captain  Robbins  was  a  well-meaning,  but  some- 
what dull  man  ;  and,  when  dull  men  become  theorists,  they 
usually  make  sad  work  with  the  practice. 

All  that  night  we  stood  on  to  the  northward  and  west- 
ward, though  Mr.  Marble  had  ventured  a  remonstrance 
concerning  a  certain  headland  that  was  just  visible,  a  little 
on  our  weather-bow.  The  captain  snapped  his  fingers  at 
this,  however  ;  laying  down  a  course  of  reasoning  which, 
if  it  were  worth  anything,  ought  to  have  convinced  the 
mate  that,  the  weatherly  set  of  the  current  would  carry  us 


62  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ten  leagues  to  the  southward  and  westward  of  that  cape 
before  morning.  On  this  assurance  we  prepared  to  pass  a 
quiet  and  comfortable  night. 

I  had  the  morning  watch,  and  when  I  came  on  deck,  at 
four,  there  was  no  change  in  the  weather.  Mr.  Marble 
soon  appeared,  and  he  walked  into  the  waist,  where  I 
was  leaning  on  the  weather-rail,  and  fell  into  discourse. 
This  he  often  did,  sometimes  so  far  forgetting  the  differ- 
ence in  our  stations  afloat — not  ashore  ;  there  I  had  consid- 
erably the  advantage  of  him — as  occasionally  to  call  me 
"sir."  I  always  paid  for  this  inadvertency,  however,  it 
usually  putting  a  stop  to  the  communications  for  the  time 
being.  In  one  instance  he  took  such  prompt  revenge  for 
this  implied  admission  of  equality,  as  literally  to  break  off 
short  in  the  discourse,  and  to  order  me,  in  his  sharpest  key, 
to  go  aloft  and  send  some  studding-sails  on  deck,  though 
they  all  had  to  be  sent  aloft  again  and  set,  in  the  course  of 
the  same  watch.  But  offended  dignity  is  seldom  consider- 
ate, and  not  always  consistent. 

"A  quiet  night,  Master  Miles" — -this  the  mate  could  call 
me,  as  it  implied  superiority  on  his  part — "  a  quiet  night, 
Master  Miles,"  commenced  Mr.  Marble,  "and  a  strong 
westerly  current,  accordin'  to  Captain  Robbins.  Well,  to 
my  taste,  gooseberries  are  better  than  currents,  and  I'd  go 
about.  That's  my  manner  of  generalizing." 

"  The  captain,  I  suppose,  sir,  from  that,  is  of  a  different 
opinion  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,  somewhatish — though  I  don't  think  he  knows 
himself  exactly  what  his  own  opinion  is.  This  is  the  third 
v'y'ge  I've  sailed  with  the  old  gentleman,  and  he  is  half 
his  time  in  a  fog  or  a  current.  Now  it's  his  idee  the  ocean 
is  full  of  Mississippi  rivers,  and  if  one  could  only  find  the 
head  of  a  stream,  he  might  go  round  the  world  in  it.  More 
particularly  does  he  hold  that  there  is  no  fear  of  the  land 
when  in  a  current,  as  a  stream  never  sets  on  shore.  For 
my  part,  I  never  want  any  better  hand-lead  than  my 
nose." 

"  Nose,  Mr.  Marble  ?  " 

"  Yes,  nose,  Master  Miles.  Haven't  you  remarked  how 
far  we  smelt  the  Injees,  as  we  went  through  the  islands?" 

"  It  is  true,  sir,  the  Spice  Islands,  and  all  land,  they  say 

"What  the  devil's  that?"  asked  the  mate,  evidently 
startled  at  something  he  heard,  though  he  appeared  to  smell 
nothing,  unless,  indeed,  it  might  be  a  rat. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  63 

"  It  sounds  like  water  washing  on  rocks,  sir,  as  much  as 
anything  I  ever  heard  in  my  life  !  " 

"  Ready  about !  "  shouted  the  mate.  "  Run  down  and 
call  the  captain,  Miles — hard  a-lee — start  everybody  up, 
forward." 

A  scene  of  confusion  followed,  in  the  midst  of  which  the 
captain,  second  mate,  and  the  watch  below,  appeared  on 
deck.  Captain  Robbins  took  command,  of  course,  and 
was  in  time  to  haul  the  after-yards,  the  ship  coming  round 
slowly  in  so  light  a  wind.  Come  round  she  did,  however, 
and,  when  her  head  was  fairly  to  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, the  captain  demanded  an  explanation.  Mr.  Marble 
did  not  feel  disposed  to  trust  his  nose  any  longer,  but  he 
invited  the  captain  to  use  his  ears.  This  all  hands  did, 
and,  if  sounds  could  be  trusted,  we  had  a  pretty  lot  of 
breakers  seemingly  all  around  us. 

"  We  surely  can  go  out  the  way  we  came  in,  Mr.  Mar- 
ble !  "  said  the  captain,  anxiously. 

"  Yes,  sir,  if  there  were  no  current;  but  one  never  knows 
where  a  bloody  current  will  carry  him  in  the  dark." 

"  Stand  by  to  let  the  anchor  !  "  cried  the  captain.  "  Let 
run  and  clew  up,  forward  and  aft.  Let  go  as  soon  as 
you're  ready,  Mr.  Kite." 

Luckily,  we  had  kept  a  cable  bent  as  we  came  through 
the  straits,  and,  not  knowing  but  we  might  touch  at  the 
Isle  of  France,  it  was  still  bent,  with  the  anchor  fished. 
We  had  talked  of  stowing  the  latter  in-board,  but,  having 
land  in  sight,  it  was  not  done.  In  two  minutes,  it  was  a- 
cock-bill,  and,  in  two  more,  let  go.  None  knew  whether 
we  should  find  a  bottom  ;  but  Kite  soon  sung  out  to  "  snub," 
the  anchor  being  down,  with  only  six  fathoms  out.  The 
lead  corroborated  this,  and  we  had  the  comfortable  assur- 
ance of  being  not  only  among  breakers,  but  just  near  the 
coast.  The  holding-ground,  however,  was  reported  good, 
and  we  went  to  work  and  rolled  up  all  our  rags.  In  half 
an  hour  the  ship  was  snug,  riding  by  the  stream,  with  a 
strong  current,  or  tide,  setting  exactly  northeast,  or  di- 
rectly opposite  to  the  captain's  theory.  As  soon  as  Mr. 
Marble  had  ascertained  this  fact  I  overheard  him  grum- 
bling about  something,  of  which  I  could  distinctly  under- 
stand nothing  but  the  words  "  bloody  cape — bloody  cur- 
rent." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

"  They  hurried  us  aboard  a  bark  ; 
Bore  us  some  leagues  to  sea  ;  where  they  prepared 
A  rotten  carcass  of  a  boat,  not  rigg'd, 
Nor  tackle,  sail,  nor  mast  :  the  very  rats 
Instinctively  had  girt  us  " — Tempest. 

THE  hour  that  succeeded  in  the  calm  of  expectation, 
was  one  of  the  most  disquieting  of  my  life.  As  soon  as 
the  ship  was  secured,  and  there  no  longer  remained  any- 
thing to  do,  the  stillness  of  death  reigned  among  us  ;  the 
faculties  of  every  man  and  boy  appearing  to  be  absorbed 
in  the  single  sense  of  hearing — the  best,  and  indeed  the 
only,  means  we  then  possessed  of  judging  of  our  situation. 
It  was  now  apparent  that  we  were  near  some  place  or 
places  where  the  surf  was  breaking  on  land  ;  and  the  hollow, 
not-to-be-mistaken  bellowings  of  the  element,  too  plainly 
indicated  that  cavities  in  rocks  frequently  received,  and  as 
often  rejected,  the  washing  waters.  Nor  did  these  por- 
tentous sounds  come  from  one  quarter  only,  but  they 
seemed  to  surround  us  ;  now  reaching  our  ears  from  the 
known  direction  of  the  land,  now  from  the  south,  the 
northeast,  and,  in  fact,  from  every  direction.  There  were 
instances  when  these  meanings  of  the  ocean  sounded  as 
if  close  under  our  stern,  and  then'  again  they  came  from 
some  point  within  a  fearful  proximity  to  the  bows. 

Happily  the  wind  was  light,  and  the  ship  rode  with  a 
moderate  strain  on  the  cable,  so  as  to  relieve  us  from  the 
apprehension  of  immediate  destruction.  There  was  a  long 
heavy  ground-swell  rolling  in  from  the  southwest,  but,  the 
lead  giving  us  eight  fathoms,  the  sea  did  not  break  exactly 
where  we  lay  ;  though  the  sullen  washing  that  came  to  our 
ears,  from  time  to  time,  gave  unerring  notice  that  it  was 
doing  so  quite  near  us,  independently  of  the  places  where 
it  broke  upon  the  rocks.  At  one  time  the  captain's  im- 
patience was  so  goading,  that  he  had  determined  to  pull 
round  the  anchorage  in  a  boat,  in  order  to  anticipate  the 
approach  of  light ;  but  a  suggestion  from  Mr.  Marble  that 
he  might  unconsciously  pull  into  a  roller,  and  capsize,  in- 
duced him  to  wait  for  day. 

The  dawn  appeared  at  last,  after  two  or  three  of  the 
longest  hours  I  remember  ever  to  have  passed.  Never 
shall  I  forget  the  species  of  furious  eagerness  with  which 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  65 

we  gazed  about  us.  In  the  first  place,  we  got  an  outline 
of  the  adjacent  land  ;  then,  as  light  diffused  itself  more 
and  more  into  the  atmosphere,  we  caught  glimpses  of  its 
details.  It  was  soon  certain  we  were  within  a  cable's 
length  of  perpendicular  cliffs  of  several  hundred  feet  in 
height,  into  whose  caverns  the  sea  poured  at  times,  pro- 
ducing those  frightful,  hollow  meanings,  that  an  expe- 
rienced ear  can  never  mistake.  This  cliff  extended  for 
leagues  in  both  directions,  rendering  drowning  nearly  in- 
evitable to  the  shipwrecked  mariner  on  that  inhospitable 
coast.  Ahead,  astern,  outside  of  us,  and  I  might  almost 
say  all  around  us,  became  visible,  one  after  another,  de- 
tached ledges,  breakers  and  ripples  ;  so  many  proofs  of  the 
manner  in  which  Providence  had  guided  us  through  the 
hours  of  darkness. 

By  the  time  the  sun  appeared,  for,  happily,  the  day 
proved  bright  and  clear,  we  had  obtained  pretty  tolerable 
notions  of  the  critical  situation  in  which  we  were  placed 
by  means  of  the  captain's  theory  of  currents.  The  very 
cape  that  we  were  to  drift  past,  lay  some  ten  leagues  nearly 
dead  to  windward,  as  the  breeze  then  was  ;  while  to  lee- 
ward, far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  stretched  the  same  in- 
hospitable barrier  of  rock  as  that  which  lay  on  our  star- 
board quarter  and  beam.  Such  was  my  first  introduction 
to  the  island  of  Madagascar  ;  a  portion  of  the  world  of 
which,  considering  its  position,  magnitude  and  production, 
the  mariners  of  Christendom  probably  know  less  than  of 
any  other.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  far  less  had 
been  learned  of  this  vast  country  than  is  known  to-day, 
though  the  knowledge  of  even  our  own  immediate  contem- 
poraries is  of  an  exceedingly  limited  character. 

Now  that  the  day  had  returned,  the  sun  was  shining  on 
us  cheerfully,  and  the  sea  looked  tranquil  and  assuring, 
the  captain  became  more  pacified.  He  had  discretion 
enough  to  understand  that  time  and  examination  were  in- 
dispensable to  moving  the  ship  with  safety  ;  and  he  took 
the  wise  course  of  ordering  the  people  to  get  their  break- 
fasts, before  he  set  us  at  work.  The  hour  that  was  thus 
employed  forward,  was  passed  aft  in  examining  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  water,  and  the  positions  of  the  reefs 
around  the  ship.  By  the  time  we  were  through,  the  cap- 
tain had  swallowed  his  cup  of  coffee  and  eaten  his  biscuit ; 
and,  calling  away  four  of  the  most  athletic  oarsmen,  he 
got  into  the  jolly-boat,  and  set  out  on  the  all-important 
duty  of  discovering  a  channel  seaward.  The  lead  was 


66  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

kept  moving,  and  I  shall  leave  the  party  thus  employed 
for  an  hour  or  more;  while  we  turn  our  attention  in-board. 

Marble  beckoned  me  aft,  as  soon  as  Captain  Robbins 
was  in  the  boat,  apparently  with  a  desire  to  say  something 
in  private.  I  understood  the  meaning  of  his  eye,  and  fol- 
lowing him  down  into  the  steerage,  where  all  that  was  left 
of  the  ship's  water  was  now  stowed,  that  on  deck  having 
been  already  used.  The  mate  had  a  certain  conscious- 
ness about  him  that  induced  great  caution,  and  he  would 
not  open  his  lips  until  he  had  rummaged  about  below 
some  time,  affecting  to  look  for  a  set  of  blocks  that  might 
be  wanted  for  some  purpose  or  other,  on  deck.  When 
this  had  lasted  a  little  time,  he  turned  short  round  to  me, 
and  let  out  the  secret  of  the  whole  manoeuvre. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,  Master  Miles,"  he  said,  making  a 
sign  with  a  finger  to  be  cautious,  "  I  look  upon  this  ship's 
berth  as  worse  than  that  of  a  city  scavenger.  We've 
plenty  of  water  all  round  us,  and  plenty  of  rocks  too.  If 
we  knew  the  way  back,  there  is  no  wind  to  carry  us 
through  it,  among  these  bloody  currents,  and  there's  no 
harm  in  getting  ready  for  the  worst.  So  you  get  Neb  and 
the  gentleman  '* — Rupert  was  generally  thus  styled  in  the 
ship — "  and  clear  away  the  launch  first.  Get  everything 
out  of  it  that  don't  belong  there  ;  after  which,  do  you  put 
these  breakers  in,  and  wait  for  further  orders.  Make  no 
fuss,  putting  all  upon  orders,  and  leave  the  rest  to  me." 

I  complied,  of  course,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  launch 
was  clear.  While  busy,  however,  Mr.  Kite  came  past,  and 
desired  to  know  "  what  are  you  at  there  ?  "  I  told  him  'twas 
Mr.  Marble's  orders,  and  the  latter  gave  his  own  explana- 
tion of  the  matter. 

"  The  launch  may  be  wanted,"  he  said,  "for  I've  no 
notion  that  jolly-boat  will  do  to  go  out  as  far  as  we  shall 
find  it  necessary  to  sound.  So  I  am  about  to  ballast  the 
launch,  and  get  her  sails  ready ;  there's  no  use  in  mincing 
matters  in  such  a  berth  as  this." 

Kite  approved  of  the  idea,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
suggest  that  it  might  be  well  enough  to  get  the  launch  into 
the  water  at  once,  by  way  of  saving  time.  The  proposition 
was  too  agreeable  to  be  rejected,  and,  to  own  the  truth,  all 
hands  went  to  work  to  get  up  the  tackles  with  a  will,  as  it 
is  called.  In  half  an  hour  the  boat  was  floating  alongside 
the  ship.  Some  said  she  would  certainly  be  wanted  to 
carry  out  the  stream-anchor,  if  for  nothing  else  ;  others 
observed  that  half  a  dozen  boats  would  not  be  enough  to 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOKE.  67 

find  all  the  channel  we  wanted  ;  while  Marble  kept  his  eye, 
always  in  an  underhand  way,  on  his  main  object.  The 
breakers  we  got  in  and  stowed,  filled  with  fresh  water,  by 
way  of  ballast.  The  masts  were  stepped,  the  oars  were  put 
on  board,  and  a  spare  compass  was  passed  down,  lest  the 
ship  might  be  lost  in  the  thick  weather,  of  which  there  was 
so  much,  just  in  that  quarter  of  the  world.  All  this  was 
said  and  done  so  quietly  that  nobody  took  the  alarm  ;  and 
when  the  mate  called  out,  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Miles,  pass  a 
bread-bag  filled  and  some  cold  grub  into  that  launch — the 
men  may  be  hungry  before  they  get  back,"  no  one  seemed 
to  think  more  was  meant  than  was  thus  openly  expressed. 
I  had  my  private  orders,  however,  and  managed  to  get 
quite  a  hundred-weight  of  good  cabin  biscuit  into  the 
launch,  while  the  cook  was  directed  to  fill  his  coppers  with 
pork.  I  got  some  of  the  latter  raw  into  the  boat,  too  ;  raw 
pork  being  food  that  sailors  in  no  manner  disdain.  They 
say  it  eats  like  chestnuts. 

In  the  meantime,  the  captain  was  busy  in  his  exploring 
expedition,  on  the  return  from  which  he  appeared  to  think 
he  was  better  rewarded  than  has  certainly  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  others  employed  on  another  expedition  which  bears  the 
same  name.  He  was  absent  near  two  hours,  and,  when  he 
got  back,  it  was  to  renew  his  theory  of  what  Mr.  Marble 
called  his  "  bloody  currents." 

"  I've  got  behind  the  curtain,  Mr.  Marble,"  commenced 
Captain  Robbins,  before  he  was  fairly  alongside  of  the  ship 
again,  whereupon  Marble  muttered,  "  ay  !  ay  !  you've  got 
behind  the  rocks  too."  "  It's  all  owing  to  an  eddy  that  is 
made  in-shore  by  the  main  current,  and  we  have  stretched 
a  leetle  too  far  in." 

Even  I  thought  to  myself,  what  would  have  become  of 
us  had  we  stretched  a  leetle  further  in  !  The  captain,  how- 
ever, seemed  satisfied  that  he  could  carry  the  ship  out,  and 
as  this  was  all  we  wanted,  no  one  was  disposed  to  be  very* 
critical.  A  word  was  said  about  the  launch,  which  the 
mate  had  ordered  to  be  dropped  astern,  out  of  the  way, 
and  the  explanation  seemed  to  mystify  the  captain.  In  the 
meanwhile,  the  pork  was  boiling  furiously  in  the  coppers. 

All  hands  were  now  called  to  get  the  anchor  up.  Ru- 
pert and  I  went  aloft  to  loosen  sails,  and  we  stayed  there 
until  the  royals  were  mast-headed.  In  a  very  few  minutes 
the  cable  was  up  and  down,  and  then  came  the  critical  part 
of  the  whole  affair.  The  wind  was  still  very  light,  and  it 
was  a  question  whether  the  ship  could  be  carried  past  a 


68  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

reef  of  rocks  that  now  began  to  show  itself  above  water, 
and  on  which  the  long,  heavy  rollers,  that  came  undulat- 
ing from  the  southwestern  Atlantic,  broke  with  a  sullen 
violence  that  betrayed  how  powerful  was  the  ocean,  even 
in  its  moments  of  slumbering  peacefulness.  The  rising 
and  falling  of  its  surface  was  like  that  of  some  monster's 
chest,  as  he  respired  heavily  in  sleep. 

Even  the  captain  hesitated  about  letting  go  his  hold  of 
the  bottom,  with  so  strong  a  set  of  the  water  to  leeward, 
and  in  so  light  a  breeze.  There  was  a  sort  of  bight  on  our 
starboard  bow,  however,  and  Mr.  Marble  suggested  it 
might  be  well  to  sound  in  that  direction,  as  the  water  ap- 
peared smooth  and  deep.  To  him  it  looked  as  if  there 
were  really  an  eddy  in-shore,  which  might  hawse  the  ship 
up  to  windward  six  or  eight  times  her  length,  and  thus 
more  than  meet  the  loss  that  must  infallibly  occur  in  first 
casting  her  head  to  seaward.  The  captain  admitted  the 
justice  of  this  suggestion,  and  I  was  one  of  those  who  were 
told  to  go  in  the  jolly-boat  on  this  occasion.  We  pulled 
in  toward  the  cliffs,  and  had  not  gone  fifty  yards  before  we 
struck  an  eddy,  sure  enough,  which  was  quite  as  strong  as 
the  current  in  which  the  ship  lay.  This  was  a  great  advan- 
tage, and  so  much  the  more,  because  the  water  was  of  suf- 
ficient depth,  quite  up  to  the  edge  of  the  reef  which  formed 
the  bight,  and  thus  produced  the  change  in  the  direction 
of  the  set.  There  was  plenty  of  room,  too,  to  handle  the 
ship  in,  and,  all  things  considered,  the  discovery  was  ex- 
tremely fortunate.  In  the  bottom  of  this  bight  we  should 
have  gone  ashore,  the  previous  night,  had  not  our  ears 
been  so  much  better  than  our  noses. 

As  soon  as  certain  of  the  facts,  the  captain  pulled  back 
to  the  ship,  and  gladdened  the  hearts  of  all  on  board  with 
the  tidings.  We  now  manned  the  handspikes  cheerily,  and 
began  to  heave.  I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  made 
on  me  by  the  rapid  drift  of  the  ship,  as  soon  as  the  anchor 
was  off  the  bottom,  and  her  bows  were  cast  in-shore,  in 
order  to  fill  the  sails.  The  land  was  so  near  that  I  noticed 
this  drift  by  the  rocks,  and  my  heart  was  fairly  in  my 
mouth  for  a  few  seconds.  But  the  John  worked  beauti- 
fully,, and  soon  gathered  away.  Her  bows  did  not  strike 
the  eddy,  however,  until  we  got  fearful  evidence  of  the 
strength  of  the  true  current,  which  had  set  us  down  nearly 
as  low  as  the  reef  outside,  to  windward  of  which  it  was  in 
dispensable  for  us  to  pass.  Marble  saw  all  this,  and  he 
whispered  to  me  to  tell  the  cook  to  pass  the  pork  into  the 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  69 

launch  at  once — not  to  mind  whether  it  were  particularly 
well  done,  or  not.  I  obeyed,  and  had  to  tend  the  fore- 
sheet  myself,  for  my  pains,  when  the  order  was  given  to 
"  ready  about." 

The  eddy  proved  a  true  friend,  but  it  did  not  carry  us  up 
much  higher  than  the  place  where  we  had  anchored,  when 
it  became  necessary  to  tack.  This  was  done  in  season,  on 
account  of  our  ignorance  of  all  the  soundings,  and  we  had 
soon  got  the  John's  head  off-shore  again.  Drawing  a  short 
distance  ahead,  the  main-topsail  was  thrown  aback,  and  the 
ship  allowed  to  drift.  In  proper  time,  it  was  filled,  and 
we  got  round  once  more,  looking  into  the  bight.  The 
manoeuvre  was  repeated,  and  this  brought  us  up  fairly  un- 
der the  lee  of  the  reef,  and  just  in  the  position  we  desired 
to  be.  It  was  a  nervous  instant,  I  make  no  doubt,  when 
Captain  Robbins  determined  to  trust  the  ship  in  the  true 
current,  and  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  rocks.  The  passage 
across  which  we  had  to  steer,  before  we  could  possibly 
weather  the  nearest  reef,  was  about  a  cable's  length  in 
width,  and  the  wind  would  barely  let  us  lay  high  enough 
to  take  it  at  right  angles.  Then  the  air  was  so  light,  that 
I  almost  despaired  of  our  doing  anything. 

Captain  Robbins  put  the  ship  into  the  current  with  great 
judgment.  She  was  kept  a  rap-full  until  near  the  edge  of 
the  eddy,  and  then  her  helm  was  put  nearly  down,  all  at 
once.  But  for  the  current's  acting,  in  one  direction,  on 
her  starboard  bow,  and  the  eddy's  passing  in  the  other,  on 
the  larboard  quarter,  the  vessel  would  have  been  taken 
aback  ;  but  these  counteracting  forces  brought  her  hand- 
somely on  her  course  again,  and  that  in  a  way  to  prevent 
her  falling  an  inch  to  leeward. 

Now  came  the  trial.  The  ship  was  kept  a  rap-full,  and 
she  went  steadily  across  the  passage,  favored,  perhaps,  by 
a  little  more  breeze  than  had  blown  most  of  the  morning. 
Still,  our  leeward  set  was  fearful,  and,  as  we  approached 
the  reef,  I  gave  all  up.  Marble  screwed  his  lips  together, 
and  his  eyes  never  turned  from  the  weather-leeches  of  the 
sails.  Everybody  appeared  to  me  to  be  holding  his  breath, 
as  the  ship  rose  on  the  long  ground-swells,  sending  slowly 
ahead  the  whole  time.  We  passed  the  nearest  point  of  the 
rocks  on  one  of  the  rounded  risings  of  the  water,  just 
touching  lightly  as  we  glided  by  the  visible  danger.  The 
blow  was  light,  and  gave  little  cause  for  alarm.  Captain 
Robbins  now  caught  Marble  by  the  hand,  and  was  in  the 
very  act  of  heartily  shaking  it,  when  the  ship  came  down 


7&  AFLOAT  AArD  ASHORE. 

very  much  in  the  manner  that  a  man  unexpectedly  lights 
on  a  stone,  when  he  has  no  idea  of  having  anything  within 
two  or  three  yards  of  his  feet.  The  blow  was  tremendous, 
throwing  half  the  crew  down  ;  at  the  same  instant,  all  three 
of  the  topmasts  went  to  leeward. 

One  has  some  difficulty  in  giving  a  reader  accurate  no- 
tions of  the  confusion  of  so  awful  a  scene.  The  motion  of 
the  vessel  was  arrested  suddenly,  as  it  might  be  by  a  wall, 
and  the  whole  fabric  seemed  to  be  shaken  to  dissolution. 
The  very  next  roller  that  came  in,  which  would  have  undu- 
lated in  toward  the  land  but  for  us,  meeting  with  so  large  a 
body  in  its  way,  piled  up  and  broke  upon  our  decks,  cover- 
ing everything  with  water.  At  the  same  time,  the  hull  lifted, 
and,  aided  by  wind,  sea  and  current,  it  set  still  further  on 
the  reef,  thumping  in  a  way  to  break  strong  iron  bolts, 
like  so  many  sticks  of  sealing-wax,  and  cracking  the  solid 
live  oak  of  the  floor-timbers  as  if  they  were  made  of  willow. 
The  captain  stood  aghast !  For  one  moment  despair  was 
painfully  depicted  in  his  countenance  ;  then  he  recovered 
his  self-possession  and  seamanship.  He  gave  the  order  to 
stand  by  to  carry  out  to  windward  the  stream-anchor  in 
the  launch,  and  to  send  a  kedge  to  haul  out  by,  in  the  jolly- 
boat.  Marble  answered  with  the  usual  "ay,  ay,  sir  !  "  but 
before  he  sent  us  into  the  boats,  he  ventured  to  suggest 
that  the  ship  had  bilged  already.  He  had  heard  timbers 
crack,  about  which  he  thought  there  could  be  no  mistake. 
The  pumps  were  sounded,  and  the  ship  had  seven  feet  of 
water  in  her  hold.  This  had  made  in  about  ten  minutes. 
Still  the  captain  would  not  give  her  up.  He  ordered  us  to 
commence  throwing  the  teas  overboard,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain, if  possible,  the  extent  of  the  injury.  A  place  was 
broken  out  in  the  wake  of  the  main-hatch,  and  a  passage 
was  opened  down  into  the  lower  hold,  where  we  met  the 
water.  In  the  meantime,  a  South-Sea  man  we  had  picked 
up  at  Canton,  dove  down  under  the  lee  of  the  bilge  of  the 
ship.  He  soon  came  back  and  reported  that  a  piece  oi 
sharp  rock  had  gone  quite  through  the  planks.  Every- 
thing tending  to  corroborate  this,  the  captain  called  a 
council  of  all  hands  on  the  quarter-deck,  to  consult  as  to 
further  measures. 

A  merchantman  has  no  claim  on  the  services  of  her  crew 
after  she  is  hopelessly  wrecked.  The  last  have  a  lien  in 
law  on  the  ship  and  cargo  for  their  wages  ;  and  it  is  justly 
determined  that  when  this  security  fails,  the  claim  for  ser- 
vices ends.  It  followed,  of  course,  that  as  soon  as  the  John 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  71 

was  given  over,  we  were  all  our  own  masters  ;  and  hence 
the  necessity  for  bringing  even  Neb  into  the  consultation. 
With  a  vessel-of-war  it  would  have  been  different.  In  such 
a  case  the  United  States  pays  for  the  service,  ship  or  no 
ship,  wreck  or  no  wreck  ;  and  the  seaman  serves  out  his 
term  of  enlistment,  be  this  longer  or  shorter.  Military  dis- 
cipline continues  under  all  circumstances. 

Captain  Robbins  could  hardly  speak  when  we  gathered 
round  him  on  the  forecastle,  the  seas  breaking  over  the 
quarter-deck  in  a  way  to  render  that  sanctuary  a  very  un- 
comfortable berth.  As  soon  as  he  could  command  himself, 
he  told  us  that  the  ship  was  hopelessly  lost.  How  it  had 
happened  he  could  not  very  well  explain  himself,  though 
he  ascribed  it  to  the  fact  that  the  currents  did  not  run  in 
the  direction  in  which,  according  to  all  sound  reasoning, 
they  ought  to  run.  This  part  of  the  speech  was  not  per- 
fectly lucid,  though,  as  I  understood  our  unfortunate  cap- 
tain, the  laws  of  nature,  owing  to  some  inexplicable  influ- 
ence, had  departed,  in  some  way  or  other,  from  their 
ordinary  workings  expressly  to  wreck  the  John.  If  this 
were  not  the  meaning  of  what  he  said,  I  did  not  understand 
this  part  of  the  address. 

The  captain  was  much  more  explicit  after  he  got  out  of 
the  current.  He  told  us  that  the  island  of  Bourbon  was 
only  about  four  hundred  miles  from  where  we  then  were, 
and  he  thought  it  possible  to  go  that  distance,  find  some 
small  craft,  and  come  back,  and  still  save  part  of  the  cargo, 
the  sails,  anchors,  etc.,  etc.  We  might  make  such  a  trip  of 
it  as  would  give  us  all  a  lift,  in  the  way  of  salvage,  that 
might  prove  some  compensation  for  our  other  losses. 
This  sounded  well,  and  it  had  at  least  the  effect  to  give  us 
some  present  object  for  our  exertions  ;  it  also  made  the 
danger  we  all  ran  of  losing  our  lives  less  apparent.  To 
land  on  the  island  of  Madagascar  in  that  day,  was  out  of 
the  question.  The  people  were  then  believed  to  be  far 
less  civilized  than  in  truth  they  were,  and  had  a  particular- 
ly bad  character  among  mariners.  Nothing  remained, 
therefore,  but  to  rig  the  boats,  and  make  immediate  dispo- 
sitions for  our  departure. 

Now  it  was  that  we  found  the  advantage  of  the  prepa- 
rations already  made.  Little  remained  to  be  done,  and  that 
which  was  done  was  much  better  done  than  if  we  had 
waited  until  the  wreck  was  half  full  of  water,  and  the  seas 
were  combing  in  upon  her.  The  captain  took  charge  of 
jthe  launch,  putting  Mr.  Marble,  Rupert,  Neb,  myself,  and 


72  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  cook  into  the  jolly-boat,  with  orders  to  keep  as  close  as 
possible  to  himself.  Both  boats  had  sails,  and  both  were 
so  arranged  as  to  row  in  calms,  or  head  winds.  We  took 
in  rather  more  than  our  share  of  provisions  and  water, 
having  two  skilful  caterers  in  the  chief  mate  and  cook  ; 
and,  having  obtained  a  compass,  quadrant,  and  a  chart  for 
our  portion  of  the  indispensables.  all  hands  were  ready  for 
a  start  in  about  two  hours  after  the  ship  had  struck. 

It  was  just  noon  when  we  cast  off  from  the  wreck,  and 
stood  directly  off  the  land.  According  to  our  calculations, 
the  wind  enabled  us  to  run  with  a  clean  full,  on  our  true 
course.  As  the  boats  drew  out  into  the  ocean,  we  had 
abundant  opportunities  of  discovering  how  many  dangers 
we  had  escaped  ;  and,  for  rny  own  part,  I  felt  deeply  grate- 
ful, even  then,  as  I  was  going  out  upon  the  wide  Atlantic 
in  a  mere  shell  of  a  boat,  at  the  mercy  we  had  experienced. 
No  sooner  were  we  fairly  in  deep  water,  than  the  captain 
and  mate  had  a  dialogue  on  the  subject  of  the  currents 
again.  Notwithstanding  all  the  difficulties  his  old  theory 
had  brought  him  into,  the  former  remained  of  opinion  that 
the  true  current  set  to  windward,  and  that  we  should  so 
find  it  as  soon  as  we  got  a  little  into  the  offing  ;  while  the 
mate  was  frank  enough  to  say  he  had  been  of  opinion,  all 
along,  that  it  ran  the  other  way.  The  latter  added  that 
Bourbon  was  rather  a  small  spot  to  steer  for,  and  it  might 
be  better  to  get  into  its  longitude,  and  then  find  it  by  me- 
ridian observations>  than  to  make  any  more  speculations 
about  matters  of  which  we  knew  nothing. 

The  captain  and  Mr.  Marble  saw  things  differently,  and 
we  kept  away  accordingly,  when  we  ought  to  have  luffed 
all  we  could.  Fortunately  the  weather  continued  moder- 
ate, or  our  little  boat  would  have  had  a  bad  time  of  it. 
We  outsailed  the  launch  with  ease,  and  were  forced  to  reef 
in  order  not  to  part  company.  When  the  sun  set,  we  were 
more  than  twenty  miles  from  the  land,  seeing  no  more  of 
the  coast,  though  the  mountains  inland  were  still  looming 
up  grandly  in  the  distance.  I  confess,  when  night  shut  in 
upon  us,  and  I  found  myself  on  the  wide  ocean,  in  a  boat 
much  smaller  than  that  which  I  used  to  navigate  the  Hud- 
son, running  every  minute  further  and  further  into  the 
watery  waste,  I  began  to  think  of  Clawbonny,  and  its  se- 
curity, and  quiet  nights,  and  well-spread  board,  and  com- 
fortable beds,  in  a  way  I  had  never  thought  of  either  be- 
fore. As  for  food,  however,  we  were  not  stinted  ;  Mr. 
Marble  setting  us  an  example  of  using  our  teeth  on  th<s 


AFLOAT  AJVD   ASHORE.  73 

half-boiled  pork,  that  did  credit  to  his  philosophy.  To  do 
this  man  justice,  he  seemed  to  think  a  run  of  four  hundred 
miles  in  a  jolly-boat  no  great  matter,  but  took  everything 
as  regularly  as  if  still  on  the  deck  of  the  John.  Each  of 
us  got  as  good  a  nap  as  our  cramped  situations  would  allow. 

The  wind  freshened  in  the  morning,  and  the  sea  began 
to  break.  This  made  it  necessary  to  keep  still  more  away, 
to  prevent  filling  at  times,  or  to  haul  close  up,  which 
might  have  done  equally  well.  But  the  captain  preferred 
the  latter  course,  on  account  of  the  current.  We  had 
ticklish  work  of  it,  in  the  jolly-boat,  more  than  once  that 
day,  and  were  compelled  to  carry  a  whole  sail  in  order  to 
keep  up  with  the  launch,  which  beat  us,  now  the  wind  had 
increased.  Marble  was  a  terrible  fellow  to  carry  on  every* 
thing,  ship,  or  boat,  and  we  kept  our  station  admirably, 
the  two  boats  never  getting  a  cable's  length  asunder,  and 
running  most  of  the  time  within  hail  of  each  other.  As 
night  approached,  however,  a  consultation  was  held  on  the 
subject  of  keeping  in  company.  We  had  not  been  out 
thirty  hours,  and  had  made  near  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
by  our  calculation.  Luckily  the  wind  had  got  to  be  nearly 
west,  and  we  were  running  ahead  famously,  though  it  was 
as  much  as  we  could  do  to  keep  the  jolly-boat  from  filling. 
One  hand  was  kept  bailing  most  of  the  time,  and  some- 
times all  four  of  us  were  busy.  These  matters  were  talked 
over,  and  the  captain  proposed  abandoning  the  jolly-boat 
altogether,  and  to  take  us  into  the  launch,  though  there 
was  not  much  vacant  space  to  receive  us.  But  the  mate 
resisted  this,  answering  that  he  thought  he  could  take  care 
of  our  boat  a  while  longer,  at  least.  Accordingly,  the  old 
arrangement  was  maintained,  the  party  endeavoring  to  keep 
as  near  together  as  possible. 

About  midnight  it  began  to  blow  in  squalls,  and  two  or 
three  times  we  found  it  necessary  to  take  in  our  sails,  out 
oars,  and  pull  the  boat  head  to  sea,  in  order  to  prevent  her 
swamping.  The  consequence  was,  that  we  lost  sight  of 
the  launch,  and,  though  we  always  kept  away  to  our 
course  as  soon  as  the  puffs  would  allow,  when  the  sun  rose 
we  saw  nothing  of  our  late  companions.  I  have  some- 
times thought  Mr.  Marble  parted  company  on  purpose, 
though  he  seemed  much  concerned  next  morning  when  he 
ascertained  the  launch  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.  After 
looking  about  for  an  hour,  and  the  wind  moderating,  we 
made  sail  close  on  the  wind  ;  a  direction  that  would  soon 
have  taken  us  away  from  the  launch,  had  the  latter  been 


74  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

close  alongside  when  we  first  took  it.  We  made  good  prog- 
ress all  this  day,  and  at  evening,  having  now  been  out 
fifty-four  hours,  we  supposed  ourselves  to  be  rather  more 
than  half  way  on  the  road  to  our  haven.  It  fell  calm  in 
the  night,  and  the  next  morning  we  got  the  wind  right  aft. 
This  gave  us  a  famous  shove,  for  we  sometimes  made  six 
and  seven  knots  in  the  hour.  The  fair  wind  lasted  thirty 
hours,  during  which  time  we  must  have  made  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  it  falling  nearly  calm  about  an 
hour  before  dawn,  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  out. 
Everybody  was  anxious  to  see  the  horizon  that  morning, 
and  every  eye  was  turned  to  the  east,  with  intense  expecta- 
tion, as  the  sun  rose.  It  was  in  vain  ;  there  was  not  the 
least  sign  of  land  visible.  Marble  looked  sadly  disap- 
pointed, but  he  endeavored  to  cheer  us  up  with  the  hope 
of  seeing  the  island  shortly.  We  were  then  heading  due 
east,  with  a  very  light  breeze  from  the  northwest.  I  hap- 
pened to  stand  up  in  the  boat,  on  a  thwart,  and,  turning 
my  face  to  the  southward,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  something 
that  seemed  like  a  hummock  of  land  in  that  quarter.  I 
saw  it  but  for  an  instant,  but,  whatever  it  was,  I  saw  it 
plain  enough.  Mr.  Marble  now  got  on  the  thwart,  and 
looked  in  vain  to  catch  the  same  object.  He  said  there 
was  no  land  in  that  quarter — could  be  none — and  resumed 
his  seat  to  steer  to  the  eastward,  a  little  north.  I  could 
not  be  easy,  however,  but  remained  on  the  thwart  until  the 
boat  lifted  on  a  swell  higher  than  common,  and  then  I  saw 
the  brown,  hazy-looking  spot  on  the  margin  of  the  ocean 
again.  My  protestations  now  became  so  earnest,  that 
Marble  consented  to  stand  for  an  hour  in  the  direction  I 
pointed  out  to  him.  "  One  hour,  boy,  I  will  grant  you,  to 
shut  your  mouth,"  the  mate  said,  taking  out  his  watch, 
"  and  that  you  need  lay  nothing  to  my  door  hereafter." 
To  make  the  most  of  this  hour,  I  got  my  companions  at 
the  oars,  and  we  all  pulled  with  hearty  good-will.  So  much 
importance  did  I  attach  to  every  fathom  of  distance  made, 
that  we  did  not  rise  from  our  seats  until  the  mate  told  us 
to  stop  rowing,  for  the  hour  was  up.  As  for  himself,  he 
had  not  risen  either,  but  kept  looking  behind  him  to 
the  eastward,  still  hoping  to  see  land  somewhere  in  that 
quarter. 

My  heart  beat  violently  as  I  got  upon  the  thwart,  but 
there  lay  my  hazy  object,  now  never  dipping  at  all.  I 
shouted  "  Land  ho  !  "  Marble  jumped  upon  a  thwart,  too, 
and  no  longer  disputed  ray  word.  It  was  land,  he  admit. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  75 

ted,  and  it  must  be  the  island  of  Bourbon,  which  we  had 
passed  to  the  northward,  and  must  soon  have  given  a  hope- 
lessly wide  berth.  We  went  to  the  oars  again  with  re- 
newed life,  arid  soon  made  the  boat  spin.  All  that  day  we 
kept  rowing,  until  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  when  we 
found  ourselves  within  a  few  leagues  of  the  island  of  Bour- 
bon, where  we  were  met  by  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  south- 
ward, and  were  compelled  to  make  sail.  The  wind  was 
dead  on  end,  and  we  made  stretches  under  the  lee  of  the 
island,  going  about  as  we  found  the  sea  getting  to  be  too 
heavy  for  us,  as  was  invariably  the  case  whenever  we  got 
too  far  east  or  west.  In  a  word,  a  lee  was  fast  becoming 
necessary.  By  ten,  we  were  within  a  mile  of  the  shore, 
but  saw  no  place  where  we  thought  it  safe  to  attempt  a 
landing  in  the  dark  ;  a  long,  heavy  sea  setting  in  round 
both-sides  of  the  island,  though  the  water  did  not  break 
much  where  we  remained.  At  length  the  wind  got  to  be  so 
heavy,  that  we  could  not  carry  even  our  sail  double-reefed, 
and  we  kept  two  oars  pulling  lightly  in,  relieving  each 
other  every  hour.  By  daylight  it  blew  tremendously,  and 
glad  enough  were  we  to  find  a  little  cove  where  it  was  pos- 
sible to  get  ashore.  I  had  then  never  felt  so  grateful  to 
Providence  as  I  did  when  I  got  my  feet  on  terra  firma. 

We  remained  on  the  island  a  week,  hoping  to  see  the 
launch  and  her  crew  ;  but  neither  appeared.  Then  we  got  a 
passage  to  the  Isle  of  France,  on  arriving  at  which  place  we 
found  the  late  gale  was  considered  to  have  been  very  serious. 
There  was  no  American  consul  in  the  island,  at  that  time  ; 
and  Mr.  Marble,  totally  without  credit  or  means,  found  it 
impossible  to  obtain  a  craft  of  any  sort  to  go  to  the  wreck 
in.  We  jvere  without  money,  too,  and  a  homeward-bound 
Calcutta  vessel  coming  in,  we  joined  her  to  work  our 
passages  home,  Mr.  Marble  as  dickey,  and  the  rest  of  us  in 
the  forecastle.  This  vessel  was  called  the  Tigris,  and  be- 
longed to  Philadelphia.  She  was  considered  one  of  the 
best  ships  out  of  America,  and  her  master  had  a  high  repu- 
tation for  seamanship  and  activity.  He  was  a  little  man  of 
the  name  of  Digges,  and  was  under  thirty  at  the  time  I 
first  knew  him.  He  took  us  on  board  purely  out  of  a  na- 
tional feeling,  for  his  ship  was  strong-handed  without  us, 
having  thirty-two  souls,  all  told,  when  he  received  us  five. 
We  afterward  learned  that  letters  sent  after  the  ship  had 
induced  Captain  Digges  to  get  five  additional  hands  in  Cal- 
cutta, in  order  to  be  able  to  meet  the  picaroons  that  were 
then  beginning  to  plunder  American  vessels,  even  on  their 


76 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 


own  coast,  under  the  pretence  of  their  having  violated  cer 
tain  regulations  made  by  the  two  great  belligerents  of  the 
day,  in  Europe.  This  was  just  the  commencement  of  the 
quasi  war  which  broke  out  a  few  weeks  later  with  France. 

Of  all  these  hostile  symptoms,  however,  I  then  knew 
little  and  cared  less.  Even  Mr.  Marble  had  never  heard 
of  them,  and  we  five  joined  the  Tigris  merely  to  get  pas- 
sages home,  without  entertaining  second  thoughts  of  run- 
ning any  risk  further  than  the  ordinary  dangers  of  the 
seas. 

The  Tigris  sailed  the  day  we  joined  her,  which  was  the 
third  after  we  reached  Mauritius,  and  just  fifteen  days  after 
we  had  left  the  wreck.  We  went  to  sea  with  the  wind  at 
the  southward,  and  had  a  good  run  off  the  island,  making 
more  than  a  hundred  miles  that  afternoon  and  in  the  course 
of  the  night.  Next  morning,  early,  I  had  the  watch,  and 
order  was  given  to  set  topgallant  studding-sails.  Rupert 
and  I  had  got  into  the  same  watch  on  board  this  vessel, 
and  we  both  went  aloft  to  reeve  the  gear.  I  had  taken  up 
the  end  of  the  halyards,  and  had  reeved  them,  and  had 
overhauled  the  end  down,  when,  in  raising  my  head,  I  saw 
two  small  lug-sails  on  the  ocean,  broad  on  our  weather-bow, 
which  I  recognized  in  an  instant  for  those  of  the  John's 
launch.  I  cannot  express  the  feeling  that  came  over  me 
at  that  sight.  I  yelled,  rather  than  shouted,  "  Sail  ho  !  " 
and  then,  pushing  in,  I  caught  hold  of  a  royal-backstay, 
and  was  on  deck  in  an  instant.  I  believe  I  made  fran- 
tic gestures  to  windward,  for  Mr.  Marble,  who  had  the 
watch,  had  to  shake  me  sharply  before  I  could  let  the  fact 
be  known. 

As  soon  as  Marble  comprehended  me,  and  got  the  bear- 
ings of  the  boat,  he  hauled  down  all  the  studding-sails, 
braced  sharp  up  on  a  wind,  set  the  mainsail,  and  then  sent, 
down  a  report  to  Captain  Digges  for  orders.  Our  new 
commander  was  a  humane  man,  and  having  been  told  our 
whole  story,  he  did  not  hesitate  about  confirming  all  that 
had  been  done.  As  the  people  in  the  launch  had  made 
out  the  ship  some  time  before  I  saw  the  boat,  the  latter 
was  running  down  upon  us,  and,  in  about  an  hour,  the  tiny 
sails  were  descried  from  the  deck.  In  less  than  an  hour 
after  this,  our  main-yard  swung  round,  throwing  the  top- 
sail  aback,  and  the  well-known  launch  of  the  John  rounded- 
to  close  under  our  lee  ;  a  rope  was  thrown,  and  the  boat  was 
hauled  alongside. 

Everybody  in  the  Tigris  was  shocked  when  we  came  ta 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  77 

get  a  look  at  the  condition  of  the  strangers.  One  man,  a 
powerful  negro,  lay  dead  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat ;  the 
body  having  been  kept  for  a  dreadful  alternative,  in  the 
event  of  his  companions  falling  in  with  no  other  relief. 
Three  more  of  the  men  were  nearly  gone,  and  had  to  be 
whipped  on  board  as  so  many  lifeless  bales  of  goods.  Cap- 
tain Robbins  and  Kite,  both  athletic,  active  men,  resembled 
spectres,  their  eyes  standing  out  of  their  heads  as  if  thrust 
from  their  sockets  by  some  internal  foe  ;  and  when  we 
spoke  to  them,  they  all  seemed  unable  to  answer.  It  was 
not  fasting  or  want  of  food,  that  had  reduced  them  to  this 
state,  so  much  as  want  of  water.  It  is  true,  they  had  no 
more  bread  left  than  would  keep  body  and  soul  together 
for  a  few  hours  longer  ;  but  of  water  they  had  tasted  not  a 
drop  for  seventy-odd  hours  !  It  appeared  that,  during  the 
gale,  .they  had  been  compelled  to  empty  the  breakers  to 
lighten  the  boat,  reserving  only  one  for  their  immediate 
wants.  By  some  mistake,  the  one  reserved  was  nearly  half 
empty  at  the  time  ;  and  Captain  Robbins  believed  himself 
then  so  near  Bourbon,  as  not  to  go  on  an  allowance  until 
it  was  too  late.  In  this  condition  had  they  been  searching 
for  the  island  quite  ten  days,  passing  it,  but  never  hitting 
it.  The  winds  had  not  favored  them,  and,  the  last  few 
days,  the  weather  had  been  such  as  to  admit  of  no  obser- 
vation. Consequently,  they  had  been  as  much  out  of  their 
reckoning  in  their  latitude  as  in  their  longitude. 

A  gleam  of  intelligence,  and  I  thought  of  pleasure,  shot 
athwart  the  countenance  of  Captain  Robbins,  as  I  helped 
him  over  the  Tigris's  side.  He  saw  I  was  safe.  He  tot- 
tered as  he  walked,  and  leaned  heavily  on  me  for  support. 
I  was  about  to  lead  him  aft,  but  his  eye  caught  sight  of  a 
scuttle-but,  and  the  tin-pot  on  its  head.  Thither  he  went, 
and  stretched  out  a  trembling  hand  to  the  vessel.  I  gave 
him  the  pot  as  it  was,  with  about  a  wine-glass  of  water  in 
it.  This  he  swallowed  at  a  gulp,  and  then  tottered  forward 
for  more.  By  this  time  Captain  Digges  joined  us,  and 
gave  the  proper  directions  how  to  proceed.  All  the  suf- 
ferers had  water  in  small  quantities  given  them,  and  it  is 
wonderful  with  what  expressions  of  delight  they  received 
the  grateful  beverage.  As  soon  as  they  understood  the 
necessity  of  keeping  it  as  long  as  possible  in  their  mouths, 
and  on  their  tongues,  before  swallowing  it,  a  little  did 
them  a  great  deal  of  good.  After  this,  we  gave  them  some 
coffee,  the  breakfast  being  ready,  and  then  a  litUe  ship's 
biscuit  soaked  in  wine.  By  such  means  every  man  was 


78  AFLOAT  AND  ASHOKE. 

saved,  though  it  was  near  a  month  before  all  were  then> 
selves  again.  As  for  Captain  Robbins  and  Kite,  they  were 
enabled  to  attend  to  duty  by  the  end  of  a  week,  though 
nothing  more  was  exacted  of  them  than  they  chose  to  per- 
form. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"The  yesty  waves 
Confound  and  swallow  navigation  up." — Macbeth. 

POOR  Captain  Robbins!  No  sooner  did  he  regain  his 
bodily  strength  than  he  began  to  endure  the  pain  of  mind 
that  was  inseparable  from  the  loss  of  his  ship.  Marble, 
who,  now  that  he  had  fallen  to  the  humbler  condition  of  a 
second  mate,  was  more  than  usually  disppsed  to  be  com- 
municative with  me,  gave  me  to  understand  that  our  old 
superior  had  at  first  sounded  Captain  Digges  on  the  sub- 
ject of  proceeding  to  the  wreck,  in  order  to  ascertain  what 
could  be  saved  ;  but  the  latter  had  soon  convinced  him 
that  a  first-rate  Philadelphia  Indiaman  had  something  else 
to  do  besides  turning  wrecker.  After  a  pretty  broad  hint 
to  this  effect,  the  John  and  all  that  was  in  her,  were  aban- 
doned to  their  fate.  Marble,  however,  was  of  opinion  that 
the  gale  in  which  the  launch  came  so  near  being  lost,  must 
have  broken  the  ship  entirely  to  pieces,  giving  her  frag- 
ments to  the  ocean.  We  never  heard  of  her  fate  or  re- 
covered a  single  article  that  belonged  to  her. 

Many  were  the  discussions  between  Captain  Robbins  and 
his  two  mates,  touching  the  error  in  reckoning  that  had 
led  them  so  far  from  their  course.  In  that  day,  naviga- 
tion was  by  no  means  as  simple  a  thing  as  it  has  since 
become.  It  is  true,  lunars  were  usually  attempted  in 
India  and  China  ships  ;  but  this  was  not  an  every-day  af- 
fair, like  the  present  morning  and  afternoon  observations 
to  obtain  the  time,  and,  by  means  of  the  chronometer,  the 
longitude.  Then  we  had  so  recently  got  clear  of  the  isl- 
ands as  to  have  no  great  need  of  any  extraordinary  head- 
work  ;  and  the  "  bloody  currents  "  had  acted  their  pleas- 
ure with  us  for  eight  or  ten  days  before  the  loss  of  the 
ship.  Marble  was  a  very  good  navigator,  one  of  the  best 
I  ever  sailed  with,  in  spite  of  the  plainness  of  his  exte- 
rior and  his  rough  deportment ;  and,  all  things  considered, 
he  treated  his  old  commander  with  great  delicacy,  promis- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  79 

ing  to  do  all  he  could  when  he  got  home  to  clear  the  mat- 
ter up.     As  for  Kite,  he   knew  but  little,  and  had  the  dis 
cretion  to  say  but   little.     This   moderation   rendered  oui 
passage  all  the  more  agreeable. 

The  Tigris  was  a  very  fast  ship,  besides  being  well 
found.  She  was  a  little  larger  than  the  John,  and  mounted 
twelve  guns,  nine-pounders.  In  consequence  of  the  addi- 
tions made  to  her  crew,  one  way  and  another,  she  now 
mustered  nearer  fifty  than  forty  souls  on  board.  Captain 
Digges  had  certain  martial  tastes,  and  long  before  we 
were  up  with  the  cape,  he  had  us  all  quartered  and  exer- 
cised at  the  guns.  He,  too,  had  had  an  affair  with  some 
proas,  and  he  loved  to  converse  of  the  thrashing  he  had 
given  the  rascals.  I  thought  he  envied  us  our  exploit, 
though  this  might  have  been  mere  imagination  on  my 
part,  for  he  was  liberal  enough  in  his  commendations.  The 
private  intelligence  he  had  received  of  the  relations  be- 
tween France  and  America  quickened  his  natural  impulses ; 
and,  by  the  time  we  reached  St.  Helena,  the  ship  might 
have  been  said  to  be  in  good  fighting  order  for  a  mer- 
chantman. We  touched  at  this  last-mentioned  island  for 
supplies,  but  obtained  no  news  of  any  interest.  Those 
who  supplied  the  ship  could  tell  us  nothing  but  the  names 
of  the  Indiamen  who  had  gone  out  and  home  for  the  last 
twelve  month,  and  the  prices  of  fresh  meat  and  vegetables. 
Napoleon  civilized  them  seventeen  years  later. 

We  had  a  good  run  from  St.  Helena  to  the  calm  latitudes, 
but  these  last  proved  calmer  than  common.  We  worried 
through  them  after  a  while,  however,  and  then  did  very  well 
until  we  got  in  the  latitude  of  the  Windward  Islands. 
Marble  one  day  remarked  to  me  that  Captain  Digges  was 
standing  closer  to  the  French  island  of  Guadeloupe  than 
was  at  all  necessary  or  prudent  if  he  believed  in  his  own 
reports  of  the  danger  there  existed  to  American  commerce 
in  this  quarter  of  the  ocean. 

I  have  lived  long  enough,  and  have  seen  too  much  of 
men  and  things  to  fancy  my  country  and  countrymen  right 
in  all  their  transactions,  merely  because  newspapers,  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  and  Fourth  of  July  orators  are  pleased 
to  affirm  the  doctrine.  No  one  can  go  much  to  sea  with- 
out reading  with  great  distrust  many  of  the  accounts  in  the 
journals  of  that  day  of  the  grievous  wrongs  done  the  com- 
merce of  America  by  the  authorities  of  this  or  that  port, 
the  seizure  of  such  a  ship,  or  the  imprisonment  of  some 
particular  set  of  officers  and  men.  As  a  rule,  it  is  safer  to 


So  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

assume  that  the  afflicted  parties  deserve  all  that  has  hap- 
pened to  them,  than  to  believe  them  immaculate  ;  and 
quite  likely  much  more  too.  The  habit  of  receiving  such 
appeals  to  their  sympathies  renders  the  good  people  of  the 
Republic  peculiarly  liable  to  impositions  of  this  nature  ; 
and  the  mother  who  encourages  those  of  her  children  who 
fetch  and  carry  will  be  certain  to  have  her  ears  filled  with 
complaints  and  tattle.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  fact  beyond 
all  dispute,  that  the  commerce  of  the  country  was  terribly 
depredated  on  by  nearly  all  the  European  belligerents  be- 
tween the  commencement  of  the  wrar  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution and  its  close.  So  enormous  were  the  robberies  thus 
committed  on  the  widely-extended  trade  of  this  nation, 
under  one  pretence  or  another,  as  to  give  a  coloring  of 
retributive  justice,  if  not  of  moral  right,  to  the  recent 
failures  of  certain  States  among  us  to  pay  their  debts. 
Providence  singularly  avenges  all  wrongs  by  its  unerring 
course ;  and  I  doubt  not,  if  the  facts  could  be  sifted  to  the 
bottom,  it  would  be  found  the  devil  was  not  permitted  to 
do  his  work  in  either  case  without  using  the  materials  sup- 
plied by  the  sufferers  in  some  direct  or  indirect  manner 
themselves.  Of  all  the  depredations  on  American  trade 
just  mentioned,  those  of  the  great  sister  republic,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  were  among  the  most  grievous, 
and  were  of  a  character  so  atrocious  and  bold,  that  I  confess 
it  militates  somewhat  against  my  theory  to  admit  that 
France  owrns  very  little  of  the  "  suspended  debt ;"  but  I  ac- 
count for  this  last  circumstance  by  the  reparation  she  in 
part  made  by  the  treaty  of  1831.  With  England  it  is  dif- 
ferent. She  drove  us  into  a  war  by  the  effects  of  her  orders 
in  council  and  paper  blockades,  and  compelled  us  to  expend 
a  hundred  millions  to  set  matters  right  I  should  like  to  see 
the  books  balanced,  not  by  the  devil,  who  equally  instigated 
the  robberies  on  the  high  seas,  and  the  "suspension"  or 
"  repudiation  "  of  the  State  debts  ;  but  by  the  great  Ac- 
countant who  keeps  a  record  of  all  our  deeds  of  this  nat- 
ure, whether  it  be  to  take  money  by  means  of  cruising  ships, 
or  cruising  scrip.  It  is  true  these  rovers  encountered  very 
differently-looking  victims  in  the  first  place  ;  but  it  is  a 
somewhat  trite  remark,  that  the  aggregate  of  human  beings 
is  pretty  much  the  same  in  all  situations.  There  were 
widows  and  orphans  as  much  connected  with  the  condem- 
nation of  prizes  as  with  the  prices  of  condemned  stock  ; 
and  I  do  not  see  that  fraud  is  any  worse  when  carried  on 
by  scriveners  and  clerks  with  quills  behind  their  ears  than 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  %\ 

when  carried  on  by  gentlemen  wearing  cocked  hats  and 
carrying  swords  by  their  sides.  On  the  whole,  I  am  far 
from  certain  that  the  account-current  of  honesty  is  not 
slightly — honesty  very  slightly  leavens  either  transaction — 
in  favor  of  the  non-paying  States,  as  men  do  sometimes 
borrow  with  good  intentions,  and  fail,  from  inability,  to 
pay  ;  whereas,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  experience,  I 
never  knew  a  captor  of  a  ship  who  intended  to  give  back 
any  of  the  prize-money  if  he  could  help  it.  But  to  return 
to  my  adventures. 

We  were  exactly  in  the  latitude  of  Guadeloupe,  with  the 
usual  breeze,  when,  at  daylight,  a  rakish-looking  brig  was 
seen  in  chase.  Captain  Digges  took  a  long  survey  of  the 
stranger  with  his  best  glass — one  that  was  never  exhibited 
but  on  state  occasions — and  then  he  pronounced  him  to  be 
a  French  cruiser  ;  most  probably  a  privateer.  That  he  was 
a  Frenchman,  Marble  affirmed,  was  apparent  by  the  height 
of  his  topmasts  arid  the  shortness  of  his  yards  ;  the  upper 
spars  in  particular,  being  mere  apologies  for  yards.  Every- 
body who  had  any  right  to  an  opinion,  was  satisfied  the 
brig  was  a  French  cruiser,  either  public  or  private. 

The  Tigris  was  a  fast  ship,  and  she  was  under  topmast 
and  topgallant  studding-sails  at  the  time,  going  about 
seven  knots.  The  brig  was  on  an  easy  bowline,  evidently 
looking  up  for  our  wake,  edging  off  gradually  as  we  drew 
ahead.  She  went  about  nine  knots,  and  bade  fair  to  close 
with  us  by  noon.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  doubt,  aft,  as 
to  the  course  we  ought  to  pursue.  It  was  decided  in  the 
end,  however,  to  shorten  sail  and  let  the  brig  come  up,  as 
being  less  subject  to  cavils,  than  to  seem  to  avoid  her. 
Captain  Digges  got  out  his  last  letters  from  home,  and  I 
saw  him  showing  them  to  Captain  Robbins,  the  two  con- 
ning them  over  with  great  earnestness.  I  was  sent  to  do 
some  duty  near  the  hen-coops,  where  they  were  sitting,  and 
overheard  a  part  of  their  conversation.  From  the  dis- 
course, I  gathered  that  the  proceedings  of  these  picaroons 
were  often  equivocal,  and  that  Americans  were  generally 
left  in  doubt,  until  a  favorable  moment  occurred  for  the 
semi-pirates  to  effect  their  purposes.  The  party  assailed 
did  not  know  when  or  how  to  defend  himself,  until  it  was 
too  late. 

"  These  chaps  come  aboard  you,  sometimes,  before 
you're  aware  of  what  they  are  about,"  observed  Captain 
Robbins. 

"I'll  not  be  taken  by  surprise  in  that  fashion,"  returned 
6 


82  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Digges,  after  a  moment  of  reflection.  "  Here,  you  Miles, 
go  forward  and  tell  the  cook  to  fill  his  coppers  with  water, 
and  to  set  it  boiling  as  fast  as  he  can  ;  and  tell  Mr.  Marble 
I  want  him  aft.  Bear  a  hand,  now,  youngster,  and  give 
them  a  lift  yourself." 

Of  course  I  obeyed,  wondering  what  the  captain  wanted 
with  so  much  hot  water  as  to  let  the  people  eat  their  din- 
ners off  cold  grub,  rather  than  dispense  with  it ;  for  this 
was  a  consequence  of  his  decree.  But  we  had  not  got  the 
coppers  half  filled,  before  I  saw  Mr.  Marble  and  Neb  low- 
ering a  small  ship's  engine  from  the  launch,  and  placing  it 
near  the  galley,  in  readiness  to  be  filled.  The  mate  told 
Neb  to  screw  on  the  pipe,  and  then  half  a  dozen  of  the 
men,  as  soon  as  we  got  through  with  the  coppers,  were 
told  to  fill  the  engine  with  sea  water.  Captain  Digges  now 
came  forward  to  superintend  the  exercise,  and  Neb  jumped 
on  the  engine,  nourishing  the  pipe  about  with  the  delight 
of  a  "  nigger."  The  captain  was  diverted  with  the  black's 
zeal,  and  he  appointed  him  captain  of  the  firemen  on  the 
spot. 

"  Now  let  us  see  what  you  can  do  at  that  forward  dead- 
eye,  darkey,"  said  Captain  Digges,  laughing.  "Take  it 
directly  on  the  strap.  Play  away,  boys,  and  let  Neb  try 
his  hand." 

It  happened  that  Neb  hit  the  dead-eye  at  the  first  jet,  and 
he  showed  great  readiness  in  turning  the  stream  from  point 
to  point,  as  ordered.  Neb's  conduct  on  the  night  of  the 
affair  with  the  proas  had  been  told  to  Captain  Digges,  who 
was  so  well  pleased  with  the  fellow's  present  dexterity,  as 
to  confirm  him  in  office.  He  was  told  to  stick  by  the  en- 
gine at  every  hazard.  Soon  after,  an  order  was  given  to 
clear  for  action.  This  had  an  ominous  sound  to  my  young 
ears,  and,  though  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  myself  de- 
ficient in  firmness,  I  confess  I  began  to  think  again  of 
Clawbonny,  and  Grace,  and  Lucy ;  ay,  and  even  of  the 
mill.  This  lasted  but  for  a  moment,  however,  and,  as  soon 
as  I  got  at  work,  the  feeling  gave  me  no  trouble.  We  were 
an  hour  getting  the  ship  ready,  and,  by  that  time,  the  brig 
was  within  half  a  mile,  luffing  fairly  up  on  our  lee-quarter. 
As  we  had  shortened  sail,  the  privateer  manifested  no  in- 
tention of  throwing  a  shot  to  make  us  heave-to.  She 
seemed  disposed  to  extend  courtesy  for  courtesy. 

The  next  order  was  for  all  hands  to  go  to  quarters.  I 
was  stationed  in  the  main-top,  and  Rupert  in  the  fore. 
Our  duties  were  to  do  light  work,  in  the  way  of  repairing 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE,  83 

damages  ;  and  the  captain,  understanding  that  we  were  both 
accustomed  to  fire-arms,  gave  us  a  musket  apiece,  with  or- 
ders to  blaze  away  as  soon  as  they  began  the  work  below. 
As  we  had  both  stood  fire  once,  we  thought  ourselves  vet- 
erans, and  proceeded  to  our  stations,  smiling  and  nodding 
to  each  other  as  we  went  up  the  rigging.  Of  the  two,  my 
station  was  the  best,  since  I  could  see  the  approach  of  the 
brig,  the  mizzen-topsail  offering  but  little  obstruction  to 
vision  after  she  got  near  ;  whereas  the  main-topsail  was  a 
perfect  curtain,  so  far  as  poor  Rupert  was  concerned.  In 
the  way  of  danger,  there  was  not  much  difference  as  to  any 
of  the  stations  on  board,  the  bulwarks  of  the  ship  being 
little  more  than  plank  that  would  hardly  stop  a  musket 
ball  ;  and  then  the  French  had  a  reputation  for  firing  into 
the  rigging. 

As  soon  as  all  was  ready,  the  captain  sternly  ordered 
silence.  By  this  time  the  brig  was  near  enough  to  hail.  I 
could  see  her  decks  quite  plainly,  and  they  were  filled  with 
men.  I  counted  her  guns,  too,  and  ascertained  she  had 
but  ten,  all  of  which  seemed  to  be  lighter  than  our  own. 
One  circumstance  that  I  observed,  however,  was  suspicious. 
Her  forecastle  was  crowded  with  men,  who  appeared  to 
be  crouching  behind  the  bulwarks,  as  if  anxious  to  conceal 
their  presence  from  the  eyes  of  those  in  the  Tigris.  I  had 
a  mind  to  jump  on  a  backstay  and  slip  down  on  deck,  to 
let  this  threatening  appearance  be  known  ;  but  I  had 
heard  some  sayings  touching  the  imperative  duty  of  re- 
maining at  quarters  in  face  of  the  enemy,  and  I  did  not 
like  to  desert  my  station.  Tyros  have  always  exaggerated 
notions,  both  of  their  rights  and  their  duties,  and  I  had 
not  escaped  the  weakness.  Still,  I  think  some  credit  is 
due  for  the  alternative  adopted.  During  the  whole  voy- 
.age  I  had  kept  a  reckoning,  and  paper  and  pencils  were 
'always  in  my  pocket,  in  readiness  to  catch  a  moment  to 
finish  a  day's  work.  I  wrote  as  follows  on  a  piece  of 
paper,  therefore,  as  fast  as  possible,  and  dropped  the  billet 
on  the  quarter-deck,  by  inclosing  a  copper  in  the  scrawl, 
cents  then  being  in  their  infancy.  I  had  merely  written, 
"  The  brig's  forecastle  is  filled  with  armed  men,  hid  behind 
the  bulwarks !  "  Captain  Digges  heard  the  fall  of  the 
copper,  and  looking  up — nothing  takes  an  officer's  eyes 
aloft  quicker  than  to  find  anything  coming  out  of  a  top  \ 
he  saw  me  pointing  to  the  paper.  I  wras  rewarded  for 
this  liberty  by  an  approving  nod.  Captain  Digges  read 
what  I  had  written,  and  I  soon  observed  Neb  and  the 


84  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

cook  filling  the  engine  with  boiling  water.  This  job  was 
no  sooner  done  than  a  good  place  was  selected  on  the 
quarter-deck  for  this  singular  implement  of  war,  and  then 
a  hail  came  from  the  brig. 

"  Vat  zat  sheep  is  ? "  demanded  some  one  from  the 
brig. 

"  The  Tigris  of  Philadelphia,  from  Calcutta  home.  What 
brig  is  that?  " 

"  La  Folie — corsair  Francais.     From  vair  you  come  ?  " 

"  From  Calcutta.     And  where  arejy0#  from?" 

"  Guadeloupe.     Vair  you  go,  eh  ?  " 

"  Philadelphia.  Do  not  lug  so  near  me  ;  some  accident 
may  happen." 

"  Vat  you  call  '  accident  ? '  Can  nevair  hear,  eh  ?  I  will 
come,  tout pres." 

"Give  us  a  wider  berth,  I  tell  you  !  Here  is  your  jib- 
boom  nearly  foul  of  my  mizzen-rigging." 

"  Vat  mean  zat,  bert'  vidair  ?  eh  !  Allans,  mes  enfants, 
c'est  le  moment !  " 

"  Luff  a  little,  and  keep  his  spar  clear,"  cried  our 
captain.  "  Squirt  away,  Neb,  and  let  us  see  what  you 
can  do ! " 

The  engine  made  a  movement,  just  as  the  French  began 
to  run  out  on  their  bowsprit,  and,  by  the  time  six  or  eight 
were  on  the  heel  of  the  jib-boom,  they  were  met  by  the 
hissing  hot  stream,  which  took  them  en  echelon,  as  it  might 
be,  fairly  raking  the  whole  line.  The  effect  was  instanta- 
neous. Physical  nature  cannot  stand  excessive  heat,  un- 
less particularly  well  supplied  with  skin;  and  the  three 
leading  Frenchmen,  finding  retreat  impossible,  dropped 
incontinently  into  the  sea,  preferring  cold  water  to  hot — 
the  chances  of  drowning,  to  the  certainty  of  being  scalded. 
I  believe  all  three  were  saved  by  their  companions  in-board, 
but  I  will  not  vouch  for  the  fact.  The  remainder  of  the 
intended  boarders,  having  the  bowsprit  before  them,  scram- 
bled back  upon  the  brig's  forecastle  as  well  as  they  could, 
betraying,  by  the  random  way  in  which  their  hands  flew 
about,  that  they  had  a  perfect  consciousness  how  much 
they  left  their  rear  exposed  on  the  retreat.  A  hearty  laugh 
was  heard  on  all  parts  of  the  Tigris,  and  the  brig,  putting 
her  helm  hard  up,  wore  round  like  a  top,  as  if  she  were 
scalded  herself.* 

We  all  expected  a  broadside  now  ;  but  of  that  there  was 

*  This  incident  actually  occurred  in  the  war  of  1798. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  8$ 

little  apprehension,  as  it  was  pretty  certain  we  carried  the 
heaviest  battery,  and  had  men  enough  to  work  it.  But  the 
brig  did  not  fire,  I  suppose,  because  we  fell  off  a  little  our- 
selves, and  she  perceived  it  might  prove  a  losing  game. 
On  the  contrary,  she  went  quite  round  on  her  heel,  haul- 
ing up  on  the  other  tack  far  enough  to  bring  the  two  ves- 
sels exactly  dos  d  dos.  Captain  Digges  ordered  two  of  the 
quarter-deck  nines  to  be  run  out  of  the  sternports  ;  and  it 
was  well  he  did,  for  it  was  not  in  nature  for  men  to  be 
treated  as  our  friends  in  the  brig  had  been  served,  without 
manifesting  certain  signs  of  ill-humor.  The  vessels  might 
have  been  three  cables'  lengths  asunder  when  we  got  a 
gun.  The  first  I  knew  of  a  shot  was  to  hear  it  plunge 
through  the  mizzen-topsail,  then  it  came  whistling  through 
my  top,  between  the  weather-rigging  and  the  mast-head, 
cutting  a  hole  through  the  main-topsail,  and,  proceeding 
onward,  I  heard  it  strike  something  more  solid  than  canvas. 
I  thought  of  Rupert  and  the  foretop  in  an  instant,  and 
looked  anxiously  down  on  deck  to  ascertain  if  he  were 
injured. 

''Foretop  there  !  "  called  out  Captain  Digges.  "Where 
did  that  shot  strike  ?  " 

%"In  the  mast-head,"  answered  Rupert,  in  a  clear,  firm 
voice.     "  It  has  done  no  damage,  sir." 

"  Now's  your  time,  Captain  Robbins — give  'em  a  re- 
minder." 

Both  our  nines  were  fired,  and  a  few  seconds  after, 
three  cheers  arose  from  the  decks  of  our  ship.  I  could 
not  see  the  brig,  now,  for  the  mizzen-topsail  ;  but  I  after- 
ward learned  that  we  had  shot  away  her  gaff.  This  ter- 
minated the  combat,  in  which  the  glory  was  acquired 
principally  by  Neb.  They  told  me,  wrhen  I  got  down 
among  the  people  again,  that  the  black's  face  had  been 
dilated  with  delight  the  whole  time,  though  he  stood  fairly 
exposed  to  musketry,  his  mouth  grinning  from  ear  to  ear. 
Neb  was  justly  elated  with  the  success  that  attended  this 
exhibition  of  his  skill,  and  described  the  retreat  of  our 
enemies  with  a  humor  and  relish  that  raised  many  a  laugh 
at  the  discomfited  privateersman.  It  is  certain  that  some 
of  the  fellows  must  have  been  nearly  parboiled. 

I  have  always  supposed  this  affair  between  La  Folie  and 
the  Tigris  to  have  been  the  actual  commencement  of  hos- 
tilities in  the  quasi  war  of  1798-99  and  1800.  Other  occur- 
rences soon  supplanted  it  in  the  public  mind,  but  we  of 
the  ship  never  ceased  to  regard  the  adventure  as  one  of 


86  AFLOAT  AATD   ASHORE. 

great  national  interest.     It  did  prove  to  be  a  nine  days1 
wonder  in  the  newspapers. 

From  this  time  nothing  worthy  of  being  noted  occurred, 
until  we  reached  the  coast.  We  had  got  as  high  as  the 
capes  of  Virginia,  and  were  running  in  for  the  land,  with 
a  fair  wind,  when  we  made  a  ship  in-shore  of  us.  The 
stranger  hauled  up  to  speak  us  as  soon  as  we  were  seen. 
There  was  a  good  deal  of  discussion  about  this  vessel,  as 
she  drew  near,  between  Captain  Digges  and  his  chief  mate. 
The  latter  said  he  knew  the  vessel,  and  that  it  was  an 
Indiaman  out  of  Philadelphia,  called  the  Ganges,  a  sort  of 
sister  craft  to  our  own  ship  ;  while  the  former  maintained, 
if  it  were  the  Ganges  at  all,  she  was  so  altered  as  scarcely 
to  be  recognized.  As  we  got  near,  the  stranger  threw  a 
shot  under  our  fore-foot,  and  showed  an  American  pen- 
nant and  ensign.  Getting  a  better  look  at  her,  we  got  so 
many  signs  of  a  vessel-of-war  in  our  neighbor,  as  to  think 
it  wisest  to  heave-to,  when  the  other  vessel  passed  under 
our  stern,  tacked,  and  lay  with  her  head-yards  aback,  a 
little  on  our  weather-quarter.  As  she  drew  to  windward, 
we  saw  her  stern,  which  had  certain  national  emblems, 
but  no  name  on  it.  This  settled  the  matter.  She  was  a 
man-of-war,  and  she  carried  the  American  flag !  Such  a 
thing  did  not  exist  a  few  months  before,  when  we  le'ft 
home,  and  Captain  Digges  was  burning  with  impatience 
to  know  more.  He  was  soon  gratified. 

"  Is  not  that  the  Tigris  ?"  demanded  a  voice,  through  a 
trumpet,  from  the  stranger. 

"  Ay,  ay  !     What  ship  is  that  ?" 

"The  United  States  Ship  Ganges,  Captain  Dale;  from 
the  capes  of  the  Delaware,  bound  on  a  cruise.  You're 
welcome  home,  Captain  Digges  ;  we  may  want  some  of 
your  assistance  under  a  cockade." 

Digges  gave  a  long  whistle,  and  then  the  mystery  was 
out.  This  proved  to  be  the  Ganges,  as  stated,  an  India- 
man bought  into  a  new  navy,  and  the  first  ship-of-war  ever 
sent  to  sea  under  the  government  of  the  country  as  it  had 
existed  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  nine  years 
before.  The  privateers  of  France  had  driven  the  republic 
into  an  armament,  and  ships  were  fitting  out  in  considera- 
ble numbers  ;  some  being  purchased,  like  the  Ganges,  and 
others  built  expressly  for  the  new  marine.  Captain  Digges 
went  on  board  the  Ganges,  and,  pulling  an  oar  in  his  boat, 
I  had  a  chance  of  seeing  that  vessel  also.  Captain  Dale, 
a  compact,  strongly-built,  seaman-like  looking  man,  in  a 


AFLOAT  AND  AS  PI  ORE.  87 

blue  and  white  uniform,  received  our  skipper  with  a  cor- 
dial shake  of  the  hand,  for  they  had  once  sailed  together, 
and  he  laughed  heartily  when  he  heard  the  story  of  the 
boarding-party  and  the  hot  water.  This  respectable  officer 
had  no  braggadocio  about  him,  but  he  intimated  that  it 
would  not  be  long,  as  he  thought,  before  the  rovers  among 
the  islands  would  have  their  hands  full.  Congress  was  in 
earnest,  and  the  whole  country  was  fairly  aroused.  When- 
ever that  happens  in  America,  it  is  usually  to  take  a  new 
and  better  direction  than  to  follow  the  ordinary  blind  im- 
pulses of  popular  feelings.  In  countries  where  the  masses 
count  for  nothing,  in  the  every-day  working  of  their 
systems,  excitement  has  a  tendency  to  democracy  ;  but, 
among  ourselves,  I  think  the  effect  of  such  a  condition  of 
things  is  to  bring  into  action  men  of  qualities  that  are  com- 
monly of  little  account,  and  to  elevate,  instead  of  depress- 
ing, public  sentiment. 

I  was  extremely  pleased  with  the  manly,  benevolent 
countenance  of  Captain  Dale,  and  had  half  a  desire  to  ask 
leave  to  join  his  ship  on  the  spot.  If  that  impulse  had 
been  followed,  it  is  probable  my  future  life  would  have 
been  very  different  from  what  it  subsequently  proved.  I 
should  have  been  rated  a  midshipman,  of  course,  and, 
serving  so  early,  with  a  good  deal  of  experience  already  in 
ships,  a  year  or  two  would  have  made  me  a  lieutenant,  and, 
could  I  have  survived  the  pruning  of  1801,  I  should  now 
have  been  one  of  the  oldest  officers  in  the  service.  Provi- 
dence directed  otherwise  ;  and  how  much  was  lost,  or  how 
much  gained,  by  my  continuance  in  the  Tigris,  the  reader 
will  learn  as  we  proceed. 

As  soon  as  Captain  Digges  had  taken  a  glass  or  two  of 
wine  with  his  old  acquaintance,  we  returned  to  our  own 
ship,  and  the  two  vessels  made  sail  ;  the  Ganges  standing 
off  to  the  northward  and  eastward,  while  we  ran  in  for  the 
capes  of  the  Delaware.  We  got  in  under  Cape  May,  or 
within  five  miles  of  it,  the  same  evening,  when  it  fell  nearly 
calm.  A  pilot  came  off  from  the  cape  in  a  row-boat,  and 
he  reached  us  just  at  dark.  Captain  Robbins  now  became 
all  impatience  to  land,  as  it  was  of  importance  to  him  to  be 
the  bearer  of  his  own  bad  news.  Accordingly,  an  arrange- 
ment having  been  made  with  the  two  men  who  belonged 
to  the  shore-boat,  our  old  commander,  Rupert  and  myself, 
prepared  to  leave  the  ship,  late  as  it  was.  We  two  lads 
were  taken  for  the  purpose  of  manning  two  additional  oars, 
but  were  to  rejoin  the  ship  in  the  bay,  if  possible  ;  if  not, 


*8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

*up  at  town.  One  of  the  inducements  of  Captain  Robbins 
to  be  off,  was  the  signs  of  northerly  weather.  It  had  begun 
to  blow  a  little  in  puffs  from  the  northwest  ;  and  every- 
body knew,  if  it  came  on  to  blow  seriously  from  that  quar- 
ter, the  ship  might  be  a  week  in  getting  up  the  river,  her 
news  being  certain  to  precede  her.  We  hurried  off  accord- 
ingly, taking  nothing  with  us  but  a  change*of  linen,  and  a 
few  necessary  papers. 

We  got  the  first  real  blast  from  the  northwest  in  less 
than  five  minutes  after  we  had  quitted  the  Tigris's  side, 
and  while  the  ship  was  still  visible,  or,  rather,  while  we 
could  yet  see  the  lights  in  her  cabin  windows,  as  she  fell 
off  before  the  wind.  Presently  the  lights  disappeared, 
owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  ship's  luffing  again.  The  symp- 
toms now  looked  so  threatening,  that  the  pilot's  men  pro- 
posed making  an  effort,  before  it  was  too  late,  to  find  the 
ship  ;  but  this  was  far  easier  said  than  done.  The  vessel 
might  be  spinning  away  toward  Cape  Henlopen,  at  the 
rate  of  six  or  seven  knots  ;  and,  without  the  means  of  mak- 
ing any  signal  in  the  dark,  it  was  impossible  to  overtake 
her.  I  do  believe  that  Captain  Robbins  would  have  ac- 
ceded to  the  request  of  the  men,  had  he  seen  any  proba- 
bility of  succeeding  ;  as  it  was,  there  remained  no  alter- 
native but  to  pull  in,  and  endeavor  to  reach  the  land.  We 
had  the  light  on  the  cape  as  our  beacon,  and  the  boat's 
head  was  kept  directly  for  it,  as  the  wisest  course  for  us  to 
pursue. 

Changes  of  wind  from  southeast  to  northwest  are  very 
common  on  the  American  coast.  They  are  almost  always 
sudden  ;  sometimes  so  much  so  as  to  take  ships  aback  ; 
and  the  force  of  the  breeze  usually  comes  so  early,  as  to 
have  produced  the  saying  that  a  "  nor'-wester  comes  butt- 
end  foremost."  Such  proved  to  be  the  fact  in  our  case.  In 
less  than  half  an  hour  after  it  began  to  blow,  the  wind 
would  have  brought  the  most  gallant  ship  that  floated  to 
double-reefed  topsails,  steering  by,  and  to  reasonably  short 
canvas,  running  large.  We  may  have  pulled  a  mile  in  this 
half  hour,  though  it  was  by  means  of  a  quick  stroke  and 
great  labor.  The  Cape  May  men  were  vigorous  and  ex- 
perienced, and  they  did  wonders  ;  nor  were  Rupert  and  I 
idle  ;  but,  as  soon  as  the  sea  got  up,  it  was  as  much  as  al] 
four  of  us  could  do  to  keep  steerage-way  on  the  boat. 
There  were  ten  minutes,  during  which  I  really  think  the 
boat  was  kept  head  to  sea  by  means  of  the  wash  of  the 
waves  that  drove  past,  as  we  barely  held  her  stationary. 


AFLOAT  A<VD   ASHORE.  89 

Of  course  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  continue  exertions 
that  were  as  useless  as  they  were  exhausting.  We  tried  the 
expedient,  however,  of  edging  to  the  northward,  with  the 
hope  of  getting  more  under  the  lee  of  the  land,  and,  conse- 
quently, into  smoother  water ;  but  it  did  no  good.  The 
nearest  we  ever  got  to  the  light  must  have  considerably  ex- 
ceeded a  league.  At  lengUi  Rupert,  totally  exhausted, 
dropped  his  oar,  and  fell  panting  on  the  thwart.  He  was 
directed  to  steer,  Captain  Robbins  taking  his  place.  I  can 
only  liken  our  situation  at  that  fearful  moment  to  the  dan- 
ger of  a  man  who  is  clinging  to  a  cliff,  its  summit  and 
safety  almost  in  reach  of  his  hand,  with  the  conscious- 
ness that  his  powers  are  fast  failing  him,  and  that  he  must 
shortly  go  down.  It  is  true,  death  was  not  so  certain  by  our 
abandoning  the  effort  to  reach  the  land,  but  the  hope  of 
being  saved  was  faint  indeed.  Behind  us  lay  the  vast  and 
angry  Atlantic,  without  an  inch  of  visible  land  between  us 
and  the  Rock  of  Lisbon.  We  were  totally  without  food  of 
any  sort,  though,  luckily,  there  was  a  small  breaker  of  fresh 
water  in  the  boat.  The  Cape  May  men  had  brought  off 
their  suppers  with  them,  but  they  had  made  the  meal ; 
whereas  the  rest  of  us  had  left  the  Tigris  fasting,  intending 
10  make  comfortable  suppers  at  the  light. 

At  length  Captain  Robbins  consulted  the  boatmen,  and 
asked  them  what  they  thought  of  our  situation.  I  sat  be- 
tween these  men,  who  had  been  remarkably  silent  the 
whole  time,  pulling  like  giants.  Both  were  young,  though, 
as  I  afterwardrlearned,  both  were  married  ;  each  having  a 
wife  at  that  anxious  moment  waiting  on  the  beach  of  the 
cape  for  the  return  of  the  boat.  As  Captain  Robbins  put 
the  question,  I  turned  my  head,  and  saw  that  the  man  be- 
hind me,  the  oldest  of  the  two,  was  in  tears.  I  cannot  de- 
scribe the  shock  I  experienced  at  this  sight.  Here  was  a 
man  accustomed  to  hardships  and  dangers,  who  was  mak- 
ing the  stoutest  and  most  manly  efforts  to  save  himself  and 
all  with  him  at  the  very  moment,  so  strongly  impressed 
with  the  danger  of  our  situation,  that  his  feelings  broke 
forth  in  a  way  it  is  always  startling  to  witness,  when  the 
grief  of  man  is  thus  exhibited  in  tears.  The  imagination  of 
this  husband  was  doubtless  picturing  to  his  mind  the  an- 
guish of  his  wife  at  that  moment,  and,  perhaps,  the  long 
days  of  sorrow  that  were  to  succeed.  I  have  no  idea  he 
thought  of  himself,  apart  from  his  wife  ;  for  a  finer,  more 
manly,"  resolute  fellow  never  existed,  as  he  subsequently 
proved  to  the  fullest  extent. 


90  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  two  Cape  May  men  had  a  sort 
of  desperate  reluctance  to  give  up  the  hope  of  reaching 
the  land.  We  were  a  strong  boat's  crew,  and  we  had  a 
capital,  though  a  light  boat  ;  yet  all  would  not  do.  About 
midnight,  after  pulling  desperately  for  three  hours,  my 
strength  was  quite  go'ne,  and  I  had  to  give  up  the  oar* 
Captain  Robbins  confessed  himself  in  a  very  little  better 
state,  and,  it  being  impossible  for  the  boatmen  to  do  more 
than  to  keep  the  boat  stationary,  and  that  only  for  a  little 
time  longer,  there  remained  no  expedient  but  to  keep  off 
before  the  wind,  in  the  hope  of  still  falling  in  with  the  ship. 
We  knew  that  the  Tigris  was  on  the  starboard  tack  when 
we  left  her,  and,  as  she  would  certainly  endeavor  to  keep 
as  close  in  with  the  land  as  possible,  there  was  a  remaining 
chance  that  she  had  wore  ship  to  keep  off  Henlopen,  and 
might  be  heading  up  about  north-northeast,  and  laying 
athwart  the  mouth  of  the  bay.  This  left  us  just  a  chance 
— a  ray  of  hope  ;  and  it  had  now  become  absolutely  nec- 
essary to  endeavor  to  profit  by  it. 

The  two  Cape  May  men  pulled  the  boat  round,  and  kept 
her  just  ahead  of  the  seas,  as  far  as  it  was  in  their  power ; 
very  light  touches  of  the  oars  sufficing  for  this  where  it 
could  be  done  at  all.  Occasionally,  however,  one  of  those 
chasing  waves  would  come  after  us  at  a  racer's  speed,  in- 
variably breaking  at  such  instants,  and  frequently  half  fill- 
ing the  boat.  This  gave  us  new  employment,  Rupert  and 
myself  being  kept  quite  half  the  time  bailing.  No  occu- 
pation, notwithstanding  the  danger,  could  prevent  me  from 
looking  about  the  caldron  of  angry  waters,  in  quest  of  the 
ship.  Fifty  times  did  I  fancy  I  saw  her,  and  as  often  did 
the  delusive  idea  end  in  disappointment.  The  waste  of 
dark  waters,  relieved  by  the  gleaming  of  the  combing 
seas,  alone  met  the  senses.  The  wind  blew  directly  down 
the  estuary,  and,  in  crossing  its  mouth,  we  found  too  much 
swell  to  receive  it  on  our  beam,  and  were  soon  compelled, 
most  reluctantly  though  it  was,  to  keep  dead  away  to  pre- 
vent swamping.  This  painful  state  of  expectation  may 
have  lasted  half  an  hour,  the  boat  sometimes  seeming  ready 
to  fly  out  of  the  water,  as  it  drifted  before  the  gale,  when 
Rupert  unexpectedly  called  out  that  he  saw  the  ship. 

There  she  was,  sure  enough,  with  her  head  to  the  north 
ward  and  eastward,  struggling  along  through  the  raging 
waters,  under  her  fore  and  main-topsails,  close-reefed,  and 
reefed  courses,  evidently  clinging  to  the  land  as   close   as 
she  could,  both  to  hold  her  own  and  to  make  good  weather, 


AFLOAT  A-VD   ASHORE.  91 

It  was  barely  light  enough  to  ascertain  these  facts,  though 
the  ship  was  not  a  cable's  length  from  us  when  first  dis- 
covered. Unfortunately,  she  was  dead  to  leeward  of  us, 
and  was  drawing  ahead  so  fast  as  to  leave  the  probability 
she  would  forereach  upon  us,  unless  we  took  to  all  our 
oars.  This  was  done  as  soon  *as  possible,  and  away  we 
went,  at  a  rapid  rate,  aiming  to  shoot  directly  beneath  the 
Tigris's  lee-quarter,  so  as  to  round-to  under  shelter  of  her 
hull,  there  to  receive  a  rope. 

We  pulled  like  giants.  Three  several  times  the  water 
slapped  into  us,  rendering  the  boat  more  and  more  heavy ; 
but  Captain  Robbins  told  us  to  pull  on,  every  moment  being 
precious.  As  I  did  not  look  round — could \\Q\.  well,  indeed — 
I  saw  no  more  of  the  ship  until  I  got  a  sudden  glimpse  of 
her  dark  hull,  within  a  hundred  feet  of  us,  surging  ahead 
in  the  manner  in  which  vessels  at  sea  seem  to  take  sudden 
starts  that  carry  them  forward  at  twice  their  former  appar- 
ent speed.  Captain  Robbins  had  begun  to  hail,  the  in- 
stant he  thought  himself  near  enough,  or  at  the  distance 
of  a  hundred  yards,  but  what  was  the  human  voice  amid 
the  music  of  the  winds  striking  the  various  cords,  and  I 
may  add  chords,  in  the  maze  of  a  square-rigged  vessel's 
hamper,  accompanied  by  the  base  of  the  roaring  ocean  ! 
Heavens  !  what  a  feeling  of  despair  was  that,  when  the 
novel  thought  suggested  itself  almost  simultaneously  to 
our,  minds,  that  we  should  not  make  ourselves  heard  !  I 
say  simultaneously,  for  at  the  same  instant  the  whole  five 
of  us  set  up  a  common,  desperate  shout  to  alarm  those  who 
were  so  near  us,  and  who  might  easily  save  us  from  the 
most  dreadful  of  all  deaths — starvation  at  sea.  I  presume 
the  fearful  manner  in  which  we  struggled  at  the  oars  di- 
minished the  effect  of  our  voices,  while  the  effort  to  raise  a 
noise  lessened  our  power  with  the  oars.  We  were  already 
to  leeward  of  the  ship,  though  nearly  in  her  wake,  and  our 
only  chance  now  was  to  overtake  her.  The  captain  called 
out  to  us  to  pull  for  life  or  death,  and  pull  we  did.  So 
frantic  were  our  efforts,  that  I  really  think  we  should  have 
succeeded,  had  not  the  sea  come  on  board  us,  and  filled 
us  to  the  thwarts.  /  There  remained  no  alternative  but  to 
keep  dead  away,  and  to  bail  for  our  lives. 

I  confess  I  felt  scalding  tears  gush  down  my  cheeks,  as 
I  gazed  at  the  dark  mass  of  the  ship  just  before  it  was 
swallowed  up  in  the  gloom.  This  soon  occurred,  and  then, 
I  make  no  doubt,  ever}-  man  in  the  boat  considered  him- 
self as  hopelessly  lost  We  continued  'to  bail,  nctwith- 


92  AFLOAT  AXH    ASHORE. 

standing  ;  and,  using  hats,  gourds,  pots  and  pails,  soon 
cleared  the  boat,  though  it  was  done  with  no  other  seem- 
ing object  than  to  avert  immediate  death.  I  heard  one  of 
the  Cape  May  men  pray.  The  name  of  his  wife  mingled 
with  his  petitions  to  God.  ^  As  for  poor  Captain  Robbins, 
who  had  so  recently  been  in  another  scene  of  equal  danger 
in  a  boat,  he  remained  silent,  seemingly  submissive  to  the 
decrees  of  Providence. 

In  this  state  we  must  have  drifted  a  league  dead  before 
the  wind,  the  Cape  May  men  keeping  their  eyes  on  the 
light,  which  was  just  sinking  behind  the  horizon,  while  the 
rest  of  us  were  gazing  seaward  in  ominous  expectation  o1 
what  awaited  us  in  that  direction,  Avhen  the  hail  of  "boal 
ahoy!"  sounded  like  the  last  trumpet  in  our  ears.  A 
schooner  was  passing  our  track,  keeping  a  little  off,  and 
got  so  near  as  to  allow  us  to  be  seen,  though,  owing  to  a 
remark  about  the  light  which  drew  all  eyes  to  windward^ 
not  a  soul  of  us  saw  her.  It  was  too  late  to  avert  the 
blow,  for  the  hail  had  hardly  reached  us,  when  the  schoon 
er's  cut-water  came  down  upon  our  little  craft,  and  buried 
it  in  the  sea  as  if  it  had  been  lead.  At  such  moments 
men  do  not  think,  but  act.  I  caught  at  a  bobstay,  and 
missed  it.  As  I  went  down  into  the  water,  my  hand  fell 
upon  some  object  to  which  I  clung,  and,  the  schooner 
rising  at  the  next  instant,  I  was  grasped  by  the  hair  by  one 
of  the  vessel's  men.  I  had  hold  of  one  of  the  Cape  May 
men's  legs.  Released  from  my  weight,  this  man  was  soon 
in  the  vessel's  head,  and  he  helped  to  save  me.  When  we 
got  in-board,  and  mustered  our  party,  it  Avas  found  that 
all  had  been  saved  but  Captain  Robbins.  The  schooner 
wore  round,  and  actually  passed  over  the  wreck  of  the 
boat  a  second  time  ;  but  our  old  commander  was  nevei 
heard  of  more  ! 

CHAPTER  VII. 

"  Oh  !  forget  not  the  hour,  when  through  forest  and  vale 
We  returned  with  our  chief  to  his  clear  native  halls  ! 
Through  the  woody  Sierra  there  sigh'd  not  a  gale, 
And  the  moonbeam  was  bright  on  his  battlement  walls  ; 
And  nature  lay  sleeping  in  calmness  and  light, 
Round  the  house  of  the  truants,  that  rose  on  our  sight." 

— MRS.  HEMANS. 

WE  had  fallen  on  board  an  eastern  coaster,  called  the 
Martha  Wallis,  bound  from  James  River  to  Boston,  in 
tending  to  cross  the  shoals.  Her  watch  had  seen  us,  be- 


AFLOAT  AXD  ASHORE.  O5 

cause  the  coasters  generally  keep  bette"r  lookouts  than 
Indiamen  ;  the  latter,  accustomed  to  good  offings,  having 
a  trick  of  letting  their  people  go  to  sleep  in  the  night- 
watches.  I  made  a  calculation  of  the  turns  on  board  the 
Tigris,  and  knew  it  was  Mr.  Marble's  watch  when  we 
passed  the  ship  ;  and  I  make  no  question  he  was,  at  that 
very  moment,  nodding  on  the  hen-coops — a  sort  of  trick  he 
had.  I  cannot  even  now  understand,  however,  why  the 
man  at  the  wheel  did  not  hear  the  outcry  we  made.  To 
me  it  appeared  loud  enough  to  reach  the  land. 

Sailors  ordinarily  receive  wrecked  mariners  kindly. 
Our  treatment  on  board  the  Martha  Wallis  was  all  I  could 
have  desired,  and  the  captain  promised  to  put  us  on  board 
the  first  coaster  she  should  fall  in  with,  bound  to  New 
York.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  though  not  until  more 
than  a  week  had  elapsed.  It  fell  cairn  as  soon  as  the  north- 
wester blew  its  pipe  out,  and  \ve  did  not  get  into  the  Vine- 
yard Sound  for  nine  days.  Here  we  met  a  craft  the  skip- 
per knew,  and,  being  a  regular  Boston  and  New  York 
coaster,  we  were  put  on  board  her,  with  a  recommendation 
to  good  treatment.  The  people  of  the  Lovely  Lass  re- 
ceived us  just  as  we  had  been  received  on  board  the  Martha 
Wallis  ;  all  hands  of  us  living  aft  and  eating  codfish,  good 
beef  and  pork,  with  duff  (dough)  and  molasses,  almost  ad 
libitum.  From  this  last  vessel  we  learned  all  the  latest 
news  of  the  French  war,  and  how  thing^  were  going  on  in 
the  country.  The  fourth  day  after  we  were  put  on  board 
this  craft,  Rupert  and  I  landed  near  Peck  Slip,  New 
York,  with  nothing  on  earth  in  our  possession,  but  just  in 
what  we  stood.  This,  however,  gave  us  but  little  concern 
— I  had  abundance  at  home,  and  Rupert  was  certain  of  be- 
ing free  from  want,  both  through  me  and  through  his 
father. 

I  had  never  parted  with  the  gold  given  me  by  Lucy, 
however.  When  we  got  into  the  boat  to  land  at  the  cape, 
I  had  put  on  the  belt  in  which  I  kept  this  little  treasure 
and  it  was  still  round  my  body.  I  had  kept  it  as  a  sort  of 
memorial  of  the  dear  girl  who  had  given  it  to  me  ;  but  I 
now  saw  the  means  of  making  it  useful,  without  disposing 
of  it  altogether.  I  knew  tha"t  the  wisest  course,  in  all  diffi- 
culties, was  to  go  at  once  to  head -quarters.  I  asked  the 
address  of  the  firm  that  owned,  or  rather  had  owned  the 
John,  and  proceeded  to  the  counting-house  forthwith.  I 
told  my  story,  but  found  that  Kite  had  been  before  me. 
It  seems  that  the  Tigris  got  a  fair  wind,  three  days  after 


94  A  FLO >.-/  7'   ^.V/J    ASIIORK. 

the  blow,  that  carried  her  up  to  the  very  wharves  of 
Philadelphia,  when  most  of  the  John's  people  had  come  on 
to  New  York  without  delay.  By  communications  with  the 
shore  at  the  cape,  the  pilot  had  learned  that  his  boat  had 
never  returned,  and  our  loss  was  supposed  to  have  inevita- 
bly occurred.  The  accounts  of  all  this  were  in  the  papers, 
and  I  began  to  fear  that  the  distressing  tidings  might  have 
reached  Clawbonny.  Indeed,  there  were  little  obituary 
notices  of  Rupert  and  myself  in  the  journals,  inserted  by 
some  hand  piously  employed,  I  should  think,  by  Mr.  Kite. 
We  were  tenderly  treated,  considering  our  escapade  ;  and 
my  fortune  and  prospects  were  dwelt  on  with  some  touches 
of  eloquence  that  might  have  been  spared. 

In  that  day,  however,  a  newspaper  was  a  very  different 
thing  from  what  it  has  since  become.  Then  journals  were 
created  merely  to  meet  the  demand,  and  news  was  given 
as  it  actually  occurred  ;  whereas,  now,  the  competition  has 
produced  a  change  that  any  one  can  appreciate,  when  it  is 
remembered  to  what  a  competition  in  -news  must  infallibly 
lead.  In  that  day,  our  own  journals  had  not  taken  to  im- 
itating the  worst  features  of  the  English  newspapers — 
talents  and  education  are  not  yet  cheap  enough  in  America 
to  enable  them  to  imitate  the  best — and  the  citizen  was 
supposed  to  have  some  rights,  as  put  in  opposition  to  the 
press.  The  public  sense  of  right  had  not  become  blunted 
by  familiarity  witbr  abuses,  and  the  miserable  and  craven 
apology  was  never  heard  for  not  enforcing  the  laws,  that 
nobody  cares  for  what  the  newspapers  say.  Owing  to  these 
causes,  I  escaped  a  thousand  lies  about  myself,  my  history, 
my  disposition,  character  and  acts.  Still,  I  was  in  print  ; 
and  I  confess  it  half  frightened  me  to  see  my  death  an- 
nounced in  such  obvious  letters,  although  I  had  physical 
evidence  of  being  alive  and  well. 

The  owners  questioned  me  closely  about  the  manner  in 
which  the  John  was  lost,  and  expressed  themselves  satis- 
fied with  my  answers.  I  t^en  produced  my  half-joes,  and 
asked  to  borrow  something  less  than  their  amount  on.their 
security.  To  the  latter  part  of  the  proposition,  however, 
these  gentlemen  would  not  listen,  forcing  a  check  for  a 
hundred  dollars  on  me,  desiring  that  the  money  might  be 
paid  at  my  own  convenience.  Knowing  I  had  Clawbonny 
and  a  very  comfortable  income  under  my  lee,  I  made  no 
scruples  about  accepting  the  sum,  and  took  my  leave. 

Rupert  and  I  had  now  the  means  of  equipping  our- 
selves neatly,  though  always  in  sailor  guise.  After  this 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  95 

was  done  we  proceeded  to  the  Albany  basin,  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  the  Wallingford  were  down  or  not.  At 
the  basin  we  learned  that  the  sloop  had  gone  out  that  very 
afternoon,  having  on  board  a  black  with  his  young  master's 
effects  ;  a  lad  who  was  said  to  have  been  out  to  Canton 
with  young  Mr.  Wallingford,  and  who  was  now  on  his  way 
home  to  report  all  the  sad  occurrences  to  the  family  in 
Ulster.  This,  then,  was  Neb,  who  had  got  thus  far  back  in 
charge  of  our  chests,  and  was  about  to  return  to  slavery. 

We  had  been  in  hopes  that  we  might  possibly  reach 
Clawbonny  before  the  tidings  of  our  loss.  This  intelligence 
was  likely  to  defeat  the  expectation  ;  but,  luckily,  one  of 
the  fastest  sloops  on  the  river,  a  Hudson  packet,  was  on 
the  point  of  sailing,  and,  though  the  wind  held  well  to  the 
northward,  her  master  thought  he  should  be  able  to  turn 
up  with  the  tides  as  high  as  our  creek,  in  the  course  of  the 
next  eight-and-forty  hours.  This  was  quite  as  much  as  the 
Wallingford  could  do,  I  felt  well  persuaded  ;  and,  making 
a  bargain  to  be  landed  on  the  western  shore,  Rupert  and  I 
put  our  things  on  board  this  packet,  and  were  under  way 
in  half  an  hour's  time. 

So  strong  was  my  own  anxiety,  I  could  not  keep  off  the 
deck  until  we  had  anchored  on  account  of  the  flood  ;  and 
much  did  I  envy  Rupert,  who  had  coolly  turned  in  as  soon 
as  it  was  dark,  and  went  to  sleep.  When  the  anchor  was 
down,  I  endeavored  to  imitate  his  example.  On'  turning 
out  next  morning,  I  found  the  vessel  in  Newburg  Bay, 
with  a  fair  wind.  About  twelve  o'clock  I  could  see  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  and  the  Wallingford  fairly  entering  it, 
her  sails  disappearing  behind  the  trees  just  as  I  caught 
sight  of  them.  As  no  other  craft  of  her  size  ever  went 
up  to  that  landing,  I  could  not  be  mistaken  in  the  vessel. 

By  getting  ashore  half  a  mile  above  the  creek,  there  was 
a  farm-road  that  would  lead  to  the  house  by  a  cut  so  short 
as  nearly  to  bring  us  there  as  soon  as  Neb  could  possibly 
arrive  with  his  dire,  but  false  intelligence.  The.  place  was 
pointed  out  to  the  captain,  who  had  extracted  our  secret 
from  us,  and  who,  good-naturedly,  consented  to  do  all  we 
asked  of  him.  I  do  think  he  would  have  gone  into  the  creek 
itself,  had  it  been  required.  But  we  were  landed  with  our 
bag  of  clothes — one  answered  very  well  for  both — at  the 
place  I  have  mentioned,  and,  taking  turn  about  to  shoulder 
the  wardrobe,  away  we  went,  as  fast  as  legs  could  carry  us. 
Even  Rupert  seemed  to  feel  on  this  occasion,  and  I  do 
think  he  had  a  good  deal  of  contrition,  ;vs  he  must  have 


96  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

recollected  the  pain  he  had  occasioned  his  excellent  fathe! 
and  dear,  good  sister. 

Clawbonny  never  looked  more  beautiful  than  when  I 
first  cast  eyes  on  it  that  afternoon.  There  lay  the  house 
in  the  secure  retirement  of  its  smiling  vale,  the  orchards 
just  beginning  to  lose  their  blossoms  ;  the  broad,  rich 
meadows,  with  the  grass  waving  in  the  south  wind,  resem- 
bling velvet ;  the  fields  of  corn  of  all  sorts  ;  and  the  cattle, 
as  they  stood  ruminating  or  enjoying  their  existence  in 
motionless  self-indulgence  beneath  the  shade  of  trees, 
seemed  to  speak  of  abundance  and  considerate  treatment. 
Everything  denoted  peace,  plenty,  and  happiness.  Yet  this 
place,  with  all  its  blessings  and  security,  had  I  wilfully 
deserted  to  encounter  pirates  in  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  ship- 
wreck on  the  shores  of  Madagascar,  jeopardy  in  an  open 
boat  off  the  Isle  of  France,  and  a  miraculous  preservation 
from  a  horrible  death  on  my  own  coast ! 

At  no  great  distance  from  the  house  was  a  dense  grove, 
in  which  Rupert  and  I  had,  with  our  own  hands,  con- 
structed a  rude  summer-house,  fit  to  be  enjoyed  on  just 
such  an  afternoon  as  this  on  which  we  had  returned. 
When  distant  from  it  only  two  hundred  yards,  we  saw  the 
girls  enter  the  wood,  evidently  taking  the  direction  of  the 
seat.  At.  the  same  moment  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Neb 
moving  up  the  road  from  the  landing  at  a  snail's  pace,  as 
if  the  poor  fellow  dreaded  to  encounter  the  task  before 
him.  After  a  moment's  consultation,  we  determined  'to 
proceed  at  once  to  the  grove,  and  thus  anticipate  the  ac- 
count of  Neb,  who  must  pass  so  near  the  summer-house  as 
to  be  seen  and  recognized.  We  met  with  more  obstacles 
than  we  had  foreseen  or  remembered,  and  when  we  got  to 
a  thicket  close  in  the  rear  of  the  bench,  we  found  that  the 
black  was  already  in  the  presence  of  his  two  "young  mis- 
tresses." 

The  appearance  of  the  three,  when  I  first  caught  a  near 
view  of  them,  was  such  as  almost  to  terrify  me.  Even 
Neb,  whose  face  was  usually  as  shining  as  a  black  bottle, 
was  almost  of  the  color  of  ashes.  The  poor  fellow  could 
not  speak,  and,  though  Lucy  was  actually  shaking  him  to 
extract  an  explanation,  the  only  answer  she  could  get  was 
tears.  These  flowed  from  Neb's  eyes  in  streams,  and,  at 
length,  the  fellow  threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  fairly 
began  to  groan. 

"Can  this  be  shame  at  having  run  away?"  exclaimed 
Lucy,  "  or  does  it  foretell  evil  tu  the  boys  ?" 


AFLOAT  A.MD    ASHORE.  97 

"  He  knows  nothing  of  them,  not  having  been  with  them 
— yet,  I  am  terrified." 

"Not  on  my  account,  dearest  sister,"  I  cried  aloud; 
"  here  are  Rupert  and  I,  God  be  praised,  both  in  good 
health,  and  safe." 

I  took  care  to  remain  hid,  as  I  uttered  this,  not  to  alarm 
more  than  one  sense  at  a  time  ;  but  both  the  girls  shrieked, 
and  held  out  their  arms.  Rupert  and  I  hesitated  no  longer, 
but  sprung  forward.  I  know  not  how  it  happened,  though 
I  found,  on  recovering  my  self-possession,  that  I  was  fold- 
ing Lucy  to  my  heart,  while  Rupert  was  doing  the  same  to 
Grace.  This  little  mistake,  however,  was  soon  rectified, 
each  man  embracing  his  own  sister,  as  in  duty  bound,  and 
as  was  most  decorous.  The  girls  shed  torrents  of  tears, 
and  assured  us  again  and  again,  that  this  was  the  only 
really  happy  moment  they  had  known  since  the  parting 
on  the  wharf,  nearly  a  twelvemonth  before.  Then  followed 
looks  at  each  other,  exclamations  of  surprise  and  pleasure 
nt  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  the  appearance  of 
ail  parties,  and  kisses  and  tears  again  in  abundance. 
.  As  for  Neb,  the  poor  fellow  was  seen  in  the  road,  wThith- 
er  he  had  fled  at  the  sound  of  my  voice,  looking  at  us  like 
one  in  awe  and  doubt.  Being  satisfied  in  the  end  of  our 
identity,  as  well  as  of  our  being  in  the  flesh,  the  negro 
again  threw  himself  on  the  ground,  rolling  over  and  over, 
and  fairly  yelling  with  delight.  After  going  through  this 
process  of  negro  excitement,  he  leaped  up  on  his  feet,  and 
started  for  the  house,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  as 
if  certain  the  good  intelligence  he  brought  would  secure 
his  own  pardon — "Master  Miles  come  home! — Master 
Miles  come  home !  " 

In  a  few  minutes  quiet  was  sufficiently  restored  among 
us  four,  who  remained  at  the  seat,  to  ask  questioias,  and  re- 
ceive intelligible  answers.  Glad  was  I  to  ascertain  that  the 
girls  had  been  spared  the  news  of  our  loss.  As  for  Mr. 
Hardinge,  he  was  well,  and  busied,  as  usual,  in  discharging 
the  duties  of  his  holy  office.  He  had  told  Grace  and  Lucy 
the  name  of  the  vessel  in  which  we  had  shipped,  but  said 
nothing  of  the  painful  glimpse  he  had  obtained  of  us,  just 
as  we  lifted  our  anchor  to  quit  the  port.  Grace,  in  a  solemn 
manner,  then  demanded  an  outline  of  our  adventures.  As 
Rupert  was  the  spokesman  on  this  occasion,  the  question 
having  been  in  a  manner  put  to  him  as  the  oldest,  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  watching  the  sweet  countenances  of  the  two 
painfully  interested  listeners.  Rupert  affert^H  »^oH~ct-^  ?n 


9S  AFLOAT  A.VD  ASHORE. 

his  narration,  if  he  did  not  feel  it,  though  I  remarked  that 
he  dwelt  a  little  particularly  on  the  shot  which  had  lodged 
so  near  him,  in  the  head  of  the  Tigris's  foremast.  He 
spoke  of  the  whistling  it  made  as  it  approached,  and  the 
violence  of  the  blow  when  it  struck.  He  had  the  impu- 
dence, too,  to  speak  of  my  good  luck  in  being  on  the  other 
side  of  the  top,  when  the  shot  passed  through  my  station  ; 
whereas  I  do  believe  that  the  shot  passed  nearer  to  me 
than  it  did  to  himself.  It  barely  missed  me,  and  by  all  I 
could  learn,  Rupert  was  leaning  over  by  the  topmast  rig- 
ging when  it  lodged.  The  fellow  told  his  story  in  his  own 
way,  however,  and  with  so  much  unction  that  I  observed 
it  made  Grace  look  pale.  The  effect  on  Lucy  was  differ- 
ent. This  excellent  creature  perceived  my  uneasiness,  I 
half  suspected,  for  she  laughed,  and,  interrupting  her 
brother,  told  him,  "There — that's  enough  about  the  can- 
non-ball ;  now  let  us  hear  of  something  else."  Rupert 
colored,  for  he  had  frequently  had  such  frank  hints  from 
his  sister,  in  the  course  of  his  childhood  ;  but  he  had  too 
much  address  to  betray  the  vexation  I  knew  he  felt. 

To  own  the  truth,  my  attachment  for  Rupert  had  mate- 
rially lessened  with  the  falling  off  of  my  respect.  He  had 
manifested  so  much  selfishness  during  the  voyage — had 
shirked  so  much  duty,  most  of  which  had  fallen  on  poor  Neb 
— and  had  been  so  little  of  the  man  in  practice,  whom  he 
used  so  well  to  describe  with  his  tongue— that  I  could  no 
longer  shut  myeyes  to  some  of  his  deficiencies  of  character. 
I  still  liked  him  ;  but  it  was  from  habit,  and  perhaps  because 
he  was  my  guardian's  son,  and  Lucy's  brother.  Then  I 
could  not  conceal  from  myself  that  Rupert  was  not,  in  a 
rigid  sense,  a  lad  of  truth.  He  colored,  exaggerated, 
glossed  over  and  embellished,  if  he  did  not  absolutely  in- 
vent. I  was  not  old  enough  then  to  understand  that  most 
of  the  statements  that  float  about  the  world  are  nothing 
but  truths  distorted,  and  that  nothing  is  more  rare  than 
unadulterated  fact ;  that  truths  and  lies  travel  in  company, 
as  described  by  Pope  in  his  "  Temple  of  Fame,"  until 

"This  or  that  unmixed,  no  mortal  e'er  shall  find." 

In  this  very  narration  of  our  voyage,  Rupert  had  left 
false  impressions  on  the  minds  of  his  listeners  in  fifty 
things.  He  had  made  far  more  of  our  little  skirmishes 
than  the  truth  would  warrant,  and  he  had  neglected  to  do 
justice  to  Neb  in  his  account  of  each  of  the  affairs.  Then 


AFLOAT  AXD   ASHORE.  99 

he  commended  Captain  Robbins's  conduct  in  connection 
with  the  loss  of  the  John  on  points  that  could  not  be  sus- 
tained, and  censured  him 'for  measures  that  deserved  praise. 
I  knew  Rupert  was  no  seaman — was  pretty  well  satisfied, 
by  this  time,  he  never  would  make  one — but  I  could  not 
explain  all  his  obliquities  by  referring  them  to  ignorance. 
The  manner,  moreover,  in  which  he  represented  himself  as 
the  principal  actor,  on  all  occasions,  denoted  so  much  ad- 
dress, that,  while  I  felt  the  falsity  of  the  impressions  he  left,  I 
did  not  exact ly  see  the  means  necessary  to  counteract  them. 
So  ingenious,  indeed,  was  his  manner  of  stringing  facts  and 
inferences  together,  or  what  seemed  to  be  facts  and  infer- 
ences, that  I  more  than  once  caught  myself  actually  be- 
lieving that  which,  in  sober  reality,  I  knew  to  be  false.  I 
was  still  too  young,  not  quite  eighteen,  to  feel  any  appre- 
hensions on  the  subject  of  Grace  ;  and  was  too  much  ac- 
customed to  both  Rupert  and  his  sister  to  regard  either 
with  any  feelings  very  widely  different  from  those  which  I 
entertained  for  Grace  herself. 

As  soon  as  the  history  of  our  adventures  and  exploits 
was  concluded,  we  all  had  leisure  to  observe  and  comment 
on  the  alterations  that  time  had  made  in  our  several  per- 
sons. Rupert,  being  the  oldest,  was  the  least  changed,  in 
this  particular.  He  had  got  his  growth  early,  and  was 
only  a  little  spread.  He  had  cultivated  a  pair  of  whiskers 
at  sea,  which  rendered  his  face  a  little  more  manly — an 
improvement,  by  the  way — but,  the  effects  of  exposure  and 
of  the  sun  excepted,  there  was  no  very  material  change  in 
his  exterior.  Perhaps,  on  the  whole,  he  was- improved  in 
appearance.  I  think  both  the  girls  fancied  this,  tnough 
Grace  did  not  say  it,  and  Lucy  only  half  admitted  it,  and 
that  with  many  reservations.  As  for  myself,  I  was  also 
full-grown,  standing  exactly  six  feet  in  my  stockings,  which 
was  pretty  well  for  eighteen.  But  I  had  also  spread  ;  a 
fact  that  is  not  common  for  lads  at  that  age.  Grace  said  I 
had  lost  all  delicacy  of  appearance  ;  and  as  for  Lucy, 
though  she  laughed  and  blushed,  she  protested  I  began  to 
look  like  a  great  bear.  To  confess  the  truth,  I  was  well 
satisfied  with  my  own  appearance,  did  not  envy  Rupert  a 
jot,  and  knew  I  could  toss  him  over  my  shoulder  whenever 
I  chose.  I  stood  the  strictures  on  my  appearance,  there- 
fore, very  well  ;  and,  though  no  one  was  so  much  derided 
and  laughed  at  as  myself,  in  that  critical  discussion,  no  one 
cared  less  for  it.  Just  as  I  was  permitted  to  escape,  Lucy 
said,  in  an  undertone — 


too  AFLOAT  ./AV    ASHORE. 

"You  should  have  stayed  at  home,  Miles,  and  then  the 
changes  would  have  come  so  gradually,  no  one  would  have 
noticed  them,  and  you  would  have  escaped  being  told  how 
much  you  are  altered,  and  that  you  are  a  bear" 

I  looked  eagerly  round  at  the  speaker,  and  eyed  her  in- 
tently. A  look  of  regret  passed  over  the  dear  creature's 
face,  her  eyes  looked  as  penitent  as  they  did  soft,  and  the 
flush  that  suffused  her  countenance  rendered  this  last  ex- 
pression almost  bewitching.  At  the  same  instant  she 
whispered,  "  I  did  not  really  mean  that" 

But  it  was  Grace's  turn,  and  my  attention  was  drawn 
to  my  sister.  A  year  had  made  great  improvements 
in  Grace.  Young  as  she  was,  she  had  lost  much  of 
the  girlish  air  in  the  sedateness  and  propriety  of  the 
young  woman.  Grace  had  always  something  more  of 
these  last  than  is  common  ;  but  they  had  now  completely 
removed  every  appearance  of  childish,  I  might  almost  say 
of  girlish  frivolity.  In  person  her  improvement  was  great  ; 
though  an  air  of  exceeding  delicacy  rather  left  an  im- 
pression that  such  a  being  was  more  intended  for  another 
world  than  this.  There  was  even  an  air  of  fragility  and 
of  pure  intellectuality  about  my  poor  sister,  that  half  dis- 
posed one  to  fancy  that  she  would  one  day  be  translated 
to  a  better  sphere  in  the  body  precisely  as  she  stood  be- 
fore human  eyes.  Lucy  bore  the  examination  well.  She 
was  all  woman,  there  being  nothing  about  her  to  create 
any  miraculous  expectations  or  fanciful  pictures  ;  but  she 
was  evidently  fast  getting  to  be  a  very  lovely  woman. 
Honest,  sincere,  full  of  heart,  overflowing  with  the  feelings 
of  hersex,  gentle,  yet  spirited,  buoyant,  though  melting  with 
the  charities  ;  her  changeful,  but  natural,  and  yet  constant 
feelings  in  her,  kept  me  incessantly  in  pursuit  of  her  play- 
ful mind  and  varying  humors.  Still  a  more  high-princi- 
pled being,  a  firmer  or  more  consistent  friend,  or  a  more 
accurate  thinker  on  all  subjects  that  suited  her  years  and 
became  her  situation  than  Lucy  Hardinge,  never  existed. 
Even  Grace  was  influenced  by  her  judgment,  though  I 
did  not  then  know  how  much  my  sister's  mind  was  guided 
by  her  simple  and  less  pretending  friend's  capacity  to  fore- 
see things,  and  to  reason  on  their  consequences. 

We  were  more  than  an  hour  uninterruptedly  together 
before  we  thought  of  repairing  to  the  house.  Lucy  then 
reminded  Rupert  that  he  had  not  yet  seen  his  father,  whom 
she  had  just  before  observed  alighting  from  his  horse  at 
the  door  of  his  own  study.  That  he  had  been  apprised  of 


AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE.  io: 

the  return  of  the  runaways,  if  not  prodigals,  was  evident, 
she  thought,  by  his  manner  ;  and  it  was  disrespectful  to 
delay  seeking  his  forgiveness  and  blessing.  Mr.  Hard- 
inge  received  us  both  without  surprise,  and  totally  with- 
out any  show  of  resentment.  It  was  about  the  time  he 
expected  our  return,  and  no  surprise  was  felt  at  finding 
this  expectation  realized,  as  a  matter  of  course,  while  re- 
sentment was  almost  a  stranger  to  his  nature.  We  all 
shed  tears,  the  girls  sobbing  aloud  ;  and  we  were  both 
solemnly  blessed.  Nor  am  I  ashamed  to  say  I  knelt 
to  receive  that  blessing,  in  an  age  when  the  cant  of  a  pre- 
tending irreligion — there  is  as  much  cant  in  self-sufficiency 
as  in  hypocrisy,  and  they  very  often  go  together — is  dis- 
posed to  turn  into  ridicule  the  humbling  of  the  person 
while  asking  for  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty  through  the 
ministers  of  his  altars  ;  for  kneel  I  did,  and  weep  I  did, 
and,  I  trust,  the  one  in  humility  and  the  other  in  con- 
trition. 

When  we  had  all  become  a  little  calm,  and  a  substantial 
meal  was  placed  before  us  adventurers,  Mr.  Hardinge  de- 
manded an  account  of  all  that  had  passed.  He  applied  to 
me  to  give  it,  and  I  was  compelled  to  discharge  the  office 
of  an  historian,  somewhat  against  my  inclination.  There 
was  no  remedy,  however,  and  I  told  the  story  in  my  owrn 
simple  manner,  and  certainly  in  a  way  to  leave  very  differ- 
ent impressions  from  many  of  those  made  by  the  narra- 
tive of  Rupert.  I  thought  once  or  twice,  as  I  proceeded, 
Lucy  looked  sorrowful,  and  Grace  looked  surprised.  I 
do  not  think  I  colored  in  the  least  as  regarded  myself, 
and  I  know  I  did  Neb  no  more  than  justice.  My  tale  was 
soon  told,  for  I  felt  the  whole  time  as  if  I  were  contradict- 
ing Rupert,  who,  by  the  way.  appeared  perfectly  uncon- 
cerned— perfectly  unconscious,  indeed — on  the  subject  of 
the  discrepancies  in  the  two  accounts.  I  have  since  met 
with  men  who  did  not  know  the  truth  when  it  was  even 
placed  very  fairly  before  their  eyes. 

Mr.  Hardinge  expressed  his  heartfelt  happiness  at  hav- 
ing us  back  again,  and  soon  after  he  ventured  to  ask  if  we 
were  satisfied  with  what  we  had  seen  of  the  world.  This 
was  a  home  question,  but  I  thought  it  best  to  meet  it 
manfully.  So  far  from  being  satisfied,  I  told  him  it  was 
my  ardent  desire  to  get  on  board  one  of  the  letters-of- 
marque,  of  which  so  many  were  then  fitting  out  in  the 
country,  and  to  make  a  voyage  to  Europe.  Rupert,  how* 
ever,  confessed  he  had  mistaken  his  vocation,  and  that  he 


102  AFLOAT  A\"D  ASHORE. 

thought  he  could  do  no  better  than  to  enter  a  lawyer's 
office.  I  was  thunderstruck  at  this  quiet  admission  of  my 
friend  of  his  incapacity  to  make  a  sailor,  for  it  was  the 
first  intimation  I  heard  of  his  intention.  I  had  remarked 
a  certain  want  of  energy  in  various  situations  that  re- 
quired action  in  Rupert,  but  no  want  of  courage  ;  and  I 
had  ascribed  some  portion  of  his  lassitude  to  the  change 
of  condition,  and,  possibly,  of  food  ;  for,  after  all,  that  god- 
like creature,  man,  is  nothing  but  an  animal,  and  is  just  as 
much  influenced  by  his  stomach  and  digestion  as  a  sheep 
or  a  horse. 

Mr.  Hardinge  received  his  son's  intimation  of  a  prefer- 
ence of  intellectual  labors  to  a  more  physical  state  of  ex- 
istence with  a  gratification  my  own  wishes  did  not  afford 
him.  Still,  he  made  no  particular  remark  to  either  at  the 
time,  permitting  us  both  to  enjoy  our  return  to  Claw* 
bonny  without  any  of  the  drawbacks  of  advice  or  lect 
ures.  The  evening  passed  delightfully,  the  girls  begirj- 
ning  to  laugh  heartily  at  our  own  ludicrous  accounts  of 
the  mode  of  living  on  board  ship,  and  of  our  various 
scenes  in  China,  the  Isle  of  Bourbon,  and  elsewhere.  Ru- 
pert had  a  great  deal  of  humor,  and  a  v«ry  dry  way  of 
exhibiting  it ;  in  short,  he  was  almost  a  genius  in  the  mere 
superficialities  of  life  ;  and  even  Grace  rewarded'  his  efforts 
to  entertain  us,  with  laughter  to  tears.  Neb  was  intro- 
duced after  supper,  and  the  fellow  was  censured  and  com- 
mended ;  censured  for  having  abandoned  the  household 
gods,  and  commended  for  not  having  deserted  their  mas- 
ter. His  droll  descriptions  of  the  Clu'nese,  their  dress, 
pigtails,  shoes,  and  broken  English,  diverted  even  Mr. 
Hardinge,  who,  I  believe,  felt  as  much  like  a  boy  on  this 
occasion,  as  any  of  the  party.  A  happier  evening  than 
that  which  followed  in  the  little  /<?tf-parlor,  as  my  dear 
mother  used  to  call  it,  was  never  passed  in  the  century 
that  the  roof  had  covered  the  old  walls  of  Clawbonny. 

Next  day  I  had  a  private  conversation  with  my  guardian, 
who  commenced  the  discourse  by  rendering  a  sort  of  ac- 
count of  the  proceeds  of  my  property  during  the  past  year. 
I  listened  respectfully,  and  with  some  interest ;  for  I  saw 
the  first  gave  Mr.  Hardinge  great  satisfaction,  and  I  con- 
fess the  last  afforded  some  little  pleasure  to  myself.  I 
found  that  things  had  gone  on  very  prosperously.  Ready 
money  was  accumulating,  and  I  saw  that,  by  the  time  i 
came  of  age,  sufficient  cash  would  be  on  hand  to  give  me 
a  ship  of  my  own,  should  1  choose  to  purchase  one.  From 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  103 

that  moment  I  was  secretly  determined  to  qualify  myself 
to  command  her  in  the  intervening  time.  Little  was  said 
,  of  the  future,  beyond  an  expression  of  the  hope,  by  my 
guardian,  that  I  would  take  time  to  reflect  before  I  came 
to  a  final  decision  on  the  subject  of  my  profession.  To 
this  I  said  nothing  beyond  making  a  respectful  inclination 
of  the  head. 

For  the  next  month,  Clawbonny  was  a  scene  of  uninter- 
rupted merriment  and  delight.  We  had  few  families  to 
visit  in  our  immediate  neighborhood,  it  is  true  ;  and  Mr. 
Hardinge  proposed  an  excursion  to  the  Springs — the  coun- 
try was  then  too  new,  and  the  roads  too  bad,  to  think  of 
Niagara — but  to  this  I  would  not  listen.  I  cared  not  for 
the  Springs— knew  little  of,  and  cared  less  for  fashion— 
and  loved  Clawbonny  to  its  stocks  and  stones.  We  re- 
mained at  home,  then,  living  principally  for  each  other. 
Rupert  read  a  good  deal  to  the  girls  under  the  direction  of 
his  father  ;  while  I  passed  no  small  portion  of  my  time  in 
athletic  exercises.  The  Grace  and  Lucy  made  one  or  two 
tolerably  long  cruises  in  the  river,  and  at  length  I  conceived 
the  idea  of  taking  the  party  down  to  town  in  the  Wai  ling- 
ford.  Neither  of  the  girls  had  ever  seen  New  York,  or 
much  of  the  Hudson  ;  nor  had  either  ever  seen  a  ship. 
The  sloops  that  passed  up  and  down  the  Hudson,  with  an 
occasional  schooner,  were  the  extent  of  their  acquaintance 
with  vessels  ;  and  I  began  to  feel  it  to  be  matter  of  re- 
proach that  those  in  whom  I  took  so  deep  an  interest, 
should  be  so  ignorant.  As  for  the  girls  themselves,  they 
both  admitted,  now  I  was  a  sailor,  that  their  desire  to  see 
a  regular,  three-masted,  full-rigged  ship,  was  increased 
seven-fold. 

Mr.  Hardinge  heard  my  proposition,  at  first,  as  a  piece 
of  pleasantry  ;  but  Grace  expressing  a  strong  desire  to  see 
a  large  town,  or  what  w/is  thought  a  large  town  in  this 
country,  in  1799,  and  Lucy  looking  wistful,  though  she 
remained  silent  under  an  apprehension  her  father  could 
not  afford  the  expense  of  such  a  journey,  which  her  im- 
agination rendered  a  great  deal  more  formidable  than  it 
actually  proved  to  be,  the  excellent  divine  finally  ac- 
quiesced. The  expense  was  disposed  of  in  a  very  simple 
manner.  The  journey,  both  ways,  would  be  made  in  the 
Wallingford  ;  and  Mr.  Hardinge  was  not  so  unnecessarily 
scrupulous  as  to  refuse  passages  for  himself  and  children 
in  the  sloop,  which  never  exacted  passage-money  from  any 
who  went  to  or  from  the  farm.  Food  was  so  cheap,  too. 


X04  AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE. 

as  to  be  a  matter  of  no  consideration  ;  and,  being  entitled 
legally  to  receive  that  at  Clawbonny,  it  made  no  great 
difference  whether  it  was  taken  on  board  the  vessel,  or  in 
the  house.  Then  there  was  a  Mrs.  Bradfort  in  New  York, 
a  widow  lady  of  easy  fortune,  who  was  a  cousin-german 
of  Mr.  Hardinge's — his  father's  sister's  daughter — and  with 
her  he  always  stayed  in  his  own  annual  visits  to  attend  the 
convention  of  the  Church — I  beg  pardon,  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  as  it  is  now  de  rigueur  to  say ;  I  wonder 
some  ultra  does  not  introduce  the  manifest  improvement 
into  the  Apostles'  Creed  of  saying,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy 
Protestant  Episcopal  Catholic  Church,  etc." — but,  the  ex- 
cellent divine,  in  his  annual  attendance  on  the  convention, 
was  accustomed  to  stay  with  his  kinswoman,  who  often 
pressed  him  to  bring  both  Lucy  and  Grace  to  see  her ; 
her  house  in  Wall  Street  being  abundantly  large  enough 
to  accommodate  a  much  more  numerous  party.  "  Yes," 
said  Mr.  Hardinge,  "that  shall  be  the  arrangement.  The 
girls  and  I  will  stay  with  Mrs.  Bradfort,  and  the  young 
men  can  live  at  a  tavern.  I  dare  say  this  new  City  Hotel, 
which  seems  to  be  large  enough  to  contain  a  regiment, 
will  hold  even  them.  I  will  write  this  very  evening  to  my 
cousin,  so  as  not  to  take  her  by  surprise." 

In  less  than  a  week  after  this  determination,  an  answer 
was  received  from  Mrs.  Bradfort  ;  and,  the  very  next  day, 
the  whole  party,  Neb  included,  embarked  in  the  Walling- 
ford.  Very  different  was  this  passage  down  the  Hudson 
from  that  which  had  preceded  it.  Then  I  had  the  sense 
of  error  about  me,  while  my  heart  yearned  toward  the 
two  dear  girls  we  had  left  on  the  wharf,  but  now  every- 
thing was  above-board,  sincere,  and  by  permission.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  Grace  and  Lucy  were 
enchanted  with  everything  they  saw.  The  Highlands,  in 
particular,  threw  them  both  into  ecstasies,  though  I  have 
since  seen  so  much  of  the  world  as  to  understand,  with 
nearly  all  experienced  tourists,  that  this  is  relatively  the 
worst  part  of  the  scenery  of  this  beautiful  river.  When 
I  say  relatively,  I  mean  as  comparing  the  bolder  parts  of  our 
stream  with  those  of  others — speaking  of  them  as  high 
lands — many  other  portions  of  this  good  globe  having  a 
much  superior  grandeur,  while  very  few  have  so  much 
lovely  river  scenery  compressed  into  so  small  a  space  as  is 
to  be  found  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Hudson. 

In  due  time  we  arrived  in  New  York,  and  I  had  the  su- 
preme happiness  of  pointing  out  to  the  girls  the  State's 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  105 

Prison,  the  Bear  Market,  and  the  steeples  of  St.  Paul's 
and  Trinity — old  Trinity,  as  it  was  so  lately  the  fashion  to 
style  a  church  that  was  built  only  a  few  years  before,  and 
which,  in  my  youth,  was  considered  as  magnificent  as  it 
was  venerable.  That  building  has  already  disappeared; 
and  another  edifice,  which  is  now  termed  splendid,  z>asf, 
and  I  know  not  what,  has  been  reared  in  its  place.  By  the 
time  this  is  gone,  and  one  or  two  generations  of  buildings 
have  succeeded,  each  approaching  nearer  to  the  high 
standard  of  church  architecture  in  the  old  world,  the 
Manhattanese  will  get  to  understand  something  of  the  use 
of  the  degrees  of  comparison  on  such  subjects.  When 
that  day  shall  arrive,  they  will  cease  to  be  provincial,  and 
not  till  then. 

What  a  different  thing  was  Wall  Street,  in  1799,  from 
what  it  is  to-day  !  Then,  where  so  many  Grecian  temples 
are  now  reared  to  Plutus,  were  rows  of  modest  provincial 
dwellings  ;  not  a  tittle  more  provincial,  however,  than  the 
thousand  meretricious  houses  of  bricks  and  marble  that 
have  since  started  up  in  their  neighborhood,  but  far  less 
pretending,  and  insomuch  the  more  creditable.  Mrs. -Brad 
fort  lived  in  one  of  these  respectable  abodes,  and  thither 
Mr.  Hardinge  led  the  way,  with  just  as  much  confidence 
as  one  would  now  walk  into  Bleecker  Street,  or  the  Fifth 
Avenue.  Money-changers  were  then  unknown,  or,  if 
known,  were  of  so  little  account  that  they  had  not  suffi- 
cient force  to  form  a  colony  and  a  league  by  themselves. 
Even  the  banks  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  be  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  each  other — I  believe  there  were  but  two 
— as  it  might  be  in  self-defence.  We  have  seen  all  sorts 
of  expedients  adopted  in  this  sainted  street,  to  protect 
the  money-bags,  from  the  little  temple  that  was  intended 
to  be  so  small  as  only  to  admit  the  dollars  and  those  who 
were  to  take  care  of  them,  up  to  the  edifice  that  might 
contain  so  many  rogues  as  to  render  things  safe  on  the 
familiar  principle  of  setting  a  thief  to  catch  a  thief.  All 
would  not  do.  The  difficulty  has  been  found  to  be  uncon- 
querable, except  in  those  cases  in  which  the  homely  and 
almost  worn-out  expedient  of  employing  honest  men  has 
been  resorted  to.  But  to  return  from  the  gossipings  of 
old  age  to  an  agreeable  widow,  who  was  still  under  forty. 

Mrs.  Bradfort  received  Mr.  Hardinge  in  a  way  to  satisfy 
us  all  that  she  was  delighted  to  see  him.  She  had  pre- 
pared a  room  for  Rupert  and  myself,  and  no  apologies  or 
excuses  would  be  received.  We  had  to  consent  to  accept 


lo6  AFLOAT  AND 

of  her  hospitalities.  In  an  hour's  time  all  were  established, 
and  I  believe  all  were  at  home. 

I  shall  not  dwell  on  the  happiness  that  succeeded.  We 
were  all  too  young  to  go  to  parties,  and  I  might  almost 
add,  New  York  itself  was  too  young  to  have  any ;  but  in  the 
last  I  should  have  been  mistaken,  though  there  were  not  as 
many  children' s  balls  in  1799  perhaps,  after  allowing  for  the 
difference  in  population,  as  there  are  to-day.  If  too  young 
to  be  company,  we  were  not  too  young  to  see  sights.  I 
sometimes  laugh  as  I  remember  what  these  were  at  that 
time.  There  was  such  a  museum  as  would  now  be  thought 
lightly  of  in  a  western  city  of  fifteen  or  twenty  years' 
growth — a  circus  kept  by  a  man  of  the  name  of  Ricketts — 
the  theatre  in  John  Street,  a  very  modest  Thespian  edifice 
—and  a  lion,  I  mean  literally  the  beast,  that  was  kept  in  a 
cage  quite  out  of  town,  that  his  roaring  might  not  disturb 
the  people,  somewhere  near  the  spot  where  the  triangle 
that  is  called  Franklin  Square  now  is.  All  these  we  saw, 
even  to  the  theatre  ;  good,  indulgent  Mr.  Hardinge  seeing 
no  harm  in  letting  us  go  thither  under  the  charge  of  Mrs. 
Bradfort.  I  shall  never  forget  the  ecstasy  of  that  night ! 
The  novelty  was  quite  as  great  to  Rupert  and  myself  as  ir 
was  to  the  girls;  for  though  we  had  been  to  China,  we 
had  never  been  to  the  play. 

Well  was  it  said,  "Vanity,  vanity — all  is  vanity  !  "  He 
that  lives  as  long  as  I  have  lived,  will  have  seen  most  of 
his  opinions,  and  I  think  I  may  add,  all  his  tastes,  change. 
Nothing  short  of  revelation  has  a  stronger  tendency  to 
convince  us  of  the  temporary  character  of  our  probationary 
state  in  this  world,  than  to  note  for  how  short  a  period, 
and  for  what  imperfect  ends,  all  our  hopes  and  success  in 
life  have  been  buoying  us  up,  and  occupying  our  minds. 
After  fifty,  the  delusion  begins  to  give  way  ;  and,  though 
we  may  continue  to  live,  and  even  to  be  happy,  blind  in- 
deed must  be  he  who  does  not  see  the  end  of  his  road,  and 
foresee  some  of  the  great  results  to  which  it  is  to  lead. 
But  of  all  this,  our  quartet  thought  little  in  the  year  1799. 


AFLOAT  A XI)  ASHORE,  107 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ft  Thou  art  the  same  eternal  sea  ! 
The  earth  hath  many  shapes  and  forrms 
Of  hill  and  valley,  flower  and  tree  ; 
Fields  that  the  fervid  noontide  warms, 
Or  Winter's  rugged  grasp  deforms, 
Or  bright  with  Autumn's  golden  store  ; 
Thou  coverest  up  thy  face  with  storms, 
Or  smilest  serene — but  still  thy  roar 
And  dashing  foam  go  up  to  vex  the  sea-beat  shore." 

— LUNT. 

I  HAD  a  free  conversation  with  my  guardian,  shortly 
after  we  reached  town,  on  the  subject  of  my  going  to  sea 
again.  The  whole  country  was  alive  with  the  armament 
of  the  new  marine  ;  and  cocked  hats,  blue  coats,  and  white 
lappels,  began  to  appear  in  the  streets,  with  a  parade  that 
always  marks  the  new  officer  and  the  new  service.  Now, 
one  meets  distinguished  naval  men  at  every  turn,  and  sees 
nothing  about  their  persons  to  denote  the  profession,  un- 
less in  actual  employment  afloat,  even  the  cockade  being 
laid  aside  ;  whereas  in  1799  the  harness  was  put  on  as  soon 
as  the  parchment  was  received,  and  only  laid  aside  to  turn 
in.  Ships  were  building  or  equipping  in  all  parts  of  the 
country;  and  it  is  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  I  escaped 
the  fever,  and  did  not  apply  to  be  made  a  midshipman. 
Had  I  seen  another  captain  who  interested  me  as  much  as 
Captain  Dale,  I  make  no  doubt  my  career  would  have 
been  quite  different  ;  but,  as  things  were,  I  had  imbibed 
the  prejudice  that  Southey,  in  his  very  interesting,  but,  in 
a  professional  sense,  very  worthless,  "Life  of  Nelson"  had 
attributed  to  that  hero — "aft,  the  more  honor;  forward, 
the  better  man."  Thus  far,  I  had  not  got  into  the  cabin 
windows,  and,  like  all  youngsters  who  fairly  begin  on  the 
forecastle,  felt  proud  of  my  own  manhood  and  disdain  of 
hazards  arid  toil.  I  determined,  therefore,  to  pursue  the 
course  I  had  originally  pointed  out  to  myself  and  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  my  father. 

Privateers  were  out  of  the  question  in  a  war  with  a 
country  that  had  no  commerce.  Nor  do  I  think  I  would 
have  gone  in  a  privateer  under  any  circumstances.  The 
business  of  carrying  on  a  warfare  merely  for  gain,  has 
ever  struck  me  as  discreditable  ;  though  it  must  be  admit- 
ted the  American  system  -of  private-armed  cruisers  has  al- 


joS  AFLOAT  AXD   ASHORE. 

ways  been  more  respectable  and  better  conducted  than 
that  of  most  other  nations.  This  has  been  owing  to  the 
circumstance  that  men  of  -a  higher  class  than  is  usual  in 
Europe,  have  embarked  in  the  enterprises.  To  a  letter- 
of-marque,  however,  there  could  be  no  objection  ;  her  reg- 
ular business  is  commerce  ;  she  arms  only  in  self-defence, 
or,  if  she  capture  anything,  it  is  merely  such  enemies  as 
crossed  her  path,  and  who  would  capture  her  if  they 
could.  I  announced  to  Mr.  Hardinge,  therefore,  my  de- 
termination not  to  return  to  Clawbonny,  but  to  look  for  a 
berth  in  some  letter-of- marque,  while  then  in  town. 

Neb  had  received  private  instructions,  and  my  sea-dun- 
nage, as  well  as  his  own,  was  on  board  the  Wallingford — 
low  enough  the  wreck  had  reduced  both  to  be — and  money 
obtained  from  Mr.  Hardinge  was  used  to  purchase  more. 
I  now  began  to  look  about  me  for  a  ship,  determined  to 
please  my  eye  as  to  the  vessel,  and  my  judgment  as  to  the 
voyage.  Neb  had  orders  to  follow  the  wharves  on  the  same 
errand.  I  would  sooner  trust  Neb  than  Rupert  on  such  a 
duty.  The  latter  had  no  taste  for  ships  ;  felt  no  interest  in 
them,  and  I  have  often  wondered  why  he  took  a  fancy  to 
go  to  sea  at  all.  With  Neb  it  was  very  different.  He  was 
already  an  expert  seaman  ;  could  hand,  reef  and  steer,  knot 
and  splice,  and  was  as  useful  as  nine  men  in  ten  on  board  a 
vessel.  It  is  true,  he  did  not  know  when  it  became  neces- 
sary to  take  in  the  last  reef — had  no  notion  of  stowing  a 
cargo  so  as  to  favor  the  vessel,  or  help  her  sailing  ;  but  he 
would  break  out  a  cask  sooner  than  most  men  I  ever  met 
with.  There  was  too  much  "nigger"  in  him  for  head- 
work  of  that  sort,  though  he  was  ingenious  and  ready 
enough  in  his  way.  A  sterling  fellow  was  Neb,  and  I  got 
in  time  to  love  him  very  much  as  I  can  conceive  one  would 
love  a  brother. 

One  day,  after  I  had  seen  all  the  sights,  and  had  begun 
to  think  seriously  of  finding  a  ship,  I  was  strolling  along 
the  wharves  on  the  latter  errand,  when  I  heard  a  voice  I 
knew  cry  out,  "  There,  Captain  Williams,  there's  just  your 
chap  ;  he'll  make  as  good  a  third  mate  as  can  be  found  in 
all  America."  I  had  a  sort  of  presentiment  this  applied 
to  me,  though  I  could  not,  on  the  instant,  recall  the  speak- 
er's name.  Turning  to  look  in  the  direction  of  the  sounds, 
I  saw  the  hard  countenance  of  Marble,  alongside  the 
weather-beaten  face  of  a  middle-aged  ship-master,  both  of 
whom  were  examining  me  over  the  nettings  of  a  very 
promising-looking  armed  merchantman.  I  bowed  to  Mr. 


AFLOAT  AX  I)    ASHORE.  109 

Marble,  who  beckoned  me  to  come  on  board,  where  1  was 
regularly  introduced  to  the  master. 

This  vessel  was  called  the  Crisis,  a  very  capital  name  for 
a  craft  in  a  country  where  crises  of  one  sort  or  another 
occur  regularly  as  often  as  once  in  six  months.  She  was 
a  tight  little  ship  of  about  four  hundred  tons,  had  hoop- 
pole  bulwarks,  as  I  afterward  learned,  with  nettings  for 
hammocks  and  old  junk,  principally  the  latter  ;  and 
showed  ten  nine-pounders,  carriage-guns,  in  her  batteries. 
I  saw  she  was  loaded,  and  was  soon  given  to  understand 
that  her  shipping-articles  were  then  open,  and  the  serious 
question  was  of  procuring  a  third  mate.  Officers  were 
scarce,  so  many  young  men  were  pressing  into  the  navy, 
and  Mr.  Marble  ventured  to  recommend  me,  from  near  a 
twelvemonth's  knowledge  of  my  character.  I  had  not  an- 
ticipated a  berth  aft  quite  so  soon,  and  yet  I  had  an  humble 
confidence  in  my  own  ability  to  discharge  the  duty.  Cap- 
tain Williams  questioned  me  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes, 
had  a  short  conversation  writh  Mr.  Marble  alone,  and  then 
frankly  offered  me  the  berth.  The  voyage  was  to  be  round 
the  world,  and  it  took  my  fancy  at  the  very  sound.  The 
ship  was  to  take  a  cargo  of  flour  to  England  ;  there,  she 
was  to  receive  a  small  assorted  cargo  for  the  northwest 
coast,  and  some  of  the  sandal-wood  islands  ;  after  dispos- 
ing of  her  toys  and  manufactured  articles  in  barter,  she 
was  to  sail  for  Canton,  exchange  her  furs,  wood,  and  other 
articles,  for  teas,  etc.,  and  return  home.  To.  engage  in  this 
voyage,  I  was  offered  the  berth  I  have  mentioned,  and 
thirty  dollars  a  month.  The  wages  were  of  little  moment 
to  me,  but  the  promotion  and  the  voyage  were  of  great 
account  The  ship,  too,  carried  out  letters-of-marque  and 
reprisal  with  her,  and  there  were  the  chances  of  meeting 
some  Frenchman  in  the  European  waters  at  least. 

I  examined  the  vessel,  the  berth  I  was  to  occupy,  made 
a  great  .nany  shy  glances  at  the  captain,  to  ascertain  his 
character  by  that  profound  expedient,  analyzing  his  looks, 
and  finally  determined  to  ship,  on  condition  Neb  should 
be  taken  as  an  ordinary  seaman.  As  soon  as  Marble  heard 
this  last  proposal,  he  explained  the  relation  in  which  the 
black  stood  to  me,  and  earnestly  advised  his  being  received 
as  a  seaman.  The  arrangement  was  made  accordingly, 
and  I  went  at  once  to  the  notary  and  signed  the  articles. 
Neb  was  also  found,  and  he  was  shipped  too  ;  this  time 
regularly,  Mr.  Hardinge  attending  and  giving  his  sanction 
to  what  was  done.  The  worth v  divine  was  in  excellent 


I io  AFLOAT  A.VD  ASHORE. 

spirits,  for  that  very  day  he  had  made  an  arrangement  with 
a  friend  at  the  bar  to  place  Rupert  in  his  office,  Mrs.  Brad- 
fort  insisting  on  keeping  her  young  kinsman  in  her  house, 
as  a  regular  inmate.  This  left  on  the  father  no  more 
charge  than  to  furnish  Rupert  with  clothes,  and  a  few  dol- 
lars of  pocket  money.  But  I  knew  Rupert  too  well  to 
suppose  he  would,  or  could,  be  content  with  the  little  he 
might  expect  from  the  savings  of  Mr.  Hardinge.  I  was 
not  in  want  of  money.  My  guardian  had  supplied  me  so 
amply,  that  not  only  had  I  paid  my  debt  to  the  owners  of 
the  John,  and  fully  equipped  myself  for  the  voyage,  but  I 
actually  possessed  dollars  enough  to  supply  all  my  proba- 
ble wants  during  the  expected  absence.  Many  of  the  offi- 
cers and  men  of  the  Crisis  left  behind  them  orders  with 
their  wives  and  families  to  receive  their  wages,  in  part, 
during  their  absence,  as  letters  from  time  to  time  apprised 
the  owners  that  these  people  were  on  board,  and  in  dis- 
charge of  their  several  duties.  I  determined  on  giving 
Rupert  the  benefit  of  such  an  arrangement.  First  present- 
ing him  with  twenty  dollars  from  my  own  little  store,  I 
took, him  with  me  to  the  counting-house,  and  succeeded, 
though  not  without  some  difficulty,  in  obtaining  for  my 
friend  a  credit  of  twenty  dollars  a  month,  promising  faith- 
fully to  repay  any  balance  that  might  arise  against  me  in 
consequence  of  the  loss  of  the  ship,  or  of  any  accident  to 
myself.  This  I  was  enabled  to  do  on  the  strength  of  my 
credit  as  the  owner  of  Clawbonny  ;  for,  as  is  usual  in  these 
cases,  I  passed  for  being  much  richer  than  I  really  was, 
though  far  from  being  poor. 

I  will  acknowledge  that,  while  I  felt  no  reluctance  at 
making  this  arrangement  in  favor  of  Rupert,  I  felt  morti- 
fied he  should  accept  it.  There  are  certain  acts  we  may 
all  wish  to  perform,  and,  yet,  which  bring  regrets  when 
successfully  performed.  I  was  sorry  that  my  friend,  Lucy's 
brother,  Grace's  admirer — for  I  was  quick  enough  in  per- 
ceiving that  Rupert  began  to  entertain  fancies  of  that  sort 
—had  not  pride  enough  to  cause  him  to  decline  receiving 
money  which  must  be  earned  by  the  sweat  of  my  brow,  and 
this,  moreover,  in  a  mode  of  life  he  had  not  himself  suffi- 
cient resolution  to  encounter  a  second  time.  But  he  ac- 
cepted the  offer,  and  there  was  an  end  of  it. 

As  everything  was  alive  in  1798,  the  Crisis  was  ready  to 
sail  in  three  days  after  I  joined  her.  We  hauled  into  the 
North  River,  as  became  the  dignity  of  our  voyage,  and  got 
our  crew  on  board.  On  the  whole,  we  mustered  a  pretty 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  IT  I 

good  body  of  men,  ten  of  them  being  green  ;  fellows  who 
had  never  seen  the  ocean,  but  who  were  young,  healthy, 
and  athletic,  and  who  promised  to  be  useful  before  a  great 
while.  Including  those  aft,  we  counted  thirty-eight  souls 
on  board.  The  ship  was  got  ready  in  hopes  of  being  able 
to  sail  of  a  Thursday,  for  Captain  Williams  was  a  thought- 
ful man,  and  was  anxious  to  get  the  ship  fairly  at  sea,  with 
the  first  work  done,  previously  to  the  next  Sabbath.  Some 
small  matters,  however,  could  not  be  got  through  with  in 
time  ;  and,  as  for  sailing  of  a  Friday,  that  was  out  of  the 
question.  No  one  did  that,  in  1798,  who  could  help  it. 
This  gave  us  a  holiday,  and  I  got  leave  to  pass  the  after- 
noon and  evening  ashore. 

Rupert,  Grace,  Lucy,  and  I,  took  a  long  walk  into  the 
country  that  evening  ;  that  is,  we  went  into  the  fields,  and 
along  the  lanes,  for  some  distance  above  the  present  site  of 
Canal  Street.  Lucy  and  I  walked  together  most  of  the 
time,  and  we  both  felt  sad  at  the  idea  of  so  long  a  sepa- 
ration as  was  now  before  us.  The  voyage  might  last  three 
years ;  and  I  should  be  legally  a  man,  my  own  master,  and 
Lucy  a  young  woman  of  near  nineteen,  by  that  time.  Ter- 
rible ages  in  perspective  were  these,  and  which  seemed  to 
us  pregnant  with  as  many  changes  as  the  life  of  a  man. 

"  Rupert  will  be  admitted  to  the  bar  when  I  get  back," 
I  casually  remarked,  as  we  talked  the  matter  over. 

"He  will,  indeed,"  the  dear  girl  answered.  "  Now  you 
are  to  go,  Miles,  I  almost  regret  my  brother  is  not  to  be  in 
the  ship  ;  you  have  known  each  other  so  long,  love  each 
other  so  much,  and  have  already  gone  through  such  fright- 
ful trials  in  company." 

"  Oh  !  I  shall  do  well  enough — there'll  be  Neb  ;  and  as 
for  Rupert,  I  think  he  will  be  better  satisfied  ashore  than 
at  sea.  Rupert  is  a  sort  of  natural  lawyer." 

By  this  I  merely  meant  lie  was  good  at  a  subterfuge,  and 
could  tell  his  own  story. 

"Yes,  but  Neb  is  not  Rupert,  Miles,"  Lucy  answered, 
quick  as  thought,  and  I.  fancied  a  little  reproachfully. 

"  Very  true — no  doubt  I  shall  miss  your  brother,  and 
that,  too,  very  much,  at  times  ;  but  all  I  meant  in  speaking 
of  Neb  was,  as  you  know,  that  he  and  I  like  each  other  as 
long  as  I  can  remember." 

Lucy  was  silent,  and  I  felt  embarrassed  and  a  little  at  a 
loss  what  to  say  next.  But  a  girl  approaching  sixteen,  and 
who  is  with  a  youth  who  possesses  her  entire  confidence, 
is  not  apt  to  be  long  silent.  Something  she  will  say  ;  and 


112  AFLOAT   AXD    ASHORE. 

how  often  is  that  something  warm  with  natural  feeling, 
instinct  with  truth,  and  touching  from  its  confiding  sim- 
plicity ! 

"You  will  sometimes  think  of  us,  Miles?  "was  Lucy's 
next  remark,  and  it  was  said  in  a  tone  that  induced  me  to 
look  her  full  in  the  face,  when  I  discovered  that  her  eyes 
were  suffused  with  tears. 

"  Of  that  you  may  be  very  certain,  and  I  hope  to  be  re- 
warded in  kind.  But  now  I  think  of  it,  Lucy,  I  have  a  debt 
to  pay  you,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  little  interest.  Here 
are  the  half-joes  you  forced  me  to  take  last  year,  when  we 
parted  at  Clawbonny.  See,  they  are  exactly  the  same 
pieces;  for  I  would  as  soon  have  parted  with  a  finger  as 
with  one  of  them." 

"  I  had  hoped  they  might  have  been  of  use  to  you,  and 
had  quite  forgotten  them.  You  have  destroyed  an  agreeable 
illusion." 

;'  Is  it  not  quite  as  agreeable  to  know  we  had  no  occasion 
for  them?  No,  here  they  are;  and,  now  I  go  with  Mr. 
Hardinge's  full  approbation,  you  very  well  know  I  can  be 
in  no  want  of  money.  So  there  is  your  gold  ;  and  here, 
Lucy,  is  some  interest  for  the  use  of  it." 

I  made  an  effort  to  put  something  into  the  dear  girl's 
hand  as  I  spoke,  but  all  the  strength  I  could  properly  ap- 
ply was  not  equal  to  the  purpose.  So  tightly  did  she  keep 
her  little  fingers  compressed,  that  I  could  not  succeed  with- 
out a  downright  effort  at  force. 

"  No — no — Miles,"  she  said  hurriedly — almost  huskily  ; 
"that  will  never  do!  I  am  not  Rupert — you  may  prevail 
with  him  ;  never  with  me  /" 

"  Rupert !  What  can  Rupert  have  to  do  with  such  a 
thing  as  this  locket  ?  Youngsters  don't  wear  lockets." 

Lucy's  fingers  separated  as  easily  as  an  infant's,  and  I 
put  my  little  offering  into  her  hand  without  any  more  re- 
sistance. I  was  sorry,  however,  to  discover  that,  by  some 
means  unknown  to  me,  she  had  become  acquainted  with 
the  arrangement  I  had  made  as  respected  the  twenty  dollars 
a  month.  I  afterward  ascertained  that  this  secret  had 
leaked  out  through  Neb,  who  had  it  from  one  of  the  clerks 
of  the  counting-house  who  had  visited  the  ship,  and  re- 
peated it  to  Mrs.  Bradfort's  black  maid  in  one  of  his  fre- 
quent visits  to  the  house.  This  is  a  common  channel  of  in- 
formation, though  it  seldom  proves  as  true  as  it  did  in  this 
instance. 

I  could  see  that  Lucv  was  delighted  with  her  locket.     It 


AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE,  113 

was  a  very  pretty  ornament,  in  the  first  place,  and  it  had 
her  own  hair,  that  of  Grace,  Rupert,  and  my  own,  very 
prettily  braided  together,  so  as  to  form  a  wreath,  made  like 
a  rope,  or  a  grummet,  encircling  a  combination  of  letters 
that  included  all  our  initials.  In  this  there  was  nothing  that 
was  particular,  while  there  was  much  that  was  affectionate. 
Had  I  not  consulted  Grace  on  the  subject,  it  is  possible  I 
should  have  been  less  cautious,  though  I  declare  I  had  no 
thought  of  making  love.  All  this  time  I  fancied  I  felt  for, 
and  trusted  Lucy  as  another  sister.  I  was  shrewd  enough 
to  detect  Rupert's  manner  and  feeling  toward  my  own 
sister,  and  I  felt  afraid  it  was,  or  soon  would  be,  fully  re- 
ciprocated ;  but  as  to  imagining  myself  in  love  with  Lucy 
Hardinge,  or  any  one  else,  the  thought  never  crossed  my 
mind,  though  the  dear  girl  herself  so  often  did  ! 

I  saw  Lucy's  smile,  and  I  could  not  avoid  noticing  the 
manner  in  which,  once  or  twice,  unconsciously  to  herself, 
3  do  believe,  this  simple-minded,  sincere  creature,  pressed 
the  hand  which  retained  the  locket  to  her  heart ;  and  yet 
it  made  no  very  lively  impression  on  my  imagination  at 
the  time.  The  conversation  soon  changed,  and  we  began  to 
converse  of  other  things.  I  have  since  fancied  that  Grace 
had  left  us  alone  in  order  that  I  might  return  the  half-joes 
to  Lucy,  and  offer  the  locket  ;  for,  looking  round  and  see- 
ing the  latter  in  its  new  owner's  hand,  while  Lucy  was  be- 
stowing on  it  one  of  the  hundred  glances  of  grateful  pleas- 
ure it  received  that  afternoon,  she  waited  until  we  came 
up,  when  she  took  my  arm,  remarking,  as  this  was  to  be 
our  last  evening  together,  she  must  come  in  for  her  share 
of  the  conversation.  Now  I  solemnly  affirm  that  this 
was  the  nearest  approach  to  anything  like  a  love-scene 
that  had  ever  passed  between  Lucy  Hardinge  and  my- 
self. 

I  would  gladly  pass  over  the  leave-taking,  and  shall  say 
but  little  about  it.  Mr.  Hardinge  called  me  into  his  room, 
when  we  got  back  to  the  house.  He  spoke  earnestly  and 
solemnly  to  me,  recalling  to  my  mind  many  of  his  early 
and  more  useful  precepts.  He  then  kissed  me,  gave  me 
his  blessing,  and  promised  to  remember  me  in  his  prayers. 
As  I  left  him,  and  I  believe  he  went  on  his  knees  as  soon 
as  my  back  was  turned,  Lucy  was  waiting  for  me  in  the 
passage.  She  was  in  tears,  and  paler  than  common,  but 
her  mind  seemed  made  up  to  sustain  a  great  sacrifice  like 
a  woman.  She  put  a  small,  but  exceedingly  neat  copy  of 
the  Bible  into  my  hand,  and  uttered  as  well  as  emotion 
S 


H4  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

would  permit — "There,  Miles  ;  that  is  my  keepsake.  I  do 
not  ask  you  to  think  of  me  when  you  read  ;  but  think  of 
God."  She  then  snatched  a  kiss,  and  flew  into  her  room 
and  locked  the  door.  Grace  was  below,  and  she  wept  on 
my  neck  like  a  child,  kissing  me  again  and  again,  and  call- 
ing me  "her  brother — her  dear,  her  only  brother."  I  was 
obliged  actually  to  tear  myself  away  from  Grace.  Rupert 
went  with  me  to  the  ship,  anjd  passed  an  hour  or  two  on 
board.  As  we  crossed  the  threshold,  I  heard  a  window 
open  above  my  head,  and,  looking  up,  I  saw  Lucy,  with 
streaming  eyes,  leaning  forward  to  say,  "Write,  Miles — 
write  as  often  as  you  possibly  can." 

Man  must  be  a  stern  being  by  nature,  to  be  able  to  tear 
himself  from  such  friends,  in  order  to  encounter  enemies, 
hardships,  dangers  and  toil,  and  all  without  any  visible 
motive.  Such  was  my  case,  however,  for  I  wanted  not  for 
a  competency,  or  for  most  of  those  advantages  which  might 
tempt  one  to  abandon  the  voyage.  Of  such  a  measure, 
the  possibility  never  crossed  my  mind.  I  believed  that  it 
was  just  as  necessary  for  me  to  remain  third  mate  of  the 
Crisis,  and  to  stick  by  the  ship  while  she  would  float,  as 
Mr.  Adams  thinks  it  necessary  for  him  to  present  abolition 
petitions  to  a  Congress  which  will  not  receive  them.  We 
both  of  us,  doubtless,  believed  ourselves  the  victims  of  fate. 
We  sailed  at  sunrise,  wind  and  tide  favoring.  We  had  an- 
chored off  Cortlandt  Street,  and  as  the  ship  swept  past  the 
Battery  I  saw  Rupert,  who  had  only  gone  ashore  in  the 
pilot's  boat  at  daylight,  with  two  females,  watching  our 
movements.  The  girls  did  not  dare  to  wave  their  hand- 
kerchiefs ;  but  what  cared  I  for  that?  I  knew  that  their 
good  wishes,  kind  wishes,  tender  wishes,  went  with  me  ;  and 
this  little  touch  of  affection,  which  woman  knows  so  well 
how  to  manifest,  made  me  both  happy  and  sad  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  day. 

The  Crisis  was  an  unusually  fast  ship,  faster  even  than 
the  Tigris  ;  coppered  to  the  bends,  copper-fastened,  and 
with  a  live-oak  frame.  No  better  craft  sailed  out  of  the 
Republic.  Uncle  Sam  had  tried  to  purchase  her  for  one  of 
his  new  navy  ;  but  the  owners,  having  this  voyage  in  view, 
refused  his  tempting  offers.  She  was  no  sooner  under  her 
canvas,  than  all  hands  of  us  perceived  we  were  in  a  travel- 
ler ;  and  glad  enough  were  we  to  be  certain  of  the  fact,  for 
we  had  a  long  road  before  us.  This,  too,  was  with  the 
wind  free,  and  in  smooth  water  ;  whereas  those  who  knew 
the  vessel  asserted  her  forte  was  on  a  bowline  and  in  a  sea 


AFLOAT  AND   A  Sir  ORE. 


IT5 


• — that  is  to  say,  she  would  sail  relatively  faster  than  most 
other  craft,  under  the  latter  circumstances. 

There  was  a  strange  pleasure  to  me,  notwithstanding  all 
I  had  suffered  previously,  all  the  risks  I  had  run,  and  all  I 
had  left  behind  me,  in  finding  myself  once  more  on  the 
broad  ocean.  As  for  Neb,  the  fellow  was  fairly  enrap- 
tured. So  quickly  and  intelligently  did  he  obey  his  orders, 
that  he  won  a  reputation  before  we  crossed  the  bar.  The 
smell  of  the  ocean  seemed  to  imbue  him  with  a  species  of 
nautical  inspiration,  and  even  I  was  astonished  with  his 
readiness  and  activity.  As  for  myself,  I  was  every  way  at 
home.  Very  different  was  this  exit  from  the  port  from 
that  of  the  previous  year.  Then  everything  was  novel,  and 
not  a  little  disgusting.  Now  I  had  little,  almost  nothing, 
to  learn — literally  nothing,  I  might  have  said,  were  it  not 
that  every  ship-master  has  certain  ways  of  his  own,  that  it 
behooves  all  his  subordinates  to  learn  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble. Then  I  lived  aft,  where  we  not  only  had  plates,  and 
table-cloths,  and  tumblers,  and  knives  and  forks,  but  com- 
paratively clean  articles  of  the  sort.  I  say  comparatively, 
the  two  other  degrees  being  usually  wanting  in  northwest 
traders. 

The  Crisis  went  to  sea  with  a  lively  breeze  at  southwest, 
the  wind  shifting  after  she  had  got  inCo  the  lower  bay. 
There  were  a  dozen  sail  of  us  altogether,  and  in  our  little 
fleet  were  two  of  Uncle  Sam's  men,  who  felt  disposed  to 
try  their  hands  with  us.  We  crossed  the  bar,  all  three  of 
us,  within  a  cable's  length  of  each  other,  and  made  sail  in 
company,  with  the  wind  a  trifle  abaft  the  beam.  Just  as 
Navesink  disappeared,  our  two  men-of-war,  merchantmen 
altered,  hauled  up  on  bowlines,  and  jogged  off  toward  the 
West  Indies,  being  at  the  time  about  a  league  astern  of  us. 
This  success  put  us  all  in  high  good-humor,  and  had  such 
an  effect  on  Marble  in  particular,  that  he  began  to  give  it 
as  his  opinion  that  our  only  superiority  over  them  would 
not  be  found  confined  to  sailing  on  an  experiment.  It  is 
very  convenient  to  think  favorably  of  one's  self,  and  it  is 
certainly  comfortable  to  entertain  the  same  notion  as 
respects  one's  ship. 

I  confess  to  a  little  awkwardness  at  first,  in  acting  as  an 
officer.  I  was  young,  and  commanded  men  old  enough  to 
be  my  father — regular  sea-dogs,  who  were  as  critical  in  ail 
that  related  to  the  niceties  of  the  calling,  as  the  journalist 
who  is  unable  to  appreciate  the  higher  qualities  of  a  book 
is  hypercritical  on  its  minor  faults.  But  a  few  days  gave 


Ii6  At-' I. OAT  A XI)   ASHORE. 

me  confidence,  and  I  soon  found  I  was  obeyed  as  readily 
as  the  first  mate.  A  squall  struck  the  ship  in  my  watch 
about  a  fortnight  out,  and  I  succeeded  in  getting  in  sail 
and  saving  everything,  canvas  and  spars,  in  a  way  that  did 
me  infinite  service  aft.  Captain  Williams  spoke  to  me  on 
the  subject,  commending  the  orders  I  had  given,  and  the 
coolness  with  which  they  had  been  issued  ;  for,  as  I  after- 
ward understood,  he  remained  some  time  in  the  companion, 
way,  keeping  the  other  two  mates  back,  though  all  hands 
had  been  called,  in  order  to  see  how  I  could  get  along  by 
myself  in  such  a  strait.  On  this  occasion,  I  never  saw  a 
human  being  exert  himself  like  Neb.  He  felt  that  my 
honor  was  concerned.  I  do  really  think  the  fellow  did 
two  men's  duty  the  whole  time  the  squall  lasted.  Until 
this  little  incident  occurred,  Captain  Williams  was  in  the 
habit  of  coming  on  deck  to  examine  the  heavens,  and  see 
how  things  were  getting  on  in  my  night-watches  ;  but, 
after  this,  he  paid  no  more  visits  of  this  sort  to  me  than  he 
paid  to  Mr.  Marble.  I  had  been  gratified  by  his  praises  ; 
but  this  quiet  mode  of  showing  confidence  gave  me  more 
happiness  than  I  can  express. 

We  had  a  long  passage  out,  the  wind  hanging  to  the 
eastward  near  three  weeks.  At  length  we  got  moderate 
southerly  breezes,  and  began  to  travel  on  our  course. 
Twenty-four  hours  after  we  had  got  the  fair  wind,  I  had 
the  morning-watch,  and  made,  as  the  day  dawned,  a  sail, 
directly  abeam  of  us,  to  windward,  about  three  leagues 
distant  or  just  hull  down.  I  went  into  the  maintop,  and 
examined  her  with  a  glass.  She  was  a  ship  seemingly  of 
about  our  own  size,  and  carrying  everything  that  would 
draw.  I  did  not  send  word  below  until  it  was  broad  day- 
light, or  for  near  half  an  hour  ;  and  in  all  that  time  her 
bearings  did  not  vary  any  perceptible  distance. 

Just  as  the  sun  rose,  the  captain  and  chief  mate  made 
their  appearance  on  deck.  At  first  they  agreed  in  suppos- 
ing the  stranger  a  stray  English  West  Indiaman,  bound 
home  ;  for  at  that  time  few  merchant  vessels  were  met  at 
sea  that  were  not  English  or  American.  The  former  usually 
sailed  in  convoys,  however  ;  and  the  captain  accounted  for 
the  circumstance  that  this  was  not  thus  protected,  by  the 
fact  of  her  sailing  so  fast.  She  might  be  a  letter-of-marque, 
like  ourselves,  and  vessels  of  that  character  did  not  take 
convoy.  As  the  two  vessels  lay  exactly  abeam  of  each 
other, 'with  square  yards,  it  was  not  easy  to  judge  of  the 
sparring  of  the  stranger,  except  by  means  of  his  masts. 


AFLOAT  A. YD   AS/fO7tK.  117 

Marble,  judging  by  the  appearance  of  his  top-sails,  began 
to  think  our  neighbor  might  be  a  Frenchman,  he  had  so 
much  hoist  to  the  sails.  After  some  conversation  on  the 
subject,  the  captain  ordered  me  to  brace  forward  the  yards, 
as  far  as  our  studding-sails  would  allow,  and  to  luff  nearer 
to  the  stranger.  While  the  ship  was  thus  changing  her 
course,  the  day  advanced,  and  our  crew  got  their  breakfast. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  strange  ship,  which  kept  on 
the  same  line  of  sailing  as  before,  drew  ahead  of  us  a  little, 
while  we  neared  her  sensibly.  In  the  course  of  three  hours 
we  were  within  a  league  of  her,  but  well  on  her  lee-quarter. 
Marble  now  unhesitatingly  pronounced  her  to  be  a  French- 
man, there  being  no  such  thing  as  mistaking  the  sails.  To 
suppose  an  Englishman  would  go  to  sea  with  such  triangles 
of  royals,  he  held  to  be  entirely  out  of  the  question  ;  and 
then  he  referred  to  me  to  know 'if  I  did  not  remember  the 
brig  "  we  had  licked  in  the  West  Indies,  last  v'y'ge,  which 
had  just  such  r'yals  as  the  chap  up  there  to  windward  ?" 
I  could  see  the  resemblance,  certainly,  and  had  remarked 
the  same  peculiarity  in  the  few  French  vessels  I  had  seen, 

Under  all  the  circumstances,  Captain  Williams  deter- 
mined to  get  on  the  weather-quarter  of  our  neighbor,  and 
take  a  still  nearer  look  at  him.  That  he  was  armed,  we 
could  see  already  ;  and,  as  near  as  we  could  make  out,  he 
carried  twelve  guns,  or  just  two  more  than  we  did  our- 
selves. All  this  was  encouraging  ;  sufficiently  so,  at  least, 
to  induce  us  to  make  a  much  closer  examination  than  we 
had  yet  done. 

It  took  two  more  hours  to  bring  the  Crisis,  fast  as  she 
sailed,  on  the  weather-quarter  of  her  neighbor,  distant 
about  a  mile.  Here  our  observations  were  much  more  to 
the  purpose,  and  even  Captain  \\illiamspronouncedthe 
stranger  to  be  a  Frenchman,  "  and  no  doubt,  a  letter-of- 
marque,  like  ourselves."  He  had  just  uttered  these  words, 
when  we  saw  the  other  vessel's  studding-sails  coming  down, 
her  royals  and  top-gallant-sails  clewing  up,  and  all  the 
usual  signs  of  her  stripping  for  a  fight.  We  had  set  our 
ensign  early  in  the  day,  but,  as  yet,  had  got  no  answering 
symbol  of  nationality  from  the  chase.  As  soon  as  she  had 
taken  in  all  her  light  canvas,  however,  she  clewed  up 
her  courses,  fired  a  gun  to  windward,  and  hoisted  the 
French  tri-color,  the  most  graceful  flag  among  the  emblems 
of  Christendom,  but  one  that  has  been  as  remarkably  un- 
successful in  the  deeds  it  has  witnessed  on  the  high  seas  as 
it  has  been  remarkable  for  the  reverse  on  the  land.  The 


:i8  AT  I, OAT  AXD  ASH  OK  P.. 

French  have  not  been  wanting  in  excellent  sailors — gallant 
seamen,  too  ;  but  the  results  of  their  exploits  afloat  have 
ever  borne  a  singular  disproportion  to  the  means  employed 
— a  few  occasional  exceptions  just  going  to  prove  that  the 
causes  have  been  of  a  character  as  peculiar,  as  these  results 
have,  in  nearly  all  ages,  been  uniform.  I  have  heard  ts.e 
want  of  success,  in  maritime  exploits,  among  the  French, 
attributed  to  a  want  of  sympathy,  in  the  nation,  with  mar- 
itime things.  Others,  again,  have  supposed  that  the  nar- 
row system  of  preferring  birth  to  merit,  which  pervaded 
the  whole  economy  of  the  French  marine,  as  well  as  of  its 
>rmy,  previouslv  to  the  Revolution,  could  not  fail  to  de- 
stroy the  former,  inasmuch  as  a  man  of  family  would  not 
consent  to  undergo  the  toil  and  hardships  that  are  unavoid- 
able to  the  training  of  the  true  seaman.  This  last  reason, 
however,  can  scarcely  be  the  true  one,  as  the  young  English 
noble  has  often  made  the  most  successful  naval  officer  ; 
and  the  marine  of  France,  in  1798,  had  surely  every  oppor- 
tunity of  perfecting  itself,  by  downright  practice,  uninjured 
by  favoritism,  as  that  of  America.  For  myself,  though  I 
have  now  reflected  on  the  subject  for  years,  I  can  come  to 
no  other  conclusion  than  that  national  character  has  some 
very  important  agency — or,  perhaps,  it  might  be  safer  to 
say,  has  had  some  very  important  agency — through  some 
cause  or  other,  in  disqualifying  France  from  becoming  a 
great  naval  power,  in  the  sense  of  skill ;  in  that  of  mere 
force,  so  great  a  nation  must  always  be  formidable.  Now 
she  sends  her  princes  to  sea,  however,  we  may  look  for 
different  results. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  an  Englishman,  or  an 
American,  rarely  went  alongside  of  a  Frenchman, "in  1798, 
without  a  strong  moral  assurance  of  victory,  he  was  some- 
times disappointed.  There  was  no  lack  of  courage  in 
their  enemies,  and  it  occasionally  happened  that  there  was 
no  lack  of  skill.  Every  manifestation  that  the  experience 
of  our  captain  could  detect,  went  to  show  that  we  had 
fallen  in  with  one  of  these  exceptions.  As  we  drew  nearer 
to  our  enemy,  we  perceived  that  he  was  acting  like  a  sea- 
man. His  sails  had  been  furled  without  haste  or  confu- 
sion ;  an  infallible  evidence  of  coolness  and  discipline 
when  done  on  the  eve  of  battle,  and  signs  that  the  watch- 
ful seaman,  on.  such  occasions,  usually  notes  as  unerring 
indications  of  the  sort  of  struggle  that  awaits  him.  It 
was  consequently  understood,  among  us  on  the  quarter- 
deck, that  we  were  likely  to  have  a  warm  day's  work  of  it. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  119 

Nevertheless,  we  had  gone  too  far  to  retreat  without  an 
effort,  and  we  began,  in  our  turn,  to  shorten  sail,  in  readi- 
ness for  the  combat.  Marble  was  a  prince  of  a  fellow, 
when  it  came  to  anything  serious.  I  never  saw  him 
shorten  sail  so  coolly  and  readily  as  he  did  that  very  day. 
We  had  everything  ready  in  ten  minutes  after  we  began. 

It  was  rare,  indeed,  to  see  two  letters-of-marque  set  to  as 
coolly  and  as  scientifically  as  were  the  facts  with  the  Crisis 
and  la  Dame  de  Nantes  ;  for  so,  as  we  afterward  ascertained, 
was  our  antagonist  called.  Neither  party  aimed  at  any 
great  advantage  by  manoeuvring  ;  but  we  came  up  along- 
side of  "The  Lady,"  as  our  men  subsequently  nicknamed 
the  Frenchman,  the  two  vessels  delivering  their  broadsides 
nearly  at  the  same  instant.  I  was  stationed  on  the  fore- 
castle, in  charge  of  the  head-sheets,  with  orders  to  attend 
generally  to  the  braces  and  the  rigging,  using  a  musket  in 
moments  that  were  not  otherwise  employed.  Away  went 
both  my  jib-sheet  blocks  at  the  beginning,  giving  me  a  very 
pretty  job  from  the  outset.  This  was  but  the  commence- 
ment of  trouble  ;  for,  during  the  two  hours  and  a  half  that, 
we  lay  battering  la  Dame  de  Nantes,  and  she  lay  battering 
us,  I  had  really  so  much  to  attend  to  in  the  way  of  reev- 
ing, knotting,  splicing,  and  turning  in  afresh,  that  I  had 
scarcely  a  minute  to  look  about  me,  in  order  to  ascertain 
how  the  day  was  going.  I  fired  my  musket  but  twice. 
The  glimpses  I  did  manage  to  take  were  far  from  satis 
factory,  however ;  several  of  our  people  being  killed  or 
wounded,  one  gun  fairly  crippled  by  a  shot,  and  our  rig- 
ging in  a  sad  plight.  The  only  thing  encouraging  was 
Neb's  shout,  the  fellow  making  it  a  point  to  roar  almost  as 
loud  as  his  gun,  at  each  discharge. 

It  was  evident  from  the  first  that  the  Frenchman  had 
nearly  twice  as  many  men  as  we  carried.  This  rendered 
any  attempt  at  boarding  imprudent,  and,  in  the  way  of 
pounding,  our  prospects  were  by  no  means  flattering.  At 
length  I  heard  a  rushing  sound  over  my  head,  and  looking 
up,  I  saw  that  the  main-topmast,  with  the  yards  and  sails, 
had  come  down  on  the  fore-braces,  and  might  shortly  be 
expected  on  deck.  At  this  point,  Captain  Williams  ordered 
all  hands  from  the  guns  to  clear  the  wreck.  At  the  same 
instant,  our  antagonist,  with  a  degree  of  complaisance  that 
I  could  have  hugged  him  for,  ceased  firing  also.  Both 
sides  seemed  J;o  think  it  was  very  foolish  for  two  merchant- 
men to  lie  within  a  cable's  length  of  each  other,  trying 
which  could  do  the  other  the  most  harm  :  and  both  sides 


120  AFLOAT  A. YD   A  SHORE. 

set  about  the,  by  this  time,  very  necessary  duty  of  repair- 
ing damages.  While  this  was  going  on,  the  men  at  the 
wheel,  by  a  species  of  instinctive  caution,  did  their  whole 
duty.  The  Crisis  luffed  all  she  was  able,  while  la  Dame  de 
Nantes  edged  away  all  she  conveniently  could,  placing 
more  than  a  mile  of  blue  water  between  the  two  vessels, 
before  we,  who  were  at  work  aloft,  were  aware  they  were 
so  decidedly  running  on  diverging  lines. 

It  was  night  before  we  got  our  wreck  clear  ;  and  then 
we  had  to  look  about  us,  to  get  out  spare  spars,  fit  them, 
rig  them,  point  them,  and  sway  them  aloft.  The  last  oper- 
ation, however,  was  deferred  until  morning.  As  it  was, 
the  day's  work  had  been  hard,  and  the  people  really 
wanted  rest.  Rest  was  granted  them  at  eight  o'clock  ;  at 
which  hour  our  late  antagonist  was  visible  about  a  league 
distant,  the  darkness  beginning  to  envelope  her.  In  the 
morning  the  horizon  was  clear,  owing  to  the  repulsion 
which  existed  in  so  much  force  between  the  two  vessels. 
It  was  not  our  business  to  trouble  ourselves  about  the  fate 
of  our  adversary,  but  to  take  heed  of  our  own.  That 
morning  we  got  up  our  spars,  crossed  the  yards,  and  made 
sail  again.  We  had  several  days'  work  in  repairing  all  our 
damages  ;  but,  happening  to  be  found  for  a  long  voyage, 
and  well  found,  too,  by  the  end  of  a  week  the  Crisis  was  in 
as  good  order  as  if  we  had  not  fought  a  battle.  As  for  the 
combat,  it  was  one  of  those  in  which  either  side  might 
claim  the  victory,  or  not,  as  it  suited  tastes.  We  had  very 
ingenious  excuses  for  our  failure,  however  ;  and  I  make  no 
doubt  the  French  were  just  as  ready,  in  this  way,  as  we 
were  ourselves. 

Our  loss  in  this  engagement  amounted  to  two  men  killed 
outright,  and  to  seven  wounded,  two  of  whom  died  within 
a  few  days.  The  remaining  wounded  all  recovered,  though 
the  second  mate,  who  was  one  of  them,  I  believe  never  got 
to  be  again  the  man  lie  had  been.  A  canister-shot  lodged 
near  his  hip,  and  the  creature  we  had  on  board  as  a  sur- 
geon was  not  the  hero  to  extract  it.  In  that  day,  the  coun- 
try was  not  so  very  well  provided  with  medical  men  on 
the  land,  as  to  spare  many  good  ones  to  the  sea.  In  the 
new  navy  it  was  much  the  fashion  to  say,  "  If  you  want  a 
leg  amputated,  send  for  the  carpenter  ;  he  does  know  how 
to  use  a  saw  while  it  is  questionable  whether  the  doctor 
knows  how  to  use  anything."  Times,  however,  are  greatly 
altered  in  this  respect  ;  the  gentlemen  who  no\v  compose 
this  branch  of  the  service  being  not  only  worthy  of  com- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  12 1 

mendation  for  their  skill  and  services,  but  worthy  of  the 
graduated  rank  which  I  see  they  are  just  now  asking  of 
the  justice  of  their  country,  and  which,  as  that  country  or- 
dinarily administers  justice,  I  am  much  afraid  they  will 
ask  in  vain. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"If  we 

Cannot  defend  our  own  door  from  the  dog, 
Let  us  be  worried  ;  and  our  nation  lose 
The  name  of  hardiness,  and  policy." — Henry  V. 

THE  combat  between  the  Crisis  and  la  Dame  de  Nantes 
took  place  in  42°  37'  12"  north  latitude,  and  34°  16'  43" 
west  longitude,  from  Greenwich.  This  was  very  near  the 
centre  of  the  northern  Atlantic,  and  gave  us  ample  time  to 
get  our  ship  in  good  condition  before  we  drew  in  with  the 
land.  Shortly  after  the  affair,  the  wind  came  out  light  at 
northeast,  forcing  us  down  nearer  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  than 
was  at  all  convenient,  when  bound  to  London.  The  weather 
grew  foggy,  too,  which  is  not  usual  on  the  coast  of  Europe, 
with  the  wind  at  east,  and  the  nights  dark.  Just  a  fort- 
night after  the  action  I  was  awakened  early  one  morning 
by  a  rough  shake  of  the  shoulder  from  Marble,  who  had  the 
watch,  but  who  was  calling  me  at  least  an  hour  before  the 
time.  "  Bear  a  hand  and  turn  out,"  he  said  ;  "  I  want  you 
on  deck,  Mr.  Wallingford."  I  obeyed,  of  course,  and 
soon  stood  in  the  presence  of  the  chief  mate,  rubbing  my 
eyes  diligently,  as  they  had  to  be  opened  by  friction. 

It  was  just  six  bells,  or  seven  o'clock,  and  one  of  the 
watch  was  on  the  point  of  making  the  bell  proclaim  as 
much,  when  Mr.  Marble  ordered  him  not  to  strike  the 
hour.  The  weather  was  thick,  or  rather  foggy,  and  the 
wind  light,  with  very  little  sea  going.  All  this  I  had 
time  to  notice,  to  listen  to  the  unusual  order  about  the 
bell,  and  to  gape  twice,  before  the  mate  turned  to  me.  He 
seized  my  arm,  carried  me  on  the  lee  side  of  the  quarter- 
deck, shook  his  finger  at  a  vacant  spot  in  the  fog,  and  said. 

"  Miles,  my  boy,  down  yonder,  within  half  a  mile  of  this 
very  spot,  is  our  friend  the  Frenchman !  " 

"  How  is  it  possible  you  can  know  that,  Mr.  Marble  ?" 
I  demanded  in  surprise. 

"  Because  I  have  seen  him,  with  these  two  good-looking 


122  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

eyes  of  mine.  This  fog  opens  and  shuts  like  a  playhouse- 
curtain,  and  I  got  a  peep  at  the  chap,  about  ten  minutes 
since.  It  was  a  short  look,  but  it  was  a  sure  one  ;  I  would 
swear  to  the  fellow  in  any  admiralty  court  in  Christendom." 

"And  what  do  you  intend  to  do,  Mr.  Marble?  We 
found  him  a  hard  subject  in  clear  weather  ;  what  can  we 
do  with  him  in  thick  ? " 

"That  depends  on  the  old  man  ;  his  very  natur'  is  over° 
laid  by  what  has  happened  already,  and  I  rather  think  he 
will  be  for  a  fresh  scrim  mage  " — Marble  was  an  uneducated 
Kennebunk  man,  and  by  no  means  particular  about  his 
English.  "There'll  be  good  picking  in  that  French  gen- 
tleman, Master  Miles,  for  those  who  come  in  at  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  plunder  !  " 

The  chief  mate  then  told  me  to  go  below  and  turn  up 
all  hands,  making  as  little  rumpus  about  it  as  possible. 
This  I  did  ;  and  when  I  returned  to  the  deck,  I  found  the 
fingers  of  Marble  going  again,  with  Captain  Williams  for 
his  auditor,  just  as  they  had  gone  to  me,  a  few  minutes 
earlier.  Being  an  officer,  I  made  no  scruples  about  join- 
ing the  party.  Marble  was  giving  his  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  momentarily  seen  the  enemy, 
the  canvas  he  was  under,  the  course  he  was  steering,  and 
the  air  of  security  that  prevailed  about  him.  So  much, 
he  insisted  he  had  noted,  though  he  saw  the  ship  for 
about  twenty  seconds  only.  All  this,  however,  might  be  true, 
for  a  seaman's  eye  is  quick,  and  he  has  modes  of  his  own 
for  seeing  a  great  deal  in  a  brief  space  of  time.  Marbl-e 
now  proposed  that  we  should  go  to  quarters,  run  along- 
side of  the  Frenchman,  pour  in  a  broadside,  and  board 
him  in  the  smoke.  Our  success  would  be  certain,  could 
we  close  with  him  without  being  seen  ;  and  it  would  be 
almost  as  certain,  could  we  engage  him  with  our  guns  by 
surprise.  The  chief  mate  was  of  opinion  that  we  had 
dosed  him  in  the  other  affair,  in  a  way  to  sicken  him  ;  this 
time  we  should  bring  him  to  with  a  round  turn  ! 

The  "  old  man  "  was  pleased  with  the  notion,  I  saw  at  a 
glance  ;  and  I  confess  it  took  my  fancy  also.  We  all  felt 
very  sore  at  the  result  of  the  other  attempt,  and  here  it 
seemed  as  if  fortune  gave  us  a  good  occasion  for  repairing 
the  evil. 

"There  can  be  no  harm  in  getting  ready,  Mr.  Marble," 
the  captain  observed  ;  "  and  when  we  are  ready  ourselves, 
we  shall  know  better  what  to  think  of  the  matter." 

This  was  no  sooner  said,  than   away  we  went  to  clear 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  113 

ship.  Our  task  was  soon  done  ;  the  tompions  were  got 
out,  the  guns  cast  loose,  ammunition  was  brought  up,  and 
a  stand  of  grape  was  put  in  over  the  shot  in  every  piece 
in  both  batteries.  As  the  men  were  told  the  motive,  they 
worked  like  dray-horses  ;  and  I  do  not  think  we  were  ten 
minutes  before  the  ship  was  ready  to  go  into  action  at  a 
moment's  notice. 

All  this  time  Captain  Williams  refused  to  keep  the  ship 
away.  I  believe  he  wanted  to  get  a  look  at  our  neighbor 
himself,  for  he  could  not  but  foresee  what  might  be  the 
consequences,  should  he  run  down  in  the  fog,  and  engage 
a  heavier  vessel  than  his  own,  without  the  ceremony  of  a 
hail.  The  sea  was  covered  with  Englishmen,  and  one  of 
their  cruisers  might  not  very  easily  pardon  such  a  mistake, 
however  honestly  made.  But  preparation  seems  to  infer 
a  necessity  for  performance.  When  everything  was  ready, 
all  eyes  were  turned  aft  in  a  way  that  human  nature  could 
hardly  endure,  and  the  captain  was  obliged  to  yield.  As 
Marble,  of  all  on  board,  had  alone  seen  the  other  vessel, 
he  was  directed  to  con  the  Crisis  in  the  delicate  opera- 
tion she  was  about  to  undertake. 

As  before,  my  station  was  on  the  forecastle.  I  had  been 
directed  to  keep  a  bright  lookout,  as  the  enemy  would 
doubtless  be  first  seen  from  forward.  The  order  was  un- 
necessary, however,  for  never  did  human  beings  gaze  into 
a  fog  more  anxiously  than  did  all  on  board  our  ship  on 
this  occasion.  Calculating  by  the  distance,  and  the  courses 
steered,  we  supposed  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  would  bring 
us  square  alongside  of  Mr.  Marble's  ship  ;  though  some 
among  us  doubted  his  having  seen  any  vessel  at  all.  There 
was  about  a  five-knot  breeze,  and  we  had  all  our  square 
sails  set,  knowing  it  was  necessary  to  go  a  little  faster  than 
our  adversary  to  catch  up  with  him.  The  intense  expecta- 
tion, not  to  say  anxiety,  of  such  a  scene,  is  not  easily  de- 
scribed. The  surrounding  fog,  at  times,  seemed  filled 
with  ships*  but  all  vanished  into  thick  air,  one  after  an- 
other, leaving  nothing  but  vapor.  Severe  orders  had  been 
given  for  no  one  to  call  out,  but,  the  moment  the  ship  was 
seen,  for  the  discoverer  to  go  aft  and  report.  At  least  a 
dozen  men  left  their  quarters  on  this  errand,  all  returning 
in  the  next  instant,  satisfied  they  had  been  deceived. 
Each  moment,  too,  increased  the  expectation  ;  for  each 
moment  must  we  be  getting  nearer  and  nearer  to  her, 
if  any  vessel  were  really  there.  Quite  twenty  minutes, 
however,  passed  in  this  manner,  and  no  ship  was  seen. 


124  AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORE. 

Marble  continued  cool  and  confident,  but  the  captain  and 
second  mate  smiled,  while  the  people  began  to  shake  their 
heads,  and  roll  the  tobacco  into  their  cheeks.  As  we  ad- 
vanced, our  own  ship  luffed  by  degrees,  until  we  had  got 
fairly  on  our  old  course  again,  or  were  sailing  close  upon 
the  wind.  This  change  was  made  easily,  the  braces  not 
having  been  touched  ;  a  precaution  that  was  taken  ex- 
pressly to  give  us  the  advantage.  When  we  found  our, 
selves  once  more  close  upon  the  wind,  we  gave  the  matter 
up  forward,  supposing  the  mate  had  been  deceived.  I  saw 
by  the  expression  of  the  captain's  face  that  he  was  about 
to  give  the  order  to  secure  the  guns,  when  casting  my  eyes 
forward,  there  was  a  ship,  sure  enough,  within  a  hundred 
yards  of  us !  I  held  up  both  arms,  as  I  looked  aft,  and 
luckily  caught  the  captain's  eye.  In  an  instant  he  was  on 
the  forecastle. 

It  was  easy  enough  to  see  the  stranger  now.  There  he 
was  in  the  fog,  looking  mystical  and  hazy  ;  but  there  he 
was  under  his  main-topgallant-sail,  close-hauled,  and  mov- 
ing ahead  in  all  the  confidence  of  the  solitude  of  the  ocean. 
We  could  not  see  his  hull,  or  so  faintly  as  only  to  distin- 
guish its  mass  ;  but,  from  his  tops  up,  there  was  no  mistak- 
ing the  objects.  We  had  shot  away  the  Frenchman's  miz- 
zen-royal-mast.  It  was  a  pole,  and  there  the  stump  stood, 
just  as  it  was  when  we  had  last  seen  him  on  the  evening 
of  the  day  of  the  combat.  This  left  no  doubt  of  the  char- 
acter of  our  neighbor,  and  it  at  once  determined  our 
course.  As  it  was,  we  were  greatly  outsailing  him,  but 
an  order  was  immediately  given  to  set  the  light  staysails. 
As  Captain  Williams  passed  aft,  he  gave  his  orders  to 
the  men  in  the  batteries.  In  the  meantime  the  second 
mate,  who  spoke  very  good  New  York  French,  came  upon 
the  forecastle  in  readiness  to  answer  the  expected  hail. 
As  the  Crisis  was  kept  a  little  free  in  order  to  close,  and 
as  she  sailed  so  fast,  it  was  apparent  we  were  coming  up 
with  the  chase,  hand  over  hand. 

The  two  ships  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  feet  asun- 
der when  the  Frenchman  first  saw  us.  This  blindness  was 
owing  to  several  circumstances.  In  the  first  place,  ten  men 
look  forward  in  a  ship  where  one  looks  aft.  Those  who 
looked  aloft,  too,  were  generally  on  the  quarter-deck,  and 
this  prevented  them  from  looking  astern.  Then  the  French- 
man's crew  had  just  gone  to  their  breakfast,  most  of  them 
eating  below.  She  was  so  strong-handed,  moreover,  as  to 
give  a  forenoon's-watch  below,  and  this  still  left  many  of 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  125 

the  sluggards  in  their  hammocks.  In  that  day  even  a 
•French  ship-of-the-line  was  no  model  of  discipline  or  or- 
der, and  a  letter-of-marqii^  was  consequently  worse.  As  it 
afterward  appeared,  we  were  first  seen  by  the  mate  of  the 
watch,  who  ran  to  the  taffrail,  and,  instead  of  giving  an 
order  to  call  all  hands,  he  hailed  us.  Mr.  Forbank,  our 
second  mate,  answered  ;  mumbling  his  words  so  that,  if 
they  were  bad  French,  they  did  not  sound  like  good  Eng- 
lish. He  got  out  the  name  "  Le  Hasard,  de  Bordeaux," 
pretty  plainly,  however  ;  and  this  served  to  mystify  the 
mate  for  a  few  seconds.  By  the  end  of  that  time  our  bows 
were  doubling  on  the  Frenchman's  quarter,  and  we  were 
sheering  into  him  so  fast  as  quite  to  distract  the  Nantes 
man.  The  hail  had  been  heard  below,  however,  and  the 
Frenchmen  came  tumbling  up  by  the  dozen,  forward  and  aft 

Captain  Williams  was  a  prime  seaman,  and  one  of  the 
coolest  men  that  ever  lived.  Everything  that  day  was  done 
at  precisely  the  proper  moment.  The  Frenchman  attempted 
to  keep  off,  but  our  wheel  was  so  touched  as  to  keep  us 
lapping  in  nearly  a  parallel  line  with  them  the  whole  time  ; 
and  our  forward  sails  soon  becalmed  even  their  mainsail. 
Of  course,  we  went  two  feet  to  their  one.  Marble  came  on 
the  forecastle  just  as  our  cathead  was  abreast  of  "The 
Lady's"  forward  rigging.  Less  than  a  minute  was  required 
to  take  us  so  far  forward,  and  that  minute  was  one  of  great 
confusion  among  the  French.  As  soon  as  Marble  got  on 
the  forecastle,  he  made  a  signal,  the  ensign  was  run  up, 
and  the  order  was  given  to  fire.  We  let  fly  all  five  of  our 
nine-pounders,  loaded  with  two  round  and  a  stand  of  grape, 
at  the  same  moment.  At  the  next  instant  the  crash  of  the 
ships  coming  foul  of  each  other  was  heard.  Marble  shouted 
"Come  on,  boys  !  "  and  away  he,  and  I,  and  Neb,  and  all 
hands  of  us  went  on  board  of  the  Frenchman  like  a  hurri- 
cane. I  anticipated  a  furious  hand-to-hand  conflict  ;  but 
we  found  the  deck  deserted,  and  had  no  difficulty  what- 
ever in  getting  possession.  The  surprise,  the  rush,  and  the 
effect  of  the  broadside  gave  us  an  easy  victory.  The  French 
captain  had  been  nearly  cut  in  two  by  a  nine-pound  shot, 
moreover,  and  both  of  the  mates  were  severely  wounded. 
These  accidents  contributed  largely  to  our  success,  causing 
the  enemy  to  abandon  the  defence  as  hopeless.  We  had 
not  a  soul  hurt. 

The  prize  proved  to  be  the  ship  I  have  mentioned,  a  let- 
ter-of-marque  from  Guadeloupe,  bound  to  Nantes.  She 
was  a  trifle  larger  than  the  Crisis,  mounted  twelve  French 


126  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

nines,  and  had  eighty-three  souls  on  board  when  she  sailed. 
Of  these,  however,  no  less  than  twenty-three  had  been 
killed  and  wounded  in  our  previous  affair  with  her,  and 
several  were  absent  in  a  prize.  Of  the  wounded,  nearly 
all  were  still  in  their  hammocks.  Among  the  remainder, 
some  sixteen  or  eighteen  suffered  by  our  close  and  de- 
structive broadside  on  the  present  occasion,  reducing  the 
efficient  part  of  her  crew  to  about  our  own  numbers.  The 
vessel  was  new  and  valuable,  and  her  cargo  was  invoiced 
at  something  like  sixty  thousand  dollars,  having  some 
cochineal  among  it. 

As  soon  as  assured  of  our  victory,  the  Crisis's  main-top- 
sail was  braced  aback,  as  well  as  it  could  be,  and  her  helm 
put  down.  At  the  same  time,  the  Dame  was  kept  away, 
and  the*  two  ships  went  clear  of  each  other.  Little  injury 
had  been  done  by  the  collision,  or  the  grinding  ;  and,  in 
consequence  of  our  guns  having  been  so  much  shotted,  no 
damage  whatever  was  done  the  lower  masts  of  the  prize. 
The  shot  had  just  force  enough  to  pass  through  the  bul- 
warks, make  splinters,  and.  to  lodge.  This  left  both  vessels 
in  good  condition  for  going  into  port. 

At  first  it  was  determined  to  leave  me  in  la  Dame  de 
Nantes,  as  prize-master,  with  directions  to  follow  the  Crisis 
into  Falmouth,  whither  she  was  bound  for  orders.  But, 
on  further  examination,  it  was  discovered  that  the  crew  of 
an  American  brig  was  on  board  the  prize  as  prisoners  ;  la 
Dame  de  Nantes  having  captured  the  vessel  only  two  days 
before  we  met  the  former  the  first  time,  taken  out  her  peo- 
ple, manned  her,  and  ordered  her  for  Nantes.  These 
Americans,  including  the  master  and  two  mates,  amounted 
to  thirteen  souls  in  all,  and  they  enabled  us  to  make  a  dif- 
ferent disposition  of  the  prize.  The  result  of  an  hour  or 
two's  deliberations  was  as  follows  : 

Our  old  second  mate,  whose  hurt  was  likely  to  require 
better  care  than  could  be  had  on  the  northwest  coast,  was 
put  on  board  the  French  ship  as  prize-master,  with  orders 
to  make  the  best  of  his  way  to  New  York.  The  master 
and  chief  mate  of  the  American  brig  agreed  to  act  under 
him,  and  to  assist  in  carrying  la  Dame  across  the  ocean. 
Three  or  four  of  our  invalids  were  sent  home  also,  and  the 
liberated  Americans  took  service  for  the  passage.  All  the 
French  wounded  were  left  in  the  ship,  under  the  charge  of 
their  own  surgeon,  who  was  a  man  of  some  little  merit, 
though  a  good  deal  of  a  butcher,  as  was  too  much  the 
fashion  of  that  day. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  127 

It  was  dark  before  all  the  arrangements  were  made,  when 
la  Dame  de  Nantes  turned  short  round  on  her  heel,  and 
made  sail  for  America.  Of  course  our  captain  sent  in  his 
official  report  by  her,  and  I  seized  a  moment  to  write  a  short 
letter  to  Grace,  which  was  so  worded  as  to  be  addressed  to 
the  whole  family.  I  knew  how  much  happiness  a  line  from 
me  would  bestow,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  to  inform  them, 
also,  that  I  was  promoted  to  be  second  mate — the  second 
mate  of  the  American  brig  having  shipped  as  my  succes- 
sor in  the  rank  of  third  officer. 

The  parting  on  the  wide  ocean  that  night,  was  solemn, 
and,  in  some  respects,  sad.  We  knew  that  several  who  were 
in  la  Dame  de  Nantes  would  probably  be  left  behind,  as  she 
travelled  her  long,  solitary  path,  in  the  depths  of  the  ocean  ; 
and  there  were  the  chances  that  she,  herself,  might  never 
arrive.  As  respects  the  last,  however,  the  odds  were  in  her 
favor,  the  American  coast  being  effectually  cleared  of 
French  privateers  by  that  time  ;  and  I  subsequently  re- 
ceived eleven  hundred  and  seventy-three  dollars  for  my 
share  in  that  exploit.  How  I  was  affected  by  the  circum- 
stance, and  what  I  did  with  the  money,  will  appear  in  the 
sequel. 

The  Crisis  made  sail  on  a  bowline,  at  the  same  moment 
her  prize  filled  away  for  America;  Miles  Wallingford  a 
much  more  important  personage  than  he  had  been  a  few 
hours  before.  We  put  the  prisoners  below,  keeping  a  good 
watch  over  them,  and  hauled  off  to  the  northward  and 
westward,  in  order  to  avoid  any  French  cruisers  that  might 
be  hovering  on  their  own  coast.  Captain  Williams  seemed 
satisfied  with  the  share  of  glory  he  had  obtained,  and  mani- 
fested no  further  disposition  to  seek  renown  in  arms.  As  tor 
Marble,  I  never  knew  a  man  more  exalted  in  his  own  esteem, 
than  he  was  by  the  results  of  that  day's  work.  It  certainly 
did  him  great  credit  ;  but,  from  that  hour,  woe  to  the  man 
who  pretended  to  dispute  with  him  concerning  the  charac- 
ter of  any  sail  that  happened  to  cross  our  path. 

The  day  after  we  parted  company  with  our  prize,  we 
made  a  sail  to  the  westward,  and  hauled  up  to  take  a  look 
at  her,  the  wind  having  shifted.  She  was  soon  pronounced 
to  be  an  American,  but,  though  we  showed  our  colors,  the 
stranger,  a  brig,  manifested  no  disposition  to  speak  us. 
This  induced  Captain  Williams  to  make  sail  in  chase,  more 
especially  as  the  brig  endeavored  to  elude  us  by  passing 
ahead,  and  the  run  was  pretty  nearly  on  our  course.  At 
4  P.M.,  we  got  near  enough  to  throw  a  nine-pound  shot 


128  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

between  the  fellow's  masts,  when  the  chase  hove-to,  and 
permitted  us  to  come  up.  The  brig  proved  to  be  the  prize 
of  la  Dame  de  Nantes,  and  we  took  possession  of  her  forth- 
with. As  this  vessel  was  loaded  with  flour,  pot  and  pearl 
ashes,  etc.,  and  was  bound  to  London,  I  was  put  in  charge 
of  her,  with  a  young  man  of  my  own  age,  of  the  name  oi 
Roger  Talcott,  for  my  assistant,  having  six  men  for  my 
crew.  Of  course  the  Frenchmen,  all  but  one  who  acted 
as  cook  and  steward  excepted,  were  received  on  board  the 
Crisis.  Neb  went  with  me,  through  his  own  and  my  ear- 
nest entreaties,  though  spared  by  Marble  \vith  great  reluc- 
tance. 

This  was  my  first  command  ;  and  proud  enough  did  I 
feel  on  the  occasion,  though  almost  dying  with  the  apprehen- 
sion of  doing  something  wrong.  My  orders  were,  to  make 
the  Lizard  light,  and  to  crawl  along  up-Channel,  keeping 
close  in  with  the  English  coast  ;  Captain  Williams  antici- 
pating instructions  to  go  to  the  same  port  to  which  the 
Amanda  (the  brig)  was  bound,  and  expecting  to  over- 
take us,  after  he  had  called  at  Falmouth  for  his  orders. 
As  the  Crisis  could  go  four  feet  to  the  Amanda's  three, 
before  sunset  our  old  ship  was  hull  down  ahead  of  us. 

When  I  took  charge  of  the  deck  the  next  morning,  I 
found  myself  on  the  wide  ocean,  with  nothing  in  sight,  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  and  in  the  enemy's  seas,  with  a  valua- 
ble vessel  to  care  for,  my  way  to  find  into  narrow  waters 
that  I  had  never  entered,  and  a  crew  on  board,  of  whom 
just  one  half  were  now  on  their  first  voyage.  Our  green 
hands  had  manifested  the  aptitude  of  Americans,  and  had 
done  wonders  in  the  way  of  improvement,  but  a  great  deal 
stili  remained  to  be  learned.  The  Crisis's  complement  had 
been  too  large  to  employ  everybody  at  all  sorts  of  work, 
as  is  usually  done  in  a  merchant  vessel  with  her  ordinary 
number  of  hands,  and  the  landsmen  had  to  take  their 
chances  for  instruction.  Notwithstanding,  the  men  I  got 
were  stout,  healthy,  willing  and  able  to  pull  and  haul  with 
the  oldest  salts. 

By  the  arrangement  that  had  been  made,  I  was  now 
thrown  upon  my  own  resources.  Seamanship,  navigation, 
address,  prudence,  all  depended  on  me.  I  confess  I  was, 
at  first,  nearly  as  much  depressed  by  the  novelty  and  re- 
sponsibility of  my  command  as  Neb  was  delighted.  But 
it  is  surprising  how  soon  we  get  accustomed  to  changes 
of  this  sort.  The  first  five  or  six  hours  set  me  quite  at  my 
ease,  though  it  is  true  nothing  occurred  in  the  least  out  of 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  129 

the  usual  way  ;  and,  by  the  time  the  sun  set,  I  should  have 
been  happy,  could  I  have  got  over  the  uneasiness  pro- 
duced by  the  darkness.  The  wind  had  got  round  to 
southwest,  and  blew  fresh.  I  set  a  lower  and  a  topmast 
studding-sail,  and  by  the  time  the  light  had  entirely  van- 
ished, the  brig  began  to  drag  after  her  canvas  in  a  way  to 
keep  me  wide  awake.  I  was  at  a  loss  whether  to  shorten 
sail  or  not.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was  the  apprehension 
of  carrying  away  something  ;  and,  on  the  other,  the  fear 
of  seeming  timid  in  the  eyes  of  the  two  or  three  seamen  I 
had  with  me.  1  watched  the  countenances  of  these  men, 
in  order  to  glean  their  private  sentiments  ;  but,  usually 
Jack  relies  so  much  on  his  officers,  that  he  seldom  antici- 
pates evils.  As  for  Neb,  the  harder  it  blew,  the  greater 
was  his  rapture.  He  appeared  to  think  the  wind  was 
Master  Miles's,  as  well  as  the  ocean,  the  brig,  and  himself. 
The  more  there  was  of  each,  the  richer  I  became.  As  for 
Talcott,  he  was  scarcely  as  good  a  seaman  as  myself, 
though  he  was  well  educated,  had  good  manners,  was  well 
connected,  and  had  been  my  original  competitor  for  the 
office  of  third  mate.  I  had  been  preferred  only  through 
the  earnest  recommendations  of  Marble.  Talcott,  however, 
was  as  expert  a  navigator  as  we  had  in  the  ship,  and  had 
been  placed  with  me  on  that  account  ;"  Captain  Williams 
fancying  two  heads  might  prove  better  than  one.  I  took  this 
young  man  into  the  cabin  with  me,  not  only  as  a  com- 
panion, but  to  give  him  consideration  with  the  people  for- 
ward. On  shore,  though  less  fortunate  in  the  way  of  estate, 
he  would  have  been  considered  as  fully  my  equal  in  posi- 
tion. 

Talcott  and  myself  remained  on  deck  together  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  first  night,  and  the  little  sleep  I  did  get  was 
caught  in  a  topmast  studding-sail  that  lay  on  the  quarter- 
deck, and  which  I  had  determined  not  to  set,  after  rous- 
ing it  up  for  that  purpose.  When  daylight  returned,  how- 
ever, with  a  clear  horizon,  no  increase  of  wind,  and  nothing 
in  sight,  I  was  so  much  relieved  as  to  take  a  good  nap  un- 
til eight.  All  that  day  we  started  neither  tack  nor  sheet, 
nor  touched  a  brace.  Toward  evening  I  went  aloft  myself 
to  look  for  land,  but.without  success,  though  I  knew,  from 
our  observation  at  noon,  it  could  not  be  far  off.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  longitude  was  the  great  difficulty  with  navigators. 
Both  Talcott  and  myself  did  very  well  with  the  lunars,  it  is 
true  ;  but  there  was  no  chance  to  observe,  and  even  lunars 
soon  get  out  of  their  reckoning  among  currents  and  tides. 


I3o  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Glad  enough,  then,  was  I  to  hear  Neb  sing  out  "  Light 
ahead  !  "  from  the  fore-topsail-yard.  This  was  about  ten 
o'clock.  I  knew  this  light  must  be  the  Lizard,  as  we  were 
too  far  to  the  eastward  for  Scilly.  The  course  was  changed 
so  as  to  bring  the  light  a  little  on  the  weather-bow  ;  and  I 
watched  for  its  appearance  to  us  on  deck  with  an  anxiety 
I  have  experienced,  since,  only  in  the  most  trying  circum- 
stances. Half  an  hour  sufficed  for  this,  and  then  I  felt 
comparatively  happy.  A  new  beginner  even  is  not  badly 
off  with  the  wind  fresh  at  southwest,  and  the  Lizard  light 
in  plain  view  on  his  weather-bow,  if  he  happen  to  be  bound 
up-Channel.  That  night,  consequently,  proved  to  be  more 
comfortable  than  the  previous. 

Next  morning  there  was  no  change,  except  in  the  brig's 
position.  We  were  well  in  the  Channel,  had  the  land  as 
close  aboard  as  was  prudent  and  could  plainly  see,  by  ob- 
jects ashore,  that  we  were  travelling  ahead  at  a  famous  rate. 
We  went  within  a  mile  of  the  Eddystone,  so  determined 
was  I  to  keep  as  far  as  possible  from  the  French  privateers. 
Next  morning  we  were  up  abreast  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  ; 
but  the  wind  had  got  round  to  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, becoming  much  lighter,  and  so  scant  as  to  bring  us 
on  a  taut  bowline.  This  made  England  a  lee-shore,  and  I 
began  to  be  as  glad  to  get  off  it  as  I  had  lately  been  to 
hug  it. 

All  this  time,  it  will  easily  be  understood,  that  we  kept 
a  sharp  lookout,  on  board  the  brig,  for  enemies.  We  saw 
a  great  many  sail,  particularly  as  we  approached  the  Straits 
of  Dover,  and  kept  as  much  aloof  from  all  as  circumstances 
would  allow.  Several  were  evidently  English  vessels-of- 
war,  and  I  felt  no  small  concern  on  the  subject  of  having 
some  of  my  men  impressed  ;  for  at  that  period,  and  for 
many  years  afterward,  ships  of  all  nations  that  traded  with 
the  English  lost  many  of  their  people  by  this  practice,  and 
the  American  craft  more  than  any  other.  I  ascribed  to 
our  sticking  so  close  to  the  coast,  wThich  we  did  as  long  as 
it  was  at  all  safe,  the  manner  in  which  we  were  permitted 
to  pass  unnoticed,  or,  at  least,  undetained.  But  as  we 
drew  nearer  to  the  narrow  waters,  I  had  little  hope  of  es- 
caping without  being  boarded.  In  the  meanwhile,  we 
made  short  stretches  off  the  land,  and  back  again  all  one 
day  and  night,  working  slowly  to  the  eastward.  We  still 
met  with  no  interruption.  I  was  fast  getting  confidence  in 
myself  ;  handling  the  Amanda,  in  my  own  judgment,  quite 
as  well  as  Marble  could  have  done  it,  and  getting  my 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  131 

green  hands  into  so  much  method  and  practice  that  I 
should  not  have  hesitated  about  turning  round  and  shaping 
our  course  for  New  York,  so  far  as  the  mere  business  of 
navigating  the  vessel  was  concerned. 

The  lights  on  the  English  coast  were  safe  guides  for  our 
movements,  and  they  let  me  understand  how  much  we 
made  or  lost  on  a  tack.  Dungeness  was  drawing  nearer 
slowly,  to  appearances,  and  I  was  beginning  to  look  out  for 
a  pilot,  when  Talcott,  who  had  the  watch,  about  three  in 
the  morning,  came  with  breathless  haste  into  the  cabin,  to 
tell  me  there  was  a  sail  closing  with  us  fast,  and,  so  far  as 
he  could  make  her  out  in  the  darkness,  she  was  lugger- 
rigged.  This  was  startling  news  indeed,  for  it  was  almost 
tantamount  to  saying  the  stranger  was  a  Frenchman.  I 
did  not  undress  at  all,  and  was  on  deck  in  a  moment.  The 
vessel  in  chase  was  about  half  a  mile  distant  on  our  lee- 
quarter,  but  could  be  plainly  enough  distinguished,  and  I 
saw  at  a  glance  she  was  a  lugger.  There  were  certainly 
English  luggers  ;  but  all  the  traditions  of  the  profession 
had  taught  me  to  regard  a  vessel  of  that  particular  rig  as  a 
Frenchman.  I  had  heard  of  privateers  from  Dunkirk, 
Boulogne,  #nd  various  other  ports  in  France,  running  over 
to  the  English  coast  in  the  night,  and  making  prizes,  just 
as  this  fellow  seemed  disposed  to  serve  us.  Luckily,  .our 
head  was  toward  the  land,  and  we  were  looking  about  a 
point  and  a  half  to  windward  of  the  light  on  Dungeness, 
being  also  flavored  with  a  flood  tide,  so  far  as  we  could 
judge  by  the  rapid  drift  of  the  vessel  to  windward. 

My  decision  was  made  in  a  minute.  I  knew  nothing  of 
batteries,  or  where  to  seek  protection  ;  but  there  was  the 
land,  and  I  determined  to  make  for  it  as  fast  as  I  could. 
By  keeping  the  brig  a  good  full,  and  making  all  the  sail 
she  could  carry,  I  thought  we  might  run  ashore  before  the 
lugger  could  get  alongside  us.  As  for  her  firing,  I  did  not 
believe  she  would  dare  to  attempt  that,  as  it  might  bring 
some  English  cruiser  on  her  heels,  and  France  was  some 
hours'  sail  distant.  The  fore  and  mizzen-topgallant-sails 
were  set  as  fast  as  possible,  the  weather-braces  pulled 
upon  a  little,  the  bowlines  eased,  and  the  brig  kept  a  rap- 
full.  The  Amanda  was  no  flyer,  certainly ;  but  she  seemed 
frightened  as  much  as  we  were  ourselves,  that  night.  I 
never  knew  her  to  get  along  so  fast,  considering  the  wind ; 
and  really  there  was  a  short  time  when  I  began  to  think 
she  held  her  own,  the  lugger  being  jammed  up  as"  close  as 
she  could  be.  But  this  was  all  delusion,  that  craft  coming 


1 32  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

after  us  more  like  a  sea-serpent  than  a  machine  carried 
ahead  by  canvas.  I  was  soon  certain  that  escape  from 
such  a  racer  by  sailing  was  altogether  out  of  the  question. 

The  land  and  light  were  now  close  aboard  us,  and  I  ex- 
pected every  moment  to  hear  the  brig's  keel  grinding  on 
the  bottom.  At  this  instant  I  caught  a  faint  glimpse  of  a 
vessel  at  anchor  to  the  eastward  of  the  point,  and  appar- 
ently distant  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  thought 
struck  me  that  she  might  be  an  English  cruiser,  for  they 
frequently  anchored  in  such  places  ;  and  I  called  out,  as  it 
might  be  instinctively,  "Luff!"  Neb  was  at  the  helm,  and 
I  knew  by  his  cheerful  answer  that  the  fellow  was  de- 
lighted. It  was  lucky  we  luffed  as  we  did,  for,  on  coming 
to  the  wind,  the  vessel  gave  a  scrape  that  was  a  fearful 
admonisher  of  what  would  have  happened  in  another  min- 
ute. The  Amanda  minded  her  helm  beautifully,  however, 
and  we  went  past  the  nearest  land  without  any  further 
hints,  heading  up  just  high  enough  to  fetch  a  little  to 
windward  of  the  vessel  at  anchor.  At  the  next  moment, 
the  lugger,  then  about  a  cable's  length  from  us,  was  shut 
:n  by  the  land.  I  was  now  in  great  hopes  the  Frenchman 
would  be  obliged  to  tack  ;  but  he  had  measured  his  dis- 
tance well,  and  felt  certain,  it  would  seem,  that  he  could 
lay  past.  He  reasoned,  probably,  as  Nelson  is  said  to  have 
reasoned  at  the  Nile,  and  as  some  of  his  captains  unques- 
tionably did  reason  ;  that  is,  if  there  was  water  enough  for 
us,  there  was  water  enough  for  him.  In  another  minute  I 
saw  him,  jammed  nearly  into  the  wind's  eye,  luffing  past 
the  point,  and  falling  as  easily  into  our  wake  as  if  drawn 
by  attraction. 

All  this  time,  the  night  was  unbroken  by  any  sound. 
Not  a  hail,  nor  a  call,  our  own  orders  excepted,  and  they 
had  been  given  in  low  tones,  had  been  audible  on  board 
the  Amanda.  As  regards  the  vessel  at  anchor,  she  ap- 
peared to  give  herself  no  concern.  There  she  lay,  a  fine 
ship,  and,  as  I  thought,  a  vessel-of-war,  like  a  marine  bird 
asleep  on  its  proper  element.  We  were  directly  between 
her  and  the  lugger,  and  it  is  possible  her  anchor-watch  did 
not  see  the  latter.  The  three  vessels  were  not  more  than 
half  a  cable's  length  asunder  ;  that  is,  we  were  about  that 
distance  from  the  ship,  and  the  lugger  was  a  very  little 
further  from  us.  Five  minutes  must  determine  the  matter. 
I  was  on  the  brig's  forecastle,  anxiously  examining  all  I 
could  make  out  on  board  the  ship,  as  her  size,  and  shape,  and 
rig  became  slowly  more  and  more  distinct ;  and  I  hailed-* 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  133 

"  Ship  ahoy  !  " 

"  Hilloa  !     What  brig's  that  ? " 

"  An  American,  with  a  French  privateer-lugger  close  on 
board  me,  directly  in  my  wake.  You  had  better  be  stir- 
ring !  " 

I  heard  the  quick  exclamation  of  "  The  devil  there  is !  " 
"  Bloody  Yankees  ! "  came  next.  Then  followed  the  call 
of  "all  hands."  It  was  plain  enough  my  notice  had  set 
everything  in  motion  in  that  quarter.  Talcott  now  came 
running  forward  to  say  he  thought,  from  some  movements 
on  board  the  lugger,  that  her  people  were  now  first  ap- 
prised of  the  vicinity  of  the  ship.  I  had  been  sadly  disap- 
pointed at  the  call  for  all  hands  on  board  the  ship,  for  it 
was  in  the  manner  of  a  merchant-man,  instead  of  that  of  a 
vessel-of-war.  But  we  were  getting  too  near  to  remain 
much  longer  in  doubt.  The  Amanda  was  already  sweep- 
ing up  on  the  Englishman's  bows,  not  more  than  forty 
yards  distant. 

"  She  is  an  English  West  Indiaman,  Mr.  Wallingford," 
said  one  of  my  oldest  seamen,  "  and  a  running  ship  ;  some 
vessel  that  has  deserted  or  lost  her  convoy." 

"  Do  you  know  anything  of  the  lugger  ? "  demanded  an 
officer  from  on  board  the  ship,  in  a  voice  that  was  not  very 
amicable. 

"  No  more  than  you  see  ;  she  has  chased  me,  close 
aboard,  for  the  last  twenty  minutes." 

There  \vas  no  reply  to  this  for  a  moment,  and  then  I  was 
asked  "to  tack,  and  give  us  a  little  chance,  by  drawing 
him  away  for  a  few  minutes.  We  are  armed,  and  will 
come  out  to  your  assistance." 

Had  I  been  ten  years  older,  experience  in  the  faith  of 
men,  and  especially  of  men  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  gain 
would  have  prevented  me  from  complying  with  this  re- 
quest— but,  at  eighteen,  one  views  these  things  differently. 
It  did  appear  to  me  ungenerous  to  lead  an  enemy  in  upon 
a  man  in  his  sleep,  and  not  endeavor  to  do  something  to 
aid  the  surprised  party  ;  I  answered  "  ay,  ay,"  therefore, 
and  tacked  directly  alongside  of  the  ship.  But  the  manceu- 
vre  was  too  late,  the  lugger  coming  in  between  the  ship 
and  the  brig,  just  as  we  began  to  draw  ahead  again,  leav- 
ing him  room,-  and  getting  a  good  look  at  us  both.  The 
Englishman  appeared  the  most  inviting,  I  suppose,  for  she 
up  helm  and  went  on  board  of  him  on  his  quarter.  Neither 
party  used  their  guns.  We  were  so  near,  however,  as 
plainly  to  understand  the  whole,  to  distinguish  the  orders 


134  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

and  even  to  hear  the  blows  that  were  struck  by  hand 
It  was  an  awful  minute  to  us  in  the  brig.  The  cries 
of  the  hurt  reached  us  in  the  stillness  of  that  gloomy 
morning,  and  oaths  mingled  with  the  clamor.  Though 
taken  by  surprise,  John  Bull  fought  well  ;  though  we 
could  see  that  he  was  overpowered,  however,  just  as  the 
distance,  and  the  haze  that  was  beginning  to  gather 
thick  around  the  land,  shut  in  the  two  vessels  from  our 
view. 

The  disappearance  of  the  two  combatants  furnished  me 
with  a  hint  how  to  proceed.  I  stood  out  three  or  four 
minutes  longer,  or  a  sufficient  distance  to  make  certain  we 
should  not  be  seen,  and  tacked  again.  In  order  to  draw 
as  fast  as  possible  out  of  the  line  of  sight,  we  kept  the 
brig  off  a  little,  and  then  ran  in  toward  the  English  coast, 
which  was  sufficiently  distant  to  enable  us  to  stand  on  in 
that  direction  some  little  time  longer.  This  expedient 
succeeded  perfectly  ;  for,  when  we  found  it  necessary  to 
tack  again,  day  began  to  dawn.  Shortly  after  we  could  just 
discern  the  West  Indiaman  and  the  lugger  standing  off 
the  land,  making  the  best  of  their  way  toward  the  French 
coast.  In  1799,  it  is  possible  that  this  bold  Frenchman 
got  his  prize  into  some  of  his  own  ports,  though  three  or 
four  years  later  it  would  have  been  a  nearly  hopeless  ex- 
periment. As  for  the  Amanda,  she  was  safe  ;  and  Nelson 
did  not  feel  happier  after  his  great  achievement  at  the 
Nile,  then  I  felt  at  the  success  of  my  own  expedient. 
Talcott  congratulated  me  and  applauded  me  ;  and  I  be- 
lieve all  of  us  were  a  little  too  much  disposed  to  ascribe 
to  our  own  steadiness  and  address  much  that  ought 
fairly  to  have  been  imputed  to  chance. 

Off  Dover  we  got  a  pilot,  and  learned  that  the  ship 
captured  was  the  Dorothea,  a  valuable  West  Indiaman 
that  had  stolen  away  from  her  convoy,  and  came  in  alone, 
the  previous  evening.  She  anchored  under  Dungeness  at 
the  first  of  the  ebb/and,  it  seems,  had  preferred  taking  a 
good  night's  rest  to  venturing  out  in  the  dark,  when  the 
flood  made.  Her  berth  was  a"  perfectly  snug  one,  and 
the  lugger  would  probably  never  have  found  her,  had  we 
not  led  her  directly  in  upon  her  prey. 
_  I  was  now  relieved  from  all  charge  of  the  brig  ;  and  a 
relief  I  found  it,  between  shoals,  enemies,  and  the  tides,  of 
which  I  knew  nothing.  That  day  we  got  into  the  Downs, 
and  came  to.  Here  I  saw  a  fleet  at  anchor  ;  and  a  pretty  stir 
it  made  among  the  men-of-war's-men,  when  our  story  was 


AFLOAT  AKD  AS  PI  ORE.  135 

repeated  among  them.  I  do  think  twenty  of  their  boats 
were  alongside  of  us,  to  get  the  facts  from  the  original 
source.  Among  others  who  thus  appeared,  to  question 
me,  was  one  old  gentleman,  whom  I  suspected  of  being  an 
admiral.  He  was  in  shore-dress,  and  came  in  a  plain  way ; 
the  men  in  his  boat  declining  to  answer  any  questions  ; 
but  they  paid  him  unusual  respect.  This  gentleman  asked 
me  a  great  many  particulars,  and  I  told  him  the  whole  story 
frankly,  concealing  or  coloring  nothing.  Fie  was  evidently 
much  interested.  When  he  went  away,  he  shook  me  cor- 
dially by  the  hand,  and  said,  "  Young  gentleman,  you  have 
acted  prudently  and  well.  Never  mind  the  grumbling  of 
some  of  our  lads  ;  they  think  only  of  themselves.  It  was 
your  right  and  your  duty  to  save  your  own  vessel,  if  you 
could,  without  doing  anything  dishonorable  ;  and  I  see 
nothing  wrong  in  your  conduct.  But  it's  a  sad  disgrace 
to  us  to  let  these  French  rascals  be  picking  up  their 
crumbs  in  this  fashion  right  -under  our  hawse-holes." 


CHAPTER   X. 

"  How  pleasant  and  how  sad  the  turning  tide 
Of  human  life,  when  side  by  side 
The  child  and  youth  begin  to  glide 

Along  the  vale  of  years  ; 
The  pure  twin-being  for  a  little  space, 
With  lightsome  heart,  and  yet  a  grayer  face, 
Too  young  for  woe,  though  not  for  tears." 

— ALLSTON. 

WITH  what  interest  and  deference  most  Americans  of 
any  education  regarded  England,  her  history,  laws,  and  in- 
stitutions, in  1799!  There  were  a  few  exceptions — warm 
political  partisans,  and  here  and  there  an  individual  whose 
feelings  had  become  imbittered  by  some  particular  inci- 
dent of  the  Revolution — but  surprisingly  few,  when  it  is 
recollected  that  the  country  was  only  fifteen  years  from  the 
peace.  I  question  if  there  ever  existed  another  instance  of 
as  strong  provincial  admiration  for  the  capital,  as  inde- 
pendent America  manifested  for  the  mother  country,  in 
spite  of  a  thousand  just  grievances,  down  to  the  period 
of  the  war  of  1812.  I  was  no  exception  to  the  rule,  nor 
was  Talcott.  Neither  of  us  had  ever  seen  England  before 
we  made  the  Lizard  on  this  voyage,  except  through  our 


136  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

minds'  eyes  ;  and  these  had  presented  quantities  of  beau- 
ties and  excellences  that  certainly  vanished  on  a  nearer  ap- 
proach. By  this  I  merely  mean  that  we  had  painted  in  too 
high  colors,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case  when  the  imagination 
holds  the  pencil  ;  not  that  there  was  any  unusual  absence 
of  things  worthy  to  be  commended.  On  the  contrary,  even 
at  this  late  hour,  I  consider  England  as  a  model  for  a  thou- 
sand advantages,  even  to  our  own  inappreciable  selves. 
Nevertheless,  much  delusion  was  blended  with  our  admi- 
ration. 

English  history  was  virtually  American  history ;  and 
everything  on  the  land,  as  we  made  our  way  toward  town, 
which  the  pilot  could  point  out,  was  a  source  of  amuse- 
ment and  delight.  We  had  to  tide  it  up  to  London,  and 
had  plenty  of  leisure  to  see  all  there  was  to  be  seen.  The 
Thames  is  neither  a  handsome  nor  a  very  magnificent 
river  ;  but  it  was  amazing  to  witness  the  number  of  vessels 
that  then  ascended  or  descended  it.  There  was  scarce  a 
sort  of  craft  known  to  Christendom,  a  few  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean excepted,  that  was  not  to  be  seen  there  ;  and  as  for 
the  colliers,  we  drifted  through  a  forest  of  them  that 
seemed  large  enough  to  keep  the  town  a  twelvemonth  in 
fire-wood,  by  simply  burning  their  spars.  The  manner  in 
which  the  pilot  handled  our  brig,  too,  among  the  thousand 
ships  that  lay  in  tiers  on  each  side  of  the  narrow  passage 
we  had  to  thread,  was  perfectly  surprising  to  me  ;  resem- 
bling the  management  of  a  coachman  in  a  crowded  thorough- 
fare, more  than  the  ordinary  working  of  a  ship.  I  can 
safely  say  I  learned  more  in  the  Thames,  in  the  way  of 
keeping  a  vessel  in  command,  and  in  doing  what  I  pleased 
with  her,  than  in  the  whole  of  my  voyage  to  Canton  and 
back  again.  As  for  Neb,  he  rolled  his  dark  eyes  about 
in  wonder,  and  took  an  occasion  to  say  to  me,  "  He'll  make 
her  talk,  Masser.  Miles,  afore  he  have  done."  I  make  no 
doubt  the  navigation  from  the  Forelands  to  the  bridges,  as 
it  was  conducted  thirty  years  since,  had  a  great  influence 
on  the  seamanship  of  the  English.  Steamers  are  doing 
away  with  much  of  this  practice,  though  the  colliers  still 
have  to  rely  on  themselves.  Coals  will  scarcely  pay  for 
tugging. 

I  had  been  directed  by  Captain  Williams  to  deliver  the 
brig  to  her  original  consignee,  an  American  merchant  es- 
tablished in  the  modern  Babylon,  reserving  the  usual  claim 
for  salvage.  This  I  did,  and  that  gentleman  sent  hands  on 
board  to  take  charge  of  the  vessel,  relieving  me  entirely 


AFLOAT  AND  ASPIORE.  137 

from  all  further  responsibility.  As  the  captain  in  his  let- 
ter had,  inadvertently  I  trust,  mentioned  that  he  had  put 
"Mr.  Wallingford,  his  third  mate,"  in  charge,  I  got  no  in- 
vitation to  dinner  from  the  consignee  ;  though  the  affair 
of  the  capture  under  Dungeness  found  its  way  into  the 
papers,  via  Deal,  I  have  always  thought,  with  the  usual  cap- 
tion of  "Yankee  Trick." 

Yankee  trick  !  This  phrase,  so  often  carelessly  used, 
has  probably  done  a  great  deal  of  harm  in  this  country. 
The  young  and  ambitious — there  are  all  sorts  of  ambition, 
and,  among  others,  that  of  being  a  rogue  ;  as  a  proof  of 
which,  one  daily  hears  people  call  envy,  jealousy,  covet- 
ousness,  avarice,  and  half  of  the  meaner  vices,  ambition — 
the  young  and  ambitious,  then,  of  this  country  too  often 
think  to  do  a  good  thing  that  shall  have  some  of  the  pecu- 
liar merit  of  a  certain  other  good  thing  that  they  have 
heard  laughed  at  and  applauded  under  this  designation. 
I  can  account  in  no  other  manner  for  the  great  and  in- 
creasing number  of  "  Yankee  tricks  "  that  are  of  daily  oc- 
currence among  us.  Among  other  improvements  in  tastes, 
not  to  say  in  morals,  that  might  be  introduced  into  the 
American  press,  would  be  the  omission  of  the  histories  of 
these  rare  inventions.  As  two-thirds  of  the  editors  of  the 
whole  country,  however,  are  Yankees,  I  suppose  they  must 
be  permitted  to  go  on  exulting  in  the  cleverness  of  their 
race.  We  are  indebted  to*  the  Puritan  stock  for  most  of 
our  instructors — editors  and  schoolmasters — and  when  one 
coolly  regards  the  prodigious  progress  of  the  people  in 
morals,  public  and  private  virtue,  honesty,  and  other 
estimable  qualities,  he  must,  indeed,  rejoice  in  the  fact 
that  our  masters  so  early  discovered  "a  church  without  a 
bishop." 

I  had  an  opportunity  while  in  London,  however,  of  ascer- 
taining that  the  land  of  our  fathers,  which,  by  the  way,  has 
archbishops,  contains  something  besides  an  unalloyed  virt- 
ue in  its  bosom.  At  Gravesend  we  took  on  board  two 
custom-house  officers  (they  always  set  a  rogue  to  watch  a 
rogue  in  the  English  revenue  system),  and  they  remained 
in  the  brig  until  she  was  discharged.  One  of  these  men 
had  been  a  gentleman's  servant,  and  he  owed  his  place  to 
his  former  master's  interest.  He  was  a  miracle  of  custom- 
house integrity  and  disinterestedness,  as  I  discovered  in  the 
first  hour  of  our  intercourse.  Perceiving  a  lad  of  eighteen 
in  charge  of  the  prize,  and  ignorant  that  this  lad  had  read 
a  good  deal  of  Latin  and  Greek  under  excellent  Mr.  Hard* 


itf  A  FLO  A  7'  AND  ASHORE. 

Inge,  besides  being  the  heir  of  Clawbonny,  I  suppose  he 
fancied  he  would  have  an  easy  time  with  him.  The  man's 
name  was  Sweeney.  Perceiving  in  me  an  eager  desire  to 
see  everything,  the  brig  was  no  sooner  at  her  moorings 
than  he  proposed  a  cruise  ashore.  It  was  Sweeney  who 
showed  me  the  way  to  the  consignee's,  and,  that  business 
accomplished,  he  proposed  that  we  should  proceed  on  and 
take  a  look  at  St.  Paul's,  the  Monument,  and,  as  he  gradu- 
ally found  my  tastes  more  intellectual  than  he  at  first  sup- 
posed, the  wonders  of  the  West  End.  I  was  nearly  a  week 
under  the  pilotage  of  the  "Admirable  Sweeney."  After 
showing  me  the  exteriors  of  all  the  things  of  mark  about 
the  town,  and  the  interiors  of  a  few  that  I  was  disposed  to 
pay  for,  lie  descended  in  his  tastes,  and  carried  me  through 
Wapping,  its  purlieus  and  its  scenes  of  atrocities.  I  have 
always  thought  Sweeney  was  sounding  me,  and  hoping  to 
ascertain  my  true  character  by  the  course  he  took  ;  and 
that  he  betrayed  his  motives  in  a  proposition  which  he 
finally  made,  and  which  brought  our  intimacy  to  a  sudden 
close.  The  result,  however,  was  to  let  me  into  secrets  I 
should  probably  have  never  learned  in  any  other  manner. 
Still,  I  had  read  and  heard  too  much  to  be  easily  duped  ; 
and  I  kept  myself  not  only  out  of  the  power  of  my  tempter, 
but  out  of  the  power  of  all  that  could  injure  me,  remaining 
simply  a  curious  observer  of  what  was  placed  before  my 
eyes.  Good  Mr.  Hardinge's  lessons  were  not  wholly  for- 
gotten ;  I  could  run  away  from  him  much  easier  than  from 
his  precepts. 

I  shall  never  forget  a  visit  I  made  to  a  house  called  the 
Black  Horse,  in  St.  Catherine's  Lane.  This  last  wras  a 
narrow  street  that  ran  across  the  site  of  the  docks  that  now 
bear  the  same  name  ;  and  it  was  the  resort  of  all  the  local 
infamy  of  Wapping.  I  say  local  infamy  ;  for  there  were 
portions  of  the  West  End  that  were  even  worse  than  any- 
thing which  a  mere  port  could  produce.  Commerce,  that 
parent  of  so  much  that  is  useful  to  man,  has  its  dark  side, 
as  everything  else  of  earth  ;  and,  among  its  other  evils,  it 
drags  after  it  a  long  train  of  low  vice  ;  but  this  train  is 
neither  so  long  nor  so  broad  as  that  which  is  chained  to 
the  chariot-wheels  of  the  great.  Appearances  excepted, 
and  they  are  far  less  than  might  be  expected,  I  think  the 
West  End  could  beat  Wapping  out  and  out  in  every  es- 
sential vice  ;  and,  if  St.  Giles  be  taken  into  the  account,  I 
know  of  no  salvo  in  favor  of  the  land  over  the  sea. 

Our  visit  to  the  Black  Horse  was  paid  of  a  Sunday,  that 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOXE.  I3g 

being  the  leisure  moment  of  all  classes  of  laborers,  and  the 
day  when,  being  attired  in  their  best,  they  fancied  them- 
selves best  prepared  to  appear  in  the  world.  I  will  here 
remark,  that  I  have  never  been  in  any  portion  of  Christen- 
dom that  keeps  the  Sabbath  precisely-  as  it  is  kept  in 
America.  In  all  other  countries,  even  the  most  rigorously 
severe  in  their  practices,  it  is  kept  as  a  day  of  recreation 
and  rest,  as  well  as  of  public  devotion.  Even  in  the  Ameri- 
can towns,  the  old  observances  are  giving  way  before  the 
longings  or  weaknesses  of  human  nature  ;  and  Sunday  is 
no  longer  what  it  was.  I  have  witnessed  scenes  of  brawl- 
ing, blasphemy,  and  rude  tumult  in  the  suburbs  of  New 
York,  on  Sundays,  within  the  last  few  years,  that  I  have 
never  seen  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  on  similar  occa- 
sions ;  and  serious  doubts  of  the  expediency  of  the  high- 
pressure  principle  have  beset  me,  whatever  may  be  the 
just  constructions  of  doctrine.  With  the  last  I  pretend 
not  to  meddle  ;  but,  in  a  worldly  point  of  view,  it  would 
seem  wise,  if  you  cannot  make  men  all  that  they  ought  to 
be,  to  aim  at  such  social  regulations  as  shall  make  them  as 
little  vile  as  possible.  But,  to  return  to  the  Black  Horse 
in  St.  Catherine's  Lane — a  place  whose  very  name  was  as- 
sociated with  vileness. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the  characters  of  its  female 
visitors.  Most  of  them  were  young,  many  of  them  were 
still  blooming  and  handsome,  but  all  of  them  were  aban- 
doned. "  I  need  tell  you  nothing  of  these  girls,"  said 
Sweeney,  who  was  a  bit  of  a  philosopher  in  his  way,  order- 
ing a  pot  of  beer,  and  motioning  me  to  take  a  seat  at  a  va- 
cant table — "  but,  as  for  the  men  you  see  here,  half  are 
house-breakers  and  pickpockets,  come  to  pass  the  day 
genteelly  among  you  gentlemen-sailors.  There  are  two  or 
three  faces  here  that  I  have  seen  at  the  Old  Bailey,  myself  ; 
and  how  they  have  remained  in  the  country,  is  more  than 
I  can  tell  you.  You  perceive  these  fellows  are  just  as 
much  at  their  ease,  and  the  landlord  who  receives  and  en- 
tertains them  is  just  as  much  at  Jus  ease,  as  if  the  whole 
party  were  merely  honest  men." 

"  How  happens  it,"  I  asked,  "that  ^uch  known  rogues 
are  allowed  to  go  at  large,  or  that  this  innkeeper  dares  to 
receive  them  ?" 

"  Oh  !  you're  a  child  yet,  or  you  would  not  ask  such  a 
question  !  You  must  know,  Master  Wallingford,  that  the 
law  protects  rogues  as  well  as  honest  men.  To  convict  a 
pickpocket,  you  must  have  witnesses,  and  jurors  to  agree. 


T40  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

and  prosecutors  and  a  sight  of  things  that  are  not  as  plenty 
as  handkerchiefs,  or  even  wallets  and  Bank  of  England 
notes.  Besides,  these  fellows  can  prove  an  alibi  any  day 
in  the  week.  An  alibi,  you  must  know — 

"I  know  very  well  what  an  alibi  means,  Mr.  Sweeney." 

"  The  deuce  you  do  ! "  exclaimed  the  protector  of  the 
king's  revenue,  eying  me  a  little  distrustfully.  "And 
pray,  how  should  one  as  young  as  you,  and  coming  from 
a  new  country  like  America,  know  that  ?" 

"  Oh!  "said  I,  laughing,  "America  is  just  the  country 
for  alibis — everybody  is  everywhere,  and  nobody  anywhere. 
The  whole  nation  is  in  motion,  and  there  is  every  imagin- 
able opportunity  for  alibis.'" 

I  believe  I  owed  the  development  of  Sweeney's  "  ulterior 
views  "  to  this  careless  speech.  He  had  no  other  idea  of 
the  word  than  its  legal  signification  ;  and  it  must  have 
struck  him  as  a  little  suspicious  that  one  of  my  apparent 
condition  in  life,  and  especially  of  my  years,  should  be 
thus  early  instructed  in  the  meaning  of  this  very  useful 
professional  term.  It  was  a  minute  before  he  spoke  again, 
having  been  all  that  time  studying  my  countenance. 

"And  pray,  Master  Wallineford,"  he  then  inquired,  "do 
you  happen  to  know  what  nolle  prosequi  means  too  ? " 

"  Certainly ;  it  means  to  give  up  the  chase.  The  French 
Jugger  under  Dungeness  entered  a  nolle  prosequi  as  respects 
my  brig,  when  she  found  her  hands  full  of  the  West 
Indiaman." 

"  So,  so  ;  I  find  I  have  been  keeping  company  all  this 
time  with  a  knowing  one,  and  I  such  a  simpleton  as  to 
fancy  him  green  !  Well,  that  I  should  live  to  be  done  by 
a  raw  Jonathan !" 

"  Poh,  poh,  Mr.  Sweeney,  I  can  tell  you  a  story  of  two 
of  our  naval  officers,  that  took  place  just  before  we  sailed  ; 
and  then  you  will  learn  that  all  hands  of  us,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Big  Pond,  understand  Latin.  One  of  these 
officers  had  been  engaged  in  a  duel,  and  he  found  it  nec- 
essary to  lie  hid.  A  friend  and  shipmate,  who  was  in  his 
secret,  came  one  day  in  a  great  hurry  to  tell  him  that  the 
authorities  of  the  State  in  which  the  parties  fought  had 
*  entered  a  nolle  prosequi'  against  the  offenders.  He  had  a 
newspaper  with  the  whole  thing  in  it,  in  print.  'What's  a 
nolle  prosequi)  Jack  ?'  asked  Tom.  'Why,  it's  Latin,  to  be 
sure,  and  it  means  some  infernal  thing  or  other.  We  must 
contrive  to  find  out,  for  it's  half  the  battle  to  know  who 
and  what  you've  got  to  face.'  'Well,  you  know  lots  of 


'AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  141 

lawyers,  and  dare  show  your  face,  so  just  step  out  and  ask 
one.'  '  I'll  trust  no  lawyer ;  I  might  put  the  question  to 
some  chap  who  has  been  feed.  But  we  both  studied  a 
little  Latin  when  boys,  and  between  us  we'll  undermine 
the  meaning.'  ^Tom  assented,  and  to  work  they  went. 
Jack  had  the  most  Latin,  but,  do  all  he  could,  he  was  not 
able  to  find  a  ''nolle'  in  any  dictionary.  After  a  great  deal 
of  conjecture,  the  friends  agreed  it  must  be  the  root  of 
'knowledge,'  and  that  point  was  settled.  As  for  the  lpros- 
equi,'  it  was  not  so  difficult  as  *  sequor '  was  a  familiar  word  ; 
and,  after  some  cogitation,  Jack  announced  his  discoveries. 
*  If  this  thing  were  in  English,  now,'  he  said,  'a  fellow 
might  understand  it.  In  that  case,  I  should  say  that  the 
sheriff's  men  were  in  "  pursuit  of  knowledge  ; "  that  is, 
hunting  after  you;  but  Latin,  you  remember,  was  always 
an  inverted  sort  of  stuff,  and  that  "pro  "  alters  the  whole 
signification.  The  paper  says  they've  "entered  a  nolle 
prosequi ;"  and  the  "entered"  explains  the  whole.  "  En- 
tered a  nolle  "  means  have  entered  on  the  knowledge,  got 
a  scent ;  you  see  it  is  law  English  ;  "  pro  "  means  "  how," 
and  "sequi,"  "to  give  chase."  The  amount  of  it  all  is, 
Tom,  that  they  are  on  your  heels,  and  I  must  go  to  work 
and  send  you  off,  at  once,  two  or  three  hundred  miles  into 
the  interior,  where  you  may  laugh  at  them  and  their  "  nolle 
prosequis  "  together.'  "* 

Sweeney  laughed  heartily  at  this  story,  though  he  clear- 
ly did  not  take  the  joke,  which  I  presume  he  fancied  lay 
concealed  under  an  American  flash  language,  and  he  pro- 
posed, by  way  of  finishing  the  day,  to  carry  me  to  an 
entertainment  where,  he  gave  me  to  understand,  American 
officers  were  fond  of  sometimes  passing  a  few  minutes.  I 
was  led  to  a  Wapping  assembly  room,  on  entering  which  I 
found  myself  in  a  party  composed  of  some  forty  or  fifty 
cooks  and  stewards  of  American  vessels,  all  as  black  as 
their  own  pots,  with  partners  of  the  usual  color  and  bloom 
of  English  girls.  I  have  as  few  prejudices  of  color  as  any 
American  well  can  have,  but  I  will  confess  this  scene 
struck  me  as  being  painfully  out  of  keeping.  In  England, 
however,  nothing  seemed  to  be  thought  of  it ;  and  I  after- 
ward found  that  marriages  between  English  women,  and 
men  of  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  were  very  common 
occurrences. 

When  he  had  given  me  this  ball  as  the  climax  of  his 

*  There  is  said  to  be  foundation  for  this  story. 


I42  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

compliments,  Sweeney  betrayed  the  real  motive  of  all  his 
attentions.  After  drinking  a  pot  of  beer  extra,  well  laced 
with  gin,  he  offered  his  services  in  smuggling  anything 
ashore  that  the  Amanda  might  happen  to  contain,  and 
which  I,  as  the  prize-master,  might  feel  a  desire  to  appro- 
priate to  my  own  particular  purposes.  I  met  the  proposal 
with  a  little  warmth,  letting  my  tempter  understand  that  I 
considered  his  offer  so  near  an  insult,  that  it  must  termi- 
nate our  acquaintance.  The  man  seemed  astounded.  In  the 
first  place,  he  evidently  thought  all  goods  and  chattels  were 
made  to  be  plundered,  and  then  he  was  of  opinion  that 
plundering  was  a  very  common  "  Yankee  trick."  Had  I 
been  an  Englishman,  he  might  possibly  have  understood 
my  conduct  ;  but,  with  him,  it  was  so  much  a  habit  to 
fancy  an  American  a  rogue,  that,  as  I  afterward  discovered, 
he  was  trying  to  persuade  the  leader  of  a  press-gang  that 
I  was  the  half-educated  and  illegitimate  son  of  some  English 
merchant,  who  wished  to  pass  himself  off  for  an  American. 
I  pretend  not  to  account  for  the  contradiction,  though  I 
have  often  met  with  the  same  moral  phenomena  among 
his  countrymen  ;  but  here  was  as  regular  a  rogue  as  ever 
cheated,  who  pretended  to  think  roguery  indigenous  to 
certain  nations,  among  whom  his  own  was  not  included. 

At  length  I  was  cheered  with  the  sight  of  the  Crisis,  as 
she  came  drifting  through  the  tiers,  turning  and  twisting, 
and  glancing  along,  just  as  the  Amanda  had  done  before 
her.  The  pilot  carried  her  to  moorings  quite  near  us  ;  and 
Talcott,  Neb  and  I  were  on  board  her  before  she  was  fairly 
secured.  My  reception  was  very  favorable,  Captain  Wil- 
liams having  seen  the  account  of  the  "Yankee  trick"  in 
the  papers  ;  and,  understanding  the  thing  just  as  it  had 
happened,  he  placed  the  most  advantageous  construction 
on  all  I  had  done.  For  myself,  I  confess  I  never  had  any 
misgivings  on  the  subject. 

All  hands  of  us 'were  glad  to  be  back  in  the  Crisis  again. 
Captain  Williams  had  remained  at  Falmouth  longer  than 
he  expected,  to  make  some  repairs  that  could  not  be  thor- 
oughly completed  at  sea,  which  alone  prevented  him  from 
getting  into  the  river  as  soon  as  I  did  myself.  Now  the 
ship  was  in,  we  no  longer  felt  any  apprehension  of  being 
impressed,  Sweeney's  malignancy  having  set  several  of  the 
gang  upon  the  scent  after  us.  Whether  the  fellow  actually 
thought  I  was  an  English  subject  or  not,  is  more  than  I 
ever  knew  ;  but  I  felt  no  disposition  myself  to  let  the 
point  be  called  in  question  before  my  Lord  Chief  Justice 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  143 

of  a  Rendezvous.  The  King's  Bench  was  more  governed 
by  safe  principles,  in  its  decisions,  than  the  gentlemen  who 
presided  in  these  marine  courts  of  the  British  navy. 

As  I  was  the  only  officer  in  the  ship  who  had  ever  seen 
anything  of  London,  my  fortnight's  experience  made  me 
a  notable  man  in  the  cabin.  It  was  actually  greater  pre- 
ferment for  me  than  when  I  was  raised  from  third  to  be 
second  mate.  Marble  was  all  curiosity  to  see  the  English 
capital,  and  he  made  me  promise  to  be  his  pilot,  as  soon 
as  duty  would  allow  time  for  a  stroll,  and  to  show  him 
everything  I  had  seen  myself.  We  soon  got  out  the  cargo, 
and  then  took  in  ballast  for  our  northwest  voyage ;  the 
articles  we  intended  to  traffic  with  on  the  coast,  being  too 
few  and  too  light  to  fill  the  ship.  This  kept  us  busy  for  a 
fortnight,  after  which  we  had  to  look  about  us  to  obtain 
men  to  supply  the  places  of  those  who  had  been  killed,  or 
sent  away  in  la  Dame  de  Nantes.  Of  course  we  preferred 
Americans  ;  and  this  so  much  the  more,  as  Englishmen 
were  liable  to  be  pressed  at  any  moment.  Fortunately,  a 
party  of  men  that  had  been  taken  out  of  an  American 
ship,  a  twelvemonth  before,  by  an  English  cruiser,  had 
obtained  their  discharges ;  and  they  all  came  to  London, 
for  the  double  purpose  of  getting  some  prize  money,  and 
of  obtaining  passages  home.  These  lads  were  pleased 
with  the  Crisis  and  the  voyage,  and,  instead  of  returning 
to  their  own  country,  sailor-like,  they  took  service  to  go 
nearly  round  the  world.  These  were  first-rate  men — Del- 
aware River  seamen — and  proved  a  great  accession  to  our 
force.  We  owed  the  windfall  to  the  reputation  the  ship 
had  obtained  by  her  affairs  with  the  letter-of-marque ;  an 
account  of  which,  copied  from  the  log-book,  and  a  little 
embellished  by  some  one  on  shore,  the  consignee  had  taken 
care  should  appear  in  the  journals.  The  history  of  the 
surprise,  in  particular,  read  very  well  ;  and  the  English 
were  in  a  remarkably  good  humor,  at  that  time,  to  receive 
an  account  of  any  discomfiture  of  a  Frenchman.  At  no 
period  since  the  year  1775  had  the  American  character 
stood  so  high  in  England  as  it  did  just  then ;  the  two  na- 
tions, for  a  novelty,  fighting  on  the  same  side.  Not  long 
after  we  left  London,  the  underwriters  at  Lloyd's  actually 
voted  a  handsome  compliment  to  an  American  commander 
for  capturing  a  French  frigate.  Stranger  things  have  hap- 
pened than  to  have  the  day  arrive  when  English  and  Amer« 
lean  fleets  may  be  acting  in  concert.  No  one  can  tell  what 
is  in  the  womb  of  time ;  and  I  have  lived  long  enough  to 


144  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

know  that  no  man  can  foresee  who  will  continue  to  be  his 
friends,  or  a  nation  what  people  may  become  its  enemies. 

The  Crisis  at  length  began  to  take  in  her  bales  and 
boxes  for  the  northwest  coast,  and,  as  the  articles  were 
received  slowly,  or  a  few  packages  at  a  time,  it  gave  us 
Leisure  for  play.  Our  captain  was  in  such  good  humor 
with  us,  on  account  of  the  success  of  the  outward-bound 
passage,  that  he  proved  very  indulgent.  This  disposition 
was  probably  increased  by  the  circumstance  that  a  ship 
arrived  in  a  very  short  passage  from  New  York,  which 
spoke  our  prize  ;  all  well,  with  a  smacking  southerly 
breeze,  a  clear  coast,  and  a  run  of  only  a  few  hundred 
miles  to  make.  This  left  the  almost  moral  certainty  that 
la  Dame  de  Nantes  had  arrived  safe,  no  Frenchman  being 
likely  to  trust  herself  on  that  distant  coast,  which  was 
now  alive  with  our  own  cruisers,  going  to  or  returning 
from  the  West  Indies. 

I  had  a  laughable  time  in  showing  Marble  the  sights  of 
London.  We  began  with  the  wild  beasts  in  the  Tower, 
as  in  duty  bound  ;  but  of  these  our  mate  spoke  very  dis- 
paragingly. He  had  been  too  often  in  the  East  "to  be 
taken  in  by  such  animals;"  and,  to  own  the  truth,  the 
cockneys  were  easily  satisfied  on  the  score  of  their 
menagerie.  We  next  went  to  the  monument  ;  but  this  did 
not  please  him.  He  had  seen  a  shot-tower  in  America — 
there  was  but  one  in  that  day — that  beat  it  out  and  out  as 
to  height,  and  he  thought  in  beauty,  too.  There  was  no 
reasoning  against  this.  St.  Paul's  rather  confounded  him. 
He  frankly  admitted  there  was  no  such  church  at  Kenne- 
bunk  ;  though  he  did  not  know  but  Trinity,  New  York, 
"  might  stand  up  alongside  of  it."  "  Stand  up  alongside 
of  it  !  "  I  repeated,  laughing.  "Why,  Mr.  Marble,  Trinity, 
steeple  and  all,  could  stand  up  in  it — under  that  dome — 
and  then  leave  more  room  in  this  building  than  all  the 
other  churches  in  New  York  contain,  put  all  together." 

It  was  a  long  time  before  Marble  forgave  this  speech. 
He  said  it  was  "  unpatriotic  ;"  a  word  which  was  less  used 
in  1799  than  it  is  used  to-day,  certainly,  but  which,  never- 
theless, was  used.  It  often  meant  then,  as  now,  a  thick 
and  thin  pertinacity  in  believing  in  provincial  marvels  •, 
and,  in  this,  Marble  was  one  of  the  most  patriotic  men  with 
whom  I  ever  met.  I  got  him  out  of  the  church,  and 
along  Fleet  Street,  through  Temple  Bar,  and  into  the 
Strand,  however,  in  peace  ;  and  then  we  emerged  into  the 
arena  of  fashion,  aristocracy  and  the  court.  After  a  time 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  145 

we  worked  our  way  into  Hyde  Park,  where  we  brought 
up,  to  make  our  observations. 

Marble  was  deeply  averse  to  acknowledging  all  the  ad- 
miration he  really  felt  at  the  turnouts  of  London,  as  they 
were  exhibited  in  the  park,  of  a  fine  day,  in  their  season. 
It  is  probable  the  world  elsewhere  never  saw  anything 
approaching  the  beauty  and  magnificence  that  is  here 
daily  seen,  at  certain  times,  so  far  as  beauty  and  magnifi- 
cence are  connected  with  equipages,  including  carriages, 
horses,  and  servants.  Unable  to  find  fault  with  the  tout 
ensemble,  our  mate  made  a  violent  attack  on  the  liveries. 
He  protested  it  was  indecent  to  put  a  "  hired  man" — the 
word  help  never  being  applied  to  the  male  sex,  I  believe, 
by  the  most  fastidious  New  England  purist — in  a  cocked 
hat ;  a  decoration  that  ought  to  be  exclusively  devoted  to 
the  uses  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  governors  of  States, 
and  militia  officers.  I  had  some  notions  of  the  habits  of 
the  great  wrorld,  through  books,  and  some  little  learned 
by  observation  and  listening  ;  but  Marble  scouted  at  most 
of  my  explanations.  He  put  his  own  construction  on 
everything  he  saw ;  and  I  have  often  thought,  since, 
could  the  publishers  of  travels  have  had  the  benefit  of  his 
blunders,  how  many  would  have  profited  by  them.  Gen- 
tlemen were  j ust  then  beginning  to  drive  their  own  coaches  ; 
and  I  remember  in  a  particular  instance,  an  ultra  in  the 
new  mode  had  actually  put  his  coachman  in  the  inside, 
while  he  occupied  the  dickey  in  person.  Such  a  gross 
violation  of  the  proprieties  was  unusual,  even  in  London  ; 
but  there  sat  Jehu,  in  all  the  dignity  of  cotton-lace,  plush, 
and  a  cocked  hat.  Marble  took  it  into  his  head  that  this 
man  was  the  king,  and  no  reasoning  of  mine  could  per- 
suade him  to  the  contrary.  In  vain  I  pointed  out  to  him 
a  hundred  similar  dignitaries,  in  the  proper  exercise  of 
their  vocation,  on  the  hammercloths  ;  he  cared  not  a  straw 
— this  was  not  showing  him  one  inside;  and  a  gentleman 
inside  of  a  carriage,  who  wore  so  fine  a  coat,  and  a  cocked 
hat  in  the  bargain,  could  be  nothing  less  than  some  dig- 
nitary of  the  empire  ;  and  why  not  the  king?  Absurd  as 
all  this  may  seem,  I  have  known  mistakes,  connected  with 
the  workings  of  our  own  institutions,  almost  as  great,  made 
by  theorists  from  Europe. 

While  Marble  and  I  were  wrangling  on  this  very  point, 
a  little  incident  occurred  which  led  to  important  conse- 
quences in  the  end.  Hackney-coaches,  or  any  other  public 
conveyance,  short  of  post-chaises  and  post-horses,  are  not 
10 


146  A  FLO  AT -AND  ASHORE. 

admitted  into  the  English  parks.  But  glass-coaches  are; 
meaning  by  this  term,  which  is  never  used  in  America, 
hired  carriages  that  do  not  go  on  the  stands.  We  encoun- 
tered one  of  these  glass-coaches  in  a  very  serious  difficul- 
ty. The  horses  had  got  frightened  by  means  of  a  wheel- 
barrow, aided,  probably,  by  some  bad  management  of  the 
driver,  and  had  actually  backed  the  hind  wheels  of  the 
vehicle  into  the  water  of  the  canal.  They  would  have  soon 
had  the  whole  carriage  submerged,  and  have  followed  it 
themselves,  had  it  not  been  for  the  chief  mate  and  myself. 
I  thrust  the  wheelbarrow  under  one  of  the  forward  wheels 
just  in  time  to  prevent  the  final  catastrophe  ;  while  Marble 
grasped  the  spoke  with  his  iron  gripe,  and,  together,  he 
and  the  wheelbarrow  made  a  resistance  that  counterbal- 
anced the  backward  tendency  of  the  team.  There  was  no 
footman ;  and,  springing  to  the  door,  I  aided  a  sickly-look- 
ing elderly  man,  a  female,  who  might  very  well  have  been 
his  wife,  and  another  that  I  took  for  his  daughter,  to 
escape.  By  my  agency  all  three  were  put  on  the  dry  land, 
without  even  wetting  their  feet,  though  I  fared  worse  my- 
self. No  sooner  were  they  safe  than  Marble,  who  was  up 
to  his  shoulders  in  the  water,  and  who  had  made  prodig- 
ious efforts  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power,  released  his 
hold,  the  wheelbarrow  gave  way  at  the  same  moment,  and 
the  whole  affair,  coach  and  horses,  had  their  will,  and  went, 
stern  foremost,  "overboard.  One  of  the  horses  was  saved,  I 
believe,  and  the  other  drowned  ;  but,  a  crowd  soon  collect- 
ing, I  paid  little  attention  to  what  was  going  on  in  the  car- 
riage, as  soon  as  its  cargo  was  discharged. 

The  gentleman  we  had  saved  pressed  my  hand  with  fer- 
vor, and  Marble's  too  ;  saying  that  we  must  not  quit  him — 
that  we  must  go  home  with  him.  To  this  we  consented 
readily  enough,  thinking  we  might  still  be  of  use.  As 
we  all  walked  toward  one  of  the  more  private  entrances 
of  the  park,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  people 
we  had  served.  They  were  very  respectable  in  appear- 
ance ;  but  I  knew  enough  of  the  world  to  see  that  they 
belonged  to  what  is  called  the  middle  class  in  England.  I 
thought  the  man  might  be  a  soldier ;  while  the  two  females 
had  an  air  of  great  respectability,  though  not  in  the  least 
of  fashion.  The  girl  appeared  to  be  nearly  as  old  as  my- 
self, and  was  decidedly  pretty.  Here,  then,  was  an  advent- 
ure !  I  had  saved  the  life  of  a  damsel  of  seventeen,  and 
had  only  to  fall  in  love  to  become  the  hero  of  a  romance 

At  the  gate,  the  gentleman  stopped  a  hackney-coach,  put 


AFLOAT  AXD  ASHORE.  147 

the  females  in,  and  desired  us  to  follow.  But  to  this  we 
would  not  consent,  both  being  wet,  and  Marble  particularly 
so.  After  short  parley,  he  gave  us  an  address  in  Norfolk 
Street,  Strand  ;  and  we  promised  to  stop  there  on  our  way 
back  to  the  ship.  Instead  of  following  the  carriage,  how- 
ever, we  made  our  way  on  foot  into  the  Strand,  where  we 
found  an  eating-house,  turned  in  and  ate  a  hearty  dinner 
each,  the  chief  mate  resorting  to  some  brandy  in  order  to 
prevent  his  taking  cold.  On  what  principle  this  is  done,  I 
cannot  explain,  though  I  know  it  is  often  practised,  and  in 
all  quarters  of  the  world. 

As  soon  as  we  had  dined  and  dried  ourselves,  we  went 
into  Norfolk  Street.  We  had  been  told  to  ask  for  Major 
Merton,  and  this  we  did.  The  house  was  one  of  those 
plain  lodging-houses,  of  which  most  of  that  part  of  the 
town  is  composed  ;  and  we  found  the  major  and  his  family 
in  the  occupation  of  the  first  floor,  a  mark  of  gentility  on 
which  some  stress  is  laid  in  England.  It  was  plain  enough, 
however,  to  see  that  these  people  were  not  rolling  in  that 
splendor  of  which  we  had  just  seen  so  much  in  the  park. 

"  I  can  trace  the  readiness  and  gallantry  of  the  English 
tar  in  your  conduct,"  observed  the  major,  after  he  had 
given  us  both  quite  as  warm  a  reception  as  circumstances 
required,  at  the  same  time  taking  out  his  pocket-book,  and 
turning  over  some  bank-notes.  "  I  wish,  for  your  sakes,  I 
was  better  able  than  I  am  to  reward  you  for  what  you  have 
done  ;  but  twenty  pounds  is  all  I  can  now  offer.  At  some 
other  time  circumstances  may  place  it  in  my  power  to  give 
further  and  better  proofs  of  my  gratitude." 

As  this  was  said,  the  major  held  two  ten-pound  notes  to- 
ward Marble,  doubtless  intending  that  I  should  receive 
one  of  them  as  a  fair  division  of  the  spoils.  Now,  accord- 
ing to  all  theory,  and  the  established  opinion  of  the  Chris- 
tian world,  America  is  the  avaricious  country  ;  the  land,  of 
all  others,  in  which  men  are  the  most  greedy  of  gain  ;  in 
which  human  beings  respect  gold  more,  and  themselves 
less,  than  in  any  other  portion  of  this  globe.  I  never  dis- 
pute anything  that  is  settled  by  the  common  consent  of  my 
fellow-creatures,  for  the  simple  reason  that  I  know  the  de- 
cision must  be  against  me  ;  so  I  will  concede  that  money  is 
the  great  end  of  American  life — that  there  is  little  else  to 
live  for  in  the  great  model  republic.  Politics  have  fallen 
into  such  hands,  that  office  will  not  even  give  social  station  ; 
the  people  are  omnipotent,  it  is  true  ;  but,  though  they 
can  make  a  governor,  they  cannot  make  gentlemen  and 


I48  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ladies  ;  even  kings  are  sometimes  puzzled  to  do  that ;  liter- 
ature, arms,  arts,  and  fame  of  all  sorts  are  unattainable  in 
their  rewards  among  us,  as  in  other  nations,  leaving  the 
puissant  dollar  in  its  undisturbed  ascendency  ;  still,  as  a 
rule,  twenty  Europeans  can  be  bought  with  two  ten-pound 
Bank  of  England  notes  much  easier  than  two  Americans. 
I  leave  others  to  explain  the  phenomenon  ;  I  only  speak 
of  the  fact. 

Marble  listened  to  the  major's  speech  with  great  atten- 
tion and  respect,  fumbling  in  his  pocket  for  his  tobacco- 
box  the  whole  time.  The  box  was  opened  just  as  the 
major  ended,  and  even  I  began  to  be  afraid  that  the  well- 
known  cupidity  of  Kennebunk  was  about  to  give  way  be- 
fore the  temptation,  and  the  notes  were  to  be  stowed 
alongside  of  the  tobacco  ;  but  I  was  mistaken.  Deliber- 
ately helping  himself  to  a  quid,  the  chief  mate  shut  the 
box  again,  and  then  he  made  his  reply. 

"  Quite  ginerous  in  you,  major,"  he  said,  "  and  all  ship- 
shape and  right.  I  like  to  see  things  done  just  in  that 
way.  Put  up  the  money  ;  we  thank  you  as  much  as  if  we 
could  take  it,  and  that  squares  all  accounts.  I  would  just 
mention,  however,  to  prevent  mistakes,  as  the  other  idee 
might  get  us  impressed,  that  this  young  man  and  I  are 
both  born  Americans — he  from  up  the  Hudson  somewhere, 
and  I  from  York  city  itself,  though  edicated  down  East." 

"Americans!"  resumed  the  major,  drawing  himself  up 
a  little  stiffly  ;  "thenjy0w,  young  man,"  turning  to  me,  and 
holding  out  the  notes,  of  which  he  now  seemed  as  anxious 
to  be  rid,  as  I  had  previously  fancied  he  was  sorry  to  see 
go — "you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  accept  of  this  small  token 
of  my  gratitude." 

"It  is  quite  impossible,  sir,"  I  answered,  respectfully. 
"  We  are  not  exactly  what  we  seem,  and  you  are  probably 
deceived  by  our  roundabouts  ;  but  we  are  the  first  and 
second  officers  of  a  letter-of-marque." 

At  the  word  "officers,"  the  major  drew  back  his  hand, 
and  hastily  apologized.  He  did  not  understand  us  even 
then,  I  could  plainly  see ;  but  he  had  sufficient  sagacity  to 
understand  that  his  money  would  not  be  accepted.  We 
were  invited  to  sit  down,  and  the  conversation  continued. 

"  Master  Miles,  there,"  resumed  Marble,  "  has  an  estate, 
a  place  called  Clawbonny,  somewhere  up  the  Hudson  ; 
and  he  has  no  business  to  be  sailing  about  the  world  in 
jacket  and  trousers,  when  he  ought  to  be  studying  law,  or 
trying  his  hand  at  college.  But  as  the  old  cock  crows,  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  149 

young  'tm  Tarns  ;  his  father  was  a  sailor  befoie  him,  and 
I  suppose  that's  the  reason  on  't." 

This  announcement  of  my  position  ashore  did  me  no 
harm,  and  I  could  see  a  change  in  the  deportment  of  the 
whole  family — not  that  it  had  ever  treated  me  haughtily, 
or  even  coldly ;  but  it  now  regarded  me  as  more  on  a  level 
with  itself.  '  We  remained  an  hour  with  the  Mertons,  and 
I  promised  to  repeat  the  call  before  we  sailed.  This  I  did 
a  dozen  times,  at  least ;  and  the  major,  finding,  I  suppose, 
that  he  had  a  tolerably  well-educated  youth  to  deal  with, 
was  of  great  service  in  putting  me  in  a  better  way  of  seeing 
London.  I  went  to  both  theatres  with  the  family,  taking 
care  to  appear  in  a  well-made  suit  of  London  clothes,  in 
which  I  made  quite  as  respectable  a  figure  as  most  of  the 
young  men  I  saw  in  the  streets.  Even  Emily  smiled  when 
she  first  saw  me  in  my  long  togs,  and  I  thought  she  blushed, 
She  was  a  pretty  creature  ;  gentle  and  mild  in  her  ordinary 
deportment,  but  full  of  fire  and  spirit  at  the  bottom,  as  i 
could  see  by  her  light-blue  English  eye.  Then  she  had 
been  well  educated  ;  and  in  my  young  ignorance  of  life,  I 
fancied  she  knew  more  than  any  girl  of  seventeen  I  had 
ever  met  with.  Grace  and  Lucy  were  both  clever,  and  had 
been  carefully  taught  by  Mr.  Hardinge  ;  but  the  good 
divine  could  not  give  two  girls,  in  the  provincial  retire- 
ment of  America,  the  cultivation  and  accomplishments 
that  were  writhin  the  reach  of  even  moderate  means  in 
England.  To  me,  Emily  Merton  seemed  a  marvel  in  the 
way  of  attainments  ;  and  I  often  felt  ashamed  of  myself, 
as  I  sat  at  her  side,  listening  to  the  natural  and  easy  man- 
ner in  which  she  alluded  to  things,  of  which  I  then  heard 
tor  the  first  time. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

"  Boatswain  !  " 

"  Here,  master  :  what  cheer?" 
"  Good  :  speak  to  the  mariners ;  fall  to  't 
Yarely,  or  we  run  ourselves  aground  :  bestir,  bestir." — Tempest. 

As  Captain  Williams  wished  to  show  me  some  favor  for 
the  manner  in  which  T  had  taken  care  of  the  brig,  he  allowed 
me  as  much  time  ashore  as  I  asked  for.  I  might  never  see 
London  again  ;  and,  understanding  I  had  fallen  into  good 
company,  he  threw  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of  my  profiting 


150  AFLOAT  A.VJ)   ASIfOKB. 

by  it.  So  careful  was  he,  indeed,  as  to  get  one  of  the 
consul's  clerks  to  ascertain  who  the  Mertons  were,  lest  I 
should  become  the  dupe  of  the  thousands  of  specious 
rogues  with  which  London  abounds.  The  report  was 
favorable,  giving  us  to  understand  that  the  major  had  been 
much  employed  in  the  West  Indies,  where  he  still  held  a 
moderately  lucrative,  semi-military  appointment,  being 
then  in  England  to  settle  certain  long  and  vexatious  ac- 
counts, as  well  as  to  take  Emily,  his  only  child,  from  school. 
He  was  expected  to  return  to  the  old,  or  some  other  post, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  A  porjtion  of  this  I  gleaned 
from  Emily  herself,  and  it  was  all  very  fairly  corroborated 
by  the  account  of  the  consul's  clerk.  There  was  no  doubt 
that  the  Mertons  were  persons  of  respectable  position  ; 
without  having  any  claims,  however,  to  be  placed  very 
high.  From  the  major,  moreover,  I  learned  he  had  some 
American  connections,  his  father  having  married  in  Boston. 
For  my  part,  I  had  quite  as  much  reason  to  rejoice 
at  the  chance  which  threw  me  in  the  way  of  the  Mer- 
tons, as  they  had.  If  I  was  instrumental  in  saving  their 
.ives,  as  was  undeniably  the  case,  they  taught  me  more  of 
the  world,  in  the  ordinary  social  sense  of  the  phrase,  than 
I  had  learned  in  all  my  previous  life.  I  make  no  pre- 
tensions to  having  seen  London  society  ;  that  lay  far  be- 
yond the  reach  of  Major  Merton  himself,  who  was  born 
the  son  of  a  merchant,  when  merchants  occupied  a  much 
lower  position  in  the  English  social  scale  than  they  do 
to-day,  and  had  to  look  to  a  patron  for  most  of  his  own 
advancement.  But  he  was  a  gentleman  ;  maintained  the 
notions,  sentiments,  and  habits  of  the  caste  ;  and  was  prop- 
erly conscious  of  my  having  saved  his  life  when  it  was 
in  great  jeopardy.  As  for  Emily  Merton,  she  got  to  con- 
verse with  me  with  the  freedom  of  a  friend  ;  and  very 
pleasant  it  was  to  hear  pretty  thoughts  expressed  in  pret- 
ty language,  and  from  pretty  lips.  I  could  perceive  that 
she  thought  me  a  little  rustic  and  provincial ;  but  I  had 
not  been  all  the  way  to  Canton  to  be  browbeaten  by  a 
cockney  girl,  however  clever  and  handsome.  On  the 
whole — and  I  say  it  without  vanity  at  this  late  day — I 
think  the  impression  left  behind  me,  among  these  good 
people,  was  favorable.  Perhaps  Clawbonny  was  not  with- 
out its  influence  ;  but,  when  I  paid  my  last  visit,  even 
Emily  looked  sorrowful,  and  her  mother  was  pleased  to 
say  they  should  all  miss  me  much.  The  major  made  me 
promise  to  hunt  him  up,  should  I  ever  be  in  Jamaica,  or 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  151 

Bombay ;  for  one  of  which  places  he  expected  to  sail 
himself,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months.  I  knew  he  had  had  one  appointment,  though 
he  might  receive  another,  and  hoped  everything  would 
turn  out  for  the  best. 

The  Crisis  sailed  on  her  day  ;  and  she  went  to  sea  from 
the  Downs,  a  week  later,  with  a  smacking  southerly  wind. 
Our  Philadelphians  turned  out  a  noble  set  of  fellows  ;  and 
we  had  the  happiness  of  beating  an  English  sloop-of-war, 
just  as  we  got  clear  of  the  Channel,  in  a  fair  trial  of  speed. 
To  lessen  our  pride  a  little,  a  two-decker  that  was  going 
to  the  Mediterranean  treated  us  exactly  in  the  same  man- 
ner, only  three  days  later.  What  made  this  last  affair 
more  mortifying,  was  the  fact  that  Marble  had  just  satis- 
fied himself,  and  all  hands,  that  a  sloop-of-war,  being  the 
fastest  description  of  vessel,  and  we  having  got  the  better 
of  one  of  them,  it  might  be  fairly  inferred  we  could  out- 
sail the  whole  British  navy.  I  endeavored  to  console  him 
by  reminding  him  that  "the  race  was  not  always  to  the 
swift."  He  growled  out  some  sort  of  an  answer,  de- 
nouncing all  sayings,  and  desiring  to  know  out  of  whac 
book  I  had  picked  up  that  nonsense. 

I  have  no  intention  of  dwelling  on  every  little  incident 
that  occurred  on  the  long  road  we  were  now  travelling. 
We  touched  at  Madeira,  and  landed  an  English  family  that 
went  there  for  the  benefit  of  an  invalid  ;  got  some  fruit, 
fresh  meat,  and  vegetables,  and  sailed  again.  Our  next 
stopping  place  was  Rio,  whither  we  went  for  letters  from 
home,  the  captain  being  taught  to  expect  them.  The  ship's 
letters  were  received,  and  they  were  filled  with  eulogiums 
on  our  good  conduct,  having  been  written  after  the  arrival 
of  la  Dame  de  Nantes;  but  great  was  my  disappointment 
at  finding  there  was  not  even  a  scrawl  for  myself. 

Our  stay  at  Rio  was  short,  and  we  left  port  with  a  favor- 
able slant  of  wind,  running  as  far  south  as  50°  in  a  very 
short  time.  As  we  drew  near  to  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  American  continent,  however,  we  met  with  heavy' 
weather  and  foul  winds.  We  were  now  in  the  month  that 
corresponds  to  November  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  and 
had  to  double  the  Horn  at  that  un propitious  season  of 
the  year,  going  westward.  There  is  no  part  of  the  world 
of  which  navigators  have  given  accounts  so  conflicting,  as 
of  this  celebrated  passage.  Each  man  appears  to  have  de- 
scribed it  as  he  found  it,  himself,  while  no  two  seem  to 
have  found  it  exactly  alike.  I  do  not  remember  to  have 


152  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ever  heard  of  calms  off  Cape  Horn  ;  but  light  winds  are 
by  no  means  uncommon,  though  tempests  are  undoubted- 
ly the  predominant  characteristic.  Our  captain  had  already 
been  round  four  times,  and  he  held  the  opinion  that  the 
season  made  no  difference,  and  that  it  was  better  to  keep 
near  the  land.  We  shaped  our  course  accordingly  for 
Staten  Land,  intending  to  pass  through  the  straits  of  Le 
Maire,  and  hug  the  Horn  as  close  as  possible  in  doubling 
it.  We  made  the  Falkland  Islands,  or  West  Falkland 
rather,  just  as  the  sun  rose,  one  morning,  bearing  a  little 
on  our  weather-quarter,  with  the  wind  blowing  heavily  at 
the  eastward.  The  weather  was  thick  and,  what  was  still 
worse,  there  was  so  little  day,  and  no  moon,  that  it  was 
getting  to  be  ticklish  work  to  be  standing  for  a  passage  as 
narrow  as  that  we  aimed  at.  Marble  and  I  talked  the  mat- 
ter over,  between  ourselves,  and  wished  the  captain  could 
be  persuaded  to  haul  up  and  try  to  go  to  the  eastward  of 
the  island,  as  was  still  possible,  with  the  wind  where  it 
was.  Still,  neither  of  us  dared  propose  it ;  I,  on  account 
of  my  youth,  and  the  chief  mate,  as  he  said,  on  account  of 
"the  old  fellow's  obstinacy."  "He  likes  to  be  poking 
about  in  such  places,"  Marble  added,  <fand  is  never  so 
happy  as  when  he  is  running  round  the  ocean  in  places 
where  it  is  full  of  unknown  islands,  looking  for  sandal 
wood  and  beche-la-mar !  I'll  warrant  you,  he'll  give  us  a 
famous  time  of  it,  if  he  ever  gets  up  on  the  northwest 
coast."  Here  the  consultation  terminated,  we  mates  be- 
lieving it  wiser  to  let  things  take  their  course. 

I  confess  to  having  seen  the  mountains  on  our  weather- 
quarter  disappear,  with  melancholy  forebodings.  There 
was  little  hope  of  getting  any  observation  that  day  ;  and 
to  render  matters  worse,  about  noon  the  wdnd  began  to 
haul  more  to  the  southward.  As  it  hauled,  it  increased  in 
violence,  until,  at  midnight,  it  blew  a  gale  ;  the  commence- 
ment of  such  a  tempest  as  I  had  never  witnessed  in  any  of 
my  previous  passages  at  sea.  As  a  matter  of  course,  sail 
was  reduced  as  fast  as  it  became  necessary,  until  we  had 
brought  the  ship  down  to  a  close-reefed  main-topsail,  and 
fore  topmast  staysail,  the  fore-course,  and  the  mizzen  stay- 
sail. This  .was  old-fashioned  canvas  ;  the  more  recent 
spencer  being  then  unknown. 

Our  situation  was  now  far  from  pleasant.  The  tides  and 
Currents,  in  that  high  latitude,  run  with  great  velocity; 
and  then,  at  a  moment  when  it  was  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance to  know  precisely  where  the  ship  was,  we  wer« 


AFLOAT  AND   A  Sir  ORE.  153 

left  in  the  painful  uncertainty  of  conjecture,  and  theories 
that  might  be  very  wide  of  the  truth.  The  captain  had 
nerve  enough,  notwithstanding,  to  keep -on  the  larboard 
tack  until  daylight,  in  the  hope  of  getting  in  sight  of  the 
mountains  of  Terra  del  Fuego.  No  one  now  expected  we 
should  be  able  to  fetch  through  the  straits  ;  but  it  would 
be  a  great  relief  to  obtain  a  sight  of  the  land,  as  it  would 
enable  us  to  get  some  tolerably  accurate  notions  of  our 
position.  Daylight  came  at  length,  but  it  brought  no  cer- 
tainty. The  weather  was  so  thick,  between  a  drizzling 
rain,  sea-mist,  and  the  spray,  that  it  was  seldom  we  could 
see  a  league  around  us,  and  frequently  not  half  a  mile. 
Fortunately,  the  general  direction  of  the  eastern  coast  of 
Terra  del  Fuego  is  from  northwest  to  southeast,  always 
giving  us  room  to  wear  off-shore,  provided  we  did  not  un- 
expectedly get  embarrassed  in  some  of  the  many  deep  in- 
dentations of  that  wild  and  inhospitable  shore. 

Captain  Williams  showed  great  steadiness  in  the  trying 
circumstances  in  which  we  were  placed.  The  ship  was 
just  far  enough  south  to  render  it  probable  she  could 
weather  Falkland  Islands  on  the  other  tack,  could  we  rely 
upon  the  currents  ;»but  it  would  be  ticklish  work  to  un- 
dertake such  a  thing  in  the  long,  intensely  dark  nights  we 
had,  and  thus  run  the  risk  of  finding  ourselves  on  a  lee- 
shore.  He  determined,  therefore,  to  hold  on  as  long  as 
possible  on  the  tack  we  were  on,  expecting  to  get  through 
another  night  without  coming  upon  the  land,  every  hour 
now  giving  us  the  hope  that  we  were  drawing  near  to  the 
termination  of  the  gale.  I  presume  he  felt  more  em- 
boldened to  pursue  this  course,  by  the  circumstance  that 
the  wind  evidently  inclined  to  haul,  little  by  little,  more  to 
the  southward,  which  was  not  only  increasing  our  chances 
of  laying  past  the  islands,  but  lessened  the  danger  from 
Terra  del  Fuego. 

Marble  was  exceedingly  uneasy  during  that  second  night. 
He  remained  on  deck' with  me  the  whole  of  the  morning- 
watch  ;  not  that  he  distrusted  my  discretion  in  the  least,  but 
because  he  distrusted  the.  wind  and  the  land.  I  never  saw 
him  in  so  much  concern  before,  for  it  was  his  habit  to  con- 
sider himself  a  timber  of  the  ship,  that  was  to  sink  or  swim 
with  the  craft. 

"  Miles,"  said  he,  "you  and  I  know  something  of  these 
1  bloody  currents,'  and  we  know  they  take  a  ship  one  way, 
while  she  looks  as  fiercely  the  other  as  a  pig  that  is  dragged 
aft  by  the  tail.  If  we  had  run  down  the  5oth  degree  of  longi- 


154  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

tude,  now,  we  might  have  had  plenty  of  sea-room,  and  been 
laying  past  the  cape  with  this  very  wind  ;  but  no,  the  old 
fellow  would  have  had  no  islands  in  that  case,  and  he 
never  could  be  happy  without  half  a  dozen  islands  to  bother 
him." 

"  Had  we  run  down  the  5oth  degree  of  longitude,"  I  an- 
swered, "  we  should  have  had  twenty  degrees  to  make  to 
get  round  the  Horn  ;  whereas,  could  we  only  lay  through 
the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,  six  or  eight  of  those  very  same  de- 
grees would  carry  us  clear  of  everything." 

"Only  lay  through  the  Straits  oiLe  Maire,  on  the  loth 
November,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing  in  this  quarter  of  the 
world,  of  May,  and  with  less  than  nine  hours  of  daylight ! 
And  such  daylight  too  !  Why,  our  Newfoundland  fogs,  such 
stuff  as  I  used  to  eat  when  a  youngster  and  a  fisherman,  are 
high  noon  to  it !  Soundings  are  out  of  the  question  here- 
abouts ;  and  before  one  has  hauled  in  the  deep-sea,  with  all 
its  line  out,  his  cut-water  may  be  on  a  rock.  This  ship  is 
su  weatherly  and  drags  ahead  so  fast,  that  we  shall  see 
terra  fir  ma  before  any  one  has  a  notion  of  it.  The  old  man 
fancies,  because  the  coast  of  Fuego  trends  to  the  north- 
west, that  the  land  will  fall  away  from  us  as  fast  as  we  draw 
toward  it.  I  hope  he  may  live  long  enough  to  persuade  all 
hands  that  he  is  right  !  " 

Marble  and  I  were  conversing  on  the  forecastle  at  the 
time,  our  eyes  turned  to  the  westward,  for  it  was  scarcely 
possible  for  him  to  look  in  any  other  direction,  when  he 
interrupted  himself  by  shouting  out,  "  Hard  up  with  the 
helm — spring  to  the  after-braces,  my  lads — man  mizzen- 
staysail  down  haul !  "  This  set  everybody  in  motion,  and  the 
captain  and  third  mate  were  on  deck  in  a  minute.  The 
ship  fell  off,  as  soon  as  we  got  the  mizzen-staysail  in,  and 
the  main-topsail  touching.  Gathering  way  fast,  as  she  got 
the  wind  more  aft,  her  helm  threw  her  stern  up,  and  away 
she  went  like  a  top.  The  fore-topmast  staysail-sheet  was 
tended  with  care,  and  yet  the  cloth  emitted  a  sound  like  the 
report  of  a  swivel,  when  the  sail  first  filled  on  the  other 
tack.  We  got  the  starboard  fore-tack  forward,  and  the  lar- 
board sheet  aft,  by  two  tremendously  severe  drags,  the 
blocks  and  bolts  seeming  fairly  to  quiver  as  they  felt  the 
strains.  Everything  succeeded,  however,  and  the  Crisis  be- 
gan to  drag  off  from  the  coast  of  Terra  del  Fuego  of  a  cer- 
tainty ;  but  to  go  whither,  no  one  could  precisely  tell.  She 
headed  up  nearly  east,  the  wind  playing  about  between 
south-and-by-east,  and  south-east-and-by-south.  On  thai 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  155 

course  I  own  I  had  now  great  doubt  whether  she  could  lay 
past  the  Falkland  Islands,  though  I  felt  persuaded  we  must 
be  a  long  distance  from  them.  There  was  plenty  of  time 
before  us  to  take  the  chances  of  a  change. 

As  soon  as  the  ship  was  round,  and  trimmed  by  the  wind 
on  the  other  tack,  Captain  Williams  had  a  grave  conversa- 
tion with  the  chief  mate  on  the  subject  of  his  reason  for 
what  he  had  done.  Marble  maintained  that  he  had  caught 
a  glimpse  of  the  land  ahead — "just  as  you  know  I  did  of 
la  Dame  de  Nantes,  Captain  Williams,"  he  continued  ; 
"  and  seeing  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  I  ordered  the 
helm  hard  up,  to  wear  off  shore."  I  distrusted  this  ac- 
count, even  while  it  was  in  the  very  process  of  coming  out 
of  the  chief  mate's  mouth,  and,  Marble  afterward  admitted 
to  me,  quite  justly  ;  but  the  captain  either  was  satisfied,  or 
thought  it  prudent  to  seem  so.  By  the  best  calculations 
I  afterward  made,  I  suppose  we  must  have  been  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  leagues  from  the  land  when  we  wore  ship  ; 
but  as  Marble  said,  when  he  made  his  private  confession, 
"Madagascar  was  quite  enough  for  me,  Miles,  without 
breaking  our  nose  on  this  sea-gull  coast ;  and  there  may 
be  'bloody  currents'  on  this  side  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  as  well  as  on  the  other.  We've  just  got  so  much  of 
a  gale  and  a  foul  wind  to  weather,  and  the  ship  will  do 
both  quite  as  well  with  her  head  to  the  eastward,  as  with 
her  head  to  the  westward." 

All  that  day  the  Crisis  stood  on  the  starboard  tack, 
dragging  through  the  raging  waters  as  it  might  be  by  vio- 
lence ;  and  just  as  night  shut  in  again,  she  wore  round, 
once  more,  with  her  head  to  the  westward.  So  far  from 
abating,  the  wind  increased,  and  toward  evening  we  found 
it  necessary  to  furl  our  topsail  and  fore-course.  Mere  rag 
of  a  sail  as  the  former  had  been  reduced  to,  with  its  four 
reefs  in,  it  was  a  delicate  job  to  roll  it  up.  Neb  and  I 
stood  together  on  the  bunt,  and  never  did  I  exert  myself 
rnore  than  on  .that  occasion.  The  foresail,  too,  was  a  se- 
rious matter,  but  we  got  both  in  without  losing  either. 
Just  as  the  sun  set,  or  as  night  came  to  increase  the  dark- 
ness of  that  gloomy  day,  the  fore-topmast  staysail  went  out 
of  the  bolt-rope,  with  a  report  that  was  heard  all  over 
the  ship,  disappearing  in  the  mist  like  a  cloud  driving  in 
the  heavens.  A  few  minutes  later,  the  mizzen-staysail  was 
hauled  down  in  order  to  prevent  it  from  travelling  the 
same  road.  The  jerks  even  this  low  canvas  occasionallv 
gave  the  ship,  made  her  tremble  from  her  keel  to  her  trucks 


156  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

For  the  first  time  I  now  witnessed  a  tempest  at  sea.  Gales, 
and  pretty  hard  ones,  I  had  often  seen;  but  the  force  of 
the  wind  on  this  occasion  as  much  exceeded  that  in  ordi- 
nary gales  of  wind,  as  the  force  of  these  had  exceeded  that 
of  a  whole-sail  breeze.  The  seas  seemed  crushed,  the  press- 
ure of  the  swooping  atmosphere,  as  the  currents  of  the 
air  went  howling  over  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  fairly  pre- 
venting them  from  rising  ;  or,  where  a  mound  of  water  did 
appear,  it  was  scooped  up  and  borne  off  in  spray,  as  the 
axe  dubs  inequalities  from  the  log.  In  less  than  an  houi 
after  it  began  to  blow  the  hardest  there  was  no  very  ap- 
parent swell — the  deep  breathing  of  the  ocean  is  never 
entirely  stilled — and  the  ship  was  as  steady  as  if  hove  half 
out,  her  lower  yard-arms  nearly  touching  the  water,  an 
inclination  at  which  they  remained  as  steadily  as  if  kept 
there  by  purchases.  -  A  few  of  us  were  compelled  to  go  as 
high  as  the  futtock-shrouds  to  secure  the  sails,  but  higher 
it  was  impossible  to  get.  I  observed  that  when  I  thrust 
out  a  hand  to  clutch  anything,  it  was  necessary  to  make 
the  movement  in  such  a  direction  as  to  allow  for  lee-way, 
precisely  as  a  boat  quarters  the  stream  in  crossing  against 
a  current.  In  ascending  it  was  difficult  to  keep  the  feet 
on  the  ratlines,  and  in  descending  it  required  a  strong  effort 
to  force  the  body  down  toward  the  centre  of  gravity.  I 
make  no  doubt,  had  I  groped  my  way  up  to  the  cross-trees, 
and  leaped  overboard,  my  body  would  have  struck  the 
water  thirty  or  forty  yards  from  the  ship.  A  marlinspike 
falling  from  either  top  would  have  endangered  no  one  on 
deck. 

When  the  day  returned,  a  species  of  lurid,  sombre  light 
was  diffused  over  the  watery  waste,  though  nothing  was 
visible  but  the  ocean  and  the  ship.  Even  the  sea-birds 
seemed  to  have  taken  refuge  in  the  caverns  of  the  adjacent 
coast,  none  reappearing  with  the  dawn.  The  air  was  full 
of  spray,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  eye  could  pene- 
trate as  far  into  the  humid  atmosphere  as  half  a  mile.  All 
hands  mustered  on  deck  as  a  matter  of  course,  no  one 
wishing  to  sleep  at  a  time  like  that.  As  for  us  officers,  we 
collected  on  the  forecastle,  the  spot  where  danger  would 
first  make  itself  apparent,  did  it  come  from  the  side  of  the 
land. 

It  is  not  easy  to  make  a  landsman  understand  the  em- 
barrassments of  our  situation.  We  had  had  no  observa- 
tions for  several  days,  and  had  been  moving  about  by  dead 
reckoning,  in  a  part  of  the  ocean  where  the  tides  run  like 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  157 

a  mill-tail,  with  the  wind  blowing  a  little  hurricane.  Even 
now,  when  her  bows  were  half  submerged,  and  without  a 
stitch  of  canvas  exposed,  the  Crisis  drove  ahead  at  the  rate 
of  three  or  four  knots,  luffing  as  close  to  the  wind  as  if  she 
carried  after-sail.  It  was  Marble's  opinion  that,  in  such 
smooth  water,  do  all  we  could,  the  vessel  would  drive 
toward  the  much-dreaded  land  again,  between  sun  and 
sun  of  that  short  day,  a  distance  of  from  thirty  to  forty 
miles.  "  Nor  is  this  all,  Miles,"  he  added  to  me,  in  an 
aside  ;  "  I  no  more  like  this  *  bloody  current,'  than  that  we 
had  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  pond,  when  we  broke 
our  back  on  the  rocks  of  Madagascar.  You  never  see  as 
smooth  water  as  this,  unless  when  the  wind  and  current 
are  travelling  in  the  same  direction."  I  made  no  reply, 
but  there  all  four  of  us,  the  captain  and  his  three  mates, 
stood  looking  anxiously  into  the  vacant  mist  on  our  lee- 
bow,  as  if  we  expected  every  moment  to  behold  our  homes. 
A  silence  of  ten  minutes  succeeded,  and  I  was  still  gazing 
in  the  same  direction,  when  by  a  sort  of  mystic  rising  of 
the  curtain,  I  fancied  I  saw  a  beach  of  long  extent,  with  a 
dark-looking  waste  of  low  bottom  extending  inland,  for  a 
considerable  distance.  The  beach  did  not  appear  to  be 
distant  half  a  knot,  while  the  ship  seemed  to  glide  along 
it,  as  compared  with  visible  objects  on  shore,  at  a  rate  of 
six  or  eight  miles  the  hour.  It  extended  almost  in  a  par- 
allel line  with  our  course,  too,  as  far  as  could  be  seen,  both 
astern  and  ahead. 

"  What  a  strange  delusion  is  this  !  "  I  thought  to  my- 
self, and  turned  to  look  at  my  companions,  when  I  found 
all  looking  one  at  the  other,  as  if  to  ask  a  common  explana- 
tion. 

"  There  is  no  mistake  here,"  said  Captain  Williams, 
quietly.  "  That  is  land,  gentlemen." 

"  As  true  as  the  gospel,"  answered  Marble,  with  the  sort 
of  steadiness  despair  sometimes  gives.  "What  is  to  be 
done,  sir  ?  " 

"  What  can  be  done,  Mr.  Marble  ?  We  "have  not  room 
to  wear,  and,  of  the  two,  there  seems,  so  far  as  Lean  judge, 
more  sea-room  ahead  than  astern." 

This  was  so  apparent,  there  was  no  disputing  it.  We 
could  still  see  the  land,  looking  low,  chill,  and  of  the.  hue 
of  November  ;  and  we  could  also  perceive  that  ahead,  if 
anything,  it  fell  off  a  little  toward  the  northward,  while 
astern  it  seemingly  stretched  in  a  due  line  with  our  course. 
That  we  passed  it  with  great  velocity,  too,  was  a  circum* 


158  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

stance  that  our  eyes  showed  us  too  plainly  to  admit  of  any 
mistake.  As  the  ship  was  still  without  a  rag  of  sail,  borne 
down  by  the  wind  as  she  had  been  for  hours,  and  burying 
to  her  hawse-holes  forward,  it  was  only  to  a  racing  tide,  or 
current  of  some  sort,  that  we  could  be  indebted  for  our 
speed.  We  tried  the  lead,  and  got  bottom  in  six  fathoms! 

The  captain  and  Marble  now  held  a  serious  consultation. 
That  the  ship  was  entering  some  sort  of  an  estuary  was 
certain,  but  of  what  depth,  how  far  favored  by  a  holding- 
ground,  or  how  far  without  any  anchorage  at  all,  were 
facts  that  defied  our  inquiries.  We  knew  that  the  land 
called  Terra  del  Fuego  was,  in  truth,  a  clus'ter  of  islands, 
intersected  by  various  channels  and  passages,  into  which 
ships  had  occasionally  ventured,  though  their  navigation 
had  never  led  to  any  other  results  than  some  immaterial 
discoveries  in  geography.  That  we  were  entering  one  of 
these  passages,  and  under  favorable  circumstances,  though 
so  purely  accidental,  was  the  common  belief  ;  and  it  only 
remained  to  look  out  for  the  best  anchorage,  while  we  had 
daylight.  Fortunately,  as  we  drove  into  the  bay,  or  pas- 
sage, or  whatever  it  was,  the  tempest  lifted  less  spray  from 
the  water,  and,  owing  to  this  and  other  causes,  the  atmos- 
phere gradually  grew  clearer.  By  ten  o'clock,  we  could 
see  fully  a  league,  though  I  can  hardly  say  that  the  wind 
blew  less  fiercely  than  before.  As  for  sea,  there  was  none, 
or  next  to  none  ;  the  water  being  as  smooth  as  in  a  river. 

The  day  drew  on,  and  we  began  to  feel  increased  uneasi- 
ness at  the  novelty  of  our  situation.  Our  hope  and  expec- 
tation were  to  find  some  anchorage  ;  but  to  obtain  this  it 
was  indispensable  also  to  find  a  lee.  As  the  ship  moved 
forward,  we  still  kept  the  land  in  view,  on  our  starboard 
hand,  but  that  was  a  lee,  instead  of  a  weather-shore  ;  the 
last  alone  could  give  our  ground-tackle  any  chance  what- 
ever in  such  a  tempest.  We  were  drawing  gradually  away 
from  this  shore,  too,  which  trended  more  northerly,  giving 
us  additional  sea-room.  The  fact  that  we  were  in  a  power- 
ful tide's  way,  "puzzled  us  the  most.  There  was  but  one 
mode  of  accounting  for  the  circumstance.  Had  we  entered 
a  bay,  the  current  must  have  been  less,  and  it  seemed  nec- 
essary there  should  be  some  outlet  to  such  a  swift  accumu- 
lation of  water.  It  wras  not  the  mere  rising  of  the  water, 
swelling  in  an  estuary,  but  an  arrow-like  glancing  of  the 
element,  as  it  shot  through  a  pass.  We  had  a  proof  of  this 
last  fact  about  eleven  o'clock,  that  admitted  of  no  dispute. 
Land  was  seen  directly  ahead,  at  c.iat  hour,  and  great  was 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  153 

the  panic  it  created.  A  second  look,  however,  reassured 
us,  the  land  proving  to  be  merely  a  rocky  islet  of  some  six 
or  eight  acres  in  extent.  We  gave  it  a  berth,  of  course, 
though  we  examined  closely  for  an  anchorage  near  it,  as 
we  approached.  The  islet  was  too  low  and  too  small  to 
make  any  lee,  nor  did  we  like  the  looks  of  the  holding- 
ground.  The  notion  of  anchoring  there  was  consequently 
abandoned  ;  but  we  had  now  some  means  of  noting  our 
progress.  The  ship  was  kept  a  little  away,  in  order  to 
give  this  island  a  berth,  and  the  gale  drove  her  through 
the  water  at  the  rate  of  seven  or  eight  knots.  This,  how- 
ever, was  far  from  being  our  whole  speed,  the  tide  sweep- 
ing us  onward  at  a  furious  rate,  in  addition.  Even  Cap- 
tain Williams  thought  we  must  be  passing  that  rock  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  knots  ! 

It  was  noon,  and  there  was  no  abatement  in  the  tempest, 
no  change  in  the  current,  no  means  of  returning,  no  chance 
of  stopping  ;  away  we  were  driven,  like  events  ruled  by 
fate.  The  only  change  was  the  gradual  clearing  up  of  the 
atmosphere,  as  we  receded  from  the  ocean,  and  got  further 
removed  from  its  mists  and  spray.  Perhaps  the  power  of 
the  gale  had,  in  a  small  degree,  abated  by  two  o'clock,  and 
it  would  have  been  possible  to  carry  some  short  sail  ;  but, 
there  being  no  sea  to  injure  us,  it  was  unnecessary,  and 
the  ship  continued  to  drive  ahead,  under  bare  poles.  Night 
was  the  time  to  dread. 

There  was  now  but  one  opinion  among  us,  and  that  was 
this';  we  thought  the  ship  had  entered  one  of  the  passages 
that  intersect  Terra  del  Fuego,  and  that  there  was  the 
chance  of  soon  finding  a  lee,  as  these  channels  were  known 
to  be  very  irregular  and  winding.  To  run  in  the  night 
seemed  impossible  ;  nor  was  it  desirable,  as  it  was  almost 
certain  we  should  be  compelled  to  return  by  the  way  we 
had  entered,  to  extricate  ourselves  from  the  dangers  of  so 
intricate  a  navigation.  Islands  began  to  appear,  moreover, 
and  we  had  indications  that  the  main  passage  itself  was 
beginning  to  diminish  in  width.  Under  the  circumstances, 
therefore,  it  was  resolved  to  get  everything  ready,  and  to 
let  go  two  anchors  as  soon  as  we  could  find  a  suitable  spot. 
Between  the  hours  of  two  and  four,  the  ship  passed  seven- 
teen islets,  some  of  them  quite  near  ;  but  they  afforded, 
no  shelter.  At  last,  and  it  was  time,  the  sun  beginning  to 
fall  very  low,  as  we  could  sec  by  the  waning  light,  we  saw 
an  island  of  some  height  and  size  ahead,  and  we  hoped  it 
might  afford  us  a  lee.  The  tide  had  changed,  too,  and 


i6o  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

that  was  in  our  favor.  Turning  to  windward,  however, 
was  out  of  the  question,  since  we  could  carry  no  sail,  and 
the  night  was  near.  Anchor,  then,  we  must,  or  continue 
to  drive  onward  in  the  darkness,  sheered  about  in  all  direc- 
tions by  a  powerful  adverse  current.  It  is  true,  this  current 
would  have  been  a  means  of  safety,  by  enabling  us  to  haul 
up  from  rocks  and  dangers  ahead,  could  we  carry  any 
canvas  ;  but  it  still  blew  too  violently  for  the  last.  To 
anchor,  then,  it  was  determined. 

I  had  never  seen  so  much  anxiety  in  Captain  Williams's 
countenance,  as  when  he  was  approaching  the  island  men- 
tioned. There  was  still  light  enough  to  observe  its  out- 
lines and  shores,  the  last  appearing  bold  and  promising. 
As  the  island  itself  may  have  been  a  mile  in  circuit,  it  made 
a  tolerable  lee,  when  close  to  it.  This  was  then  our  object, 
and  the  helm  was  put  to  starboard  as  we  went  slowly  past, 
the  tide  checking  our  speed.  The  ship  sheered  into  a  sort 
of  roadstead — a  very  wild  one  it  was — as  soon  as  she  had 
room.  It  was  ticklish  work,  for  no  one  could  tell  how  soon 
we  might  hit  a  rock  ;  but  we  went  clear,  luffing  quite  near 
to  the  land,  where  we  let  go  both  bowers  at  the  same  in- 
stant. The  ship's  way  had  been  sufficiently  deadened,  by 
throwing  her  up  as  near  the  wind  as  she  could  be  got,  and 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  snubbing  her.  The  lead  gave  us 
seven  fathoms,  and  this  wTithin  pistol-shot  of  the  shore.  We 
knew  we  \vere  temporarily  safe.  The  great  point  was  to 
ascertain  how  the  vessel  would  tend,  and  with  how  much 
strain  upon  her  cables.  To  everybody's  delight,  it  was 
found  we  were  in  a  moderate  eddy,  that  drew  the  ship's 
stern  from  the  island,  and  allowed  her  to  tend  to  the  wind, 
which  still  had  a  fair  range  from  her  top-sail  yards  to  the 
trucks.  Lower  down,  the  tempest  scuffled  about,  howling 
and  eddying,  and  whirling  first  to  one  side, .and  then  to  the 
other,  in  a  way  to  prove  how  much  its  headlong  impetu- 
osity was  broken  and  checked  by  the  land.  It  is  not  easy 
to  describe  the  relief  we  felt  at  these  happy  chances.  It 
was  like  giving  foothold  to  some  wretch  who  thought  a 
descent  of  the  precipice  was  inevitable. 

The  ship  was  found  to  ride  easily  by  one  cable,  and  the 
hands  were  sent- to  the  windlass  to  heave  up  the  other  an- 
chor, as  our  lead  told  us  we  had  rocks  beneath  us,  and  the 
captain  was  afraid  of  the  chafing.  The  larboard  bower 
anchor  was  catted  immediately,  and  there  it  was  left  sus- 
pended, with  a  range  of  cable  overhauled,  in  readiness  to 
let  go  at  a  moment's  notice.  After  this  the  people  were 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  161 

told  to  get  their  suppers.  As  for  us  officers,  we  had  other 
things  to  think  of.  The  Crisis  carried  a  small  quarter-boat, 
and  this  was  lowered  into  the  water,  the  third  mate  and 
myself  manned  its  oars,  and  away  we  went  to  carry  the 
captain  round  the  ship,  in  order  that  he  might  ascertain 
the  soundings,  should  it  be  necessary  to  get  under  way  in 
the  night.  The  examination  was  satisfactory  on  all  points 
but  one,  that  of  the  holding-ground  ;  and  we  returned  to 
the  vessel,  having  taken  good  care  to  trust  ourselves  in 
neither  the  wind  nor  the  current.  An  anchor-watch  was 
set,  with  a  mate  on  deck,  four  hours  and  four  hours,  and 
all  hands  turned  in. 

I  had  the  morning  watch.  What  occurred  from  seven 
o'clock  (the  captain  keeping  the  dog-watches  himself),  until 
a  few  minutes  before  four,  I  cannot  tell  in  detail,  though  I 
understood  generally,  that  the  wind  continued  to  blow  in 
the  same  quarter,  though  it  gradually  diminished  in  vio- 
lence, getting  down  to  something  like  a  mere  gale,  by  mid- 
night. The  ship  rode  more  easily  ;  but  when  the  flood 
came  in,  there  was  no  longer  an  eddy,  the  current  sucking 
round  each  side  of  the  island  in  a  very  unusual  manner. 
About  ten  minutes  before  the  hour  when  it  was  my  regular 
watch  on  deck,  all  hands  were  called  ;  I  ran  on  deck,  and 
found  the  ship  had  struck  adrift,  the  cable  having  parted. 
Marble  had  got  the  vessel's  head  up  to  the  wind,  under 
bare  poles  as  before,  and  we  soon  began  to  heave  in  the 
cable.  It  was  found  that  the  mischief  had  been  done  by 
the  rocks,  the  strands  being  chafed  two-thirds  through. 
As  soon  as  the  current  took  the  vessel's  hull  with  force, 
the  cable  parted.  We  lost  our  anchor,  of  course,  for  there 
was  no  possible  way  of  getting  back  to  the  island  at  pres- 
ent, or  until  the  ebb  again  made. 

It  wanted  several  hours  of  day,  and  the  captain  called  a 
council.  He  told  us,  he  made  no  doubt  that  the  ship 
had  got  into  one  of  the  Terra  del  Fuego  passages,  guided 
by  Providence  ;  and  as  he  supposed  we  must  be  almost  as 
far  south  as  Staten  Land,  he  was  of  opinion  we  had  made 
an  important  discovery!  Get  back  we  could  not,  so  long 
as  the  wind  held  where  it  was,  and  he  was  disposed  to  make 
sail,  and  push  the  examination  of  the  channel,  as  far  as  cir- 
cumstances would  allow.  Captain  Williams  had  a  weak- 
ness on  this  point,  that  was  amiable  and  respectable  perhaps, 
but  which  hardly  comported  with  the  objects  and  prudence 
of  a  trading  shipmaster.  We  were  not  surprised,  therefore, 
at  hearing  his  suggestion  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  danger  curi- 


1 62  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

osity  added  its  impulses  to  our  other  motives  of  acquies- 
cing. We  could  not  get  back  as  the  wind  then  was,  and 
we  were  disposed  to  move  forward.  As  for  the  dangers  of 
the  navigation,  they  seemed  to  be  lessening  as  we  ad- 
vanced, fewer  islands  appearing  ahead,  and  the  passage  it- 
self grew  wider.  Our  course,  however,  was  more  to  the 
southward,  bringing  the  ship  close  up  by  the  wind  once 
more. 

The  morning  promised  to  be  lighter  than  we  had  found 
the  weather  for  several  days,  and  we  even  experienced 
some  benefit  from  the  moon.  The  wind,  too,  began  to 
back  round  to  the  eastward  again,  as  we  approached  the 
dawn  ;  and  we  got  the  three  topsails,  close-reefed,  the  fore- 
course,  and  a  new  fore-topmast  staysail,  on  the  ship.  At 
length  day  appeared,  and  the  sun  was  actually  seen  strug- 
gling among  dark  masses  of  wild-looking,  driving  clouds. 
For  the  first  time  since  we  entered  those  narrow  waters, 
we  now  got  a  good  look  around  us.  The  land  could  be 
seen  in  all  directions. 

The  passage  in  which  we  found  the  Crisis,  at  sunrise  on 
.the  morning  of  the  second  of  these  adventurous  days,  was 
of  several  leagues  in  width  ;  and  bounded,  especially  on 
the  north,  by  high,  precipitous  mountains,  many  of  which 
were  covered  with  snow. 

The  channel  was  unobstructed  ;  and  not  an  island,  islet, 
or  rock,  was  visible.  .  No  impediment  to  our  proceeding 
offered,  and  we  were  'still  more  encouraged  to  push  on. 
The  course  we  were  steering  was  about  south-southwest, 
and  the  captain  predicted  we  should  come  out  into  the 
ocean  to  the  westward  of  the  Straits  of  Le  Maire,  and 
somewhere  near  the  cape  itself.  We  should  unquestion- 
ably make  a  great  discovery !  The  wind  continued  to  back 
round,  and  soon  got  to  be  abaft  the  beam.  We  now  shook 
our  reefs  out,  one  after  another,  and  we  had  whole  topsails 
on  the  vessel  by  nine  o'clock.  This  was  carrying  hard,  it 
must  be  owned  ;•  but  the  skipper  was  determined  to  make 
hay  while  the  sun  shone.  There  were  a  few  hours,  when 
I  think  the  ship  went  fifteen  knots  by  the  land,  being  so 
much  favored  by  the  current.  Little 'did  we  know  the  dif- 
ficulties toward  which  we  were  rushing! 

Quite  early  in  the  day  land  appeared  ahead,  and  Marble 
began  to  predict  that  our  rope  was  nearly  run  out.  We 
were  coming  to  the  bottom  of  a  deep  bay."  Captain  Will- 
iams thought  differently  ;  and  when  he  discovered  a  narrow 
passage  between  two  promontories,  he  triumphantly  pre- 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  163 

dieted  our  near  approach  to  the  cape.  He  had  seen  some 
such  shape  to  the  mountains  inland,  in  doubling  the  Horn, 
and  the  hill-tops  looked  like  old  acquaintances.  Unfort- 
unately, we  could  not  see  the  sun  at  meridian,  and  got  no 
observation.  For  several  hours  we  ran  southwesterly,  in 
a  passage  of  no  great  width  ;  when  we  came  to  a  sudden 
bend  in  our  course,  which  led  us  away  to  the  northwest 
Here  we  still  had  the  tide  with  us,  and  we  then  all  felt 
certain  that  we  had  reached  a  point  where  the  ebb  must 
flow  in  a  direction  contrary  to  that  in  which  we  had  found 
it  in  the  other  parts  of  the  passage.  It  followed,  that  we 
were  now  half  way  through  to  the  ocean,  though  the  course 
we  were  steering  predicted  a  sinuous  channel.  We  were 
certainly  not  going  now  toward  Cape  Horn. 

Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  and  doubts  which  beset 
us,  Captain  Williams  packed  on  the  ship,  determined  to 
get  ahead  as  fast  as  he  could,  while  there  was  light.  It  no 
longer  blew  a  gale,  and  the  wind  was  hauling  more  to  the 
southward  again.  It  soon  got  to  be  right  aft,  and  before 
sunset  it  had  a  little  westing  in  it.  Fortunately,  it  moder- 
ated, and  we  set  our  main-sail  and  topgallant-sails.  We 
had  carried  a  lower  and  topmast  studding-sails  nearly  all 
day.  The  worst  feature  in  our  situation,  now,  was  the 
vast  number  of  islands,  or  islets,  we  met.  The  shore  on 
each  side  was  mountainous  and  rude,  and  deep  indenta- 
tions were  constantly  tempting  us  to  turn  aside.  But, 
rightly  judging  that  the  set  of  the  tide  was  a  fair  index  to 
the  true  course,  the  captain  stood  on. 

The  night  that  followed  was  one  of  the  most  anxious  I 
ever  passed.  We  were  tempted  to  anchor  a  dozen  times, 
in  some  of  the  different  bays,  of  which  we  passed  twenty  ; 
but  could  not  make  up  our  minds  to  risk  another  cable. 
We  met  the  flood  a  little  after  sunset,  and  got  rid  of  it  be- 
fore morning.  But  the  wind  kept  hauling,  and  at  last  it 
brought  us  fairly  on  a  taut  bowline  ;  under  topgallant-sails, 
however.  We  had  come  too  far  to  recede,  or  now  would 
have  been  the  time  to  turn  round,  and  retrace  our  steps. 
But  we  hoped  every  moment  to  reach  some  inclination 
south,  again,  that  would  carry  us  into  the  open  sea.*  We 
ran  a  vast  many  chances  of  shipwreck,  passing  frightfully 
near  several  reefs  ;  but  the  same  good  Providence  which 
had  so  far  protected  us,  carried  us  clear.  Never  was  I  so 
rejoiced  as  when  I  saw  day  returning. 

We  had  the  young  ebb,  and  a  scant  wind,  when  the  sun 
rose  next  day.  It  was  a  brilliant  morning,  however,  and 


1 64  AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORE. 

everybody  predicted  an  observation  at  noon.  The  channel 
was  full  of  islands,  still,  and  other  dangers  were  not  want- 
ing ;  but,  as  we  could  see  our  way,  we  got  through  them 
all  safely.  At  length  our  course  became  embarrassed,  so 
many  large  islands,  with  passages  between  them,  offering 
on  different  sides.  One  headland,  however,  lay  before  us  ; 
and,  the  ship  promising  to  weather  it,  we  held  on  our  way. 
It  was  just  ten  o'clock  as  we  approached  this  cape,  and 
we  found  a  passage  westward  that  actually  led  into  the 
ocean  !  All  hands  gave  three  cheers  as  we  became  certain 
of  this  fact,  the  ship  tacking  as  soon  as  far  enough  ahead, 
and  setting  seaward  famously  with  the  tide. 

Captain  Williams  now  told  us  to  get  our  quadrants,  for 
the  heavens  were  cloudless,  and  we  should  have  a  horizon 
in  time  for  the  sun.  He  was  anxious  to  get  the  latitude 
of  our  discovery.  Sure  enough,  it  so  fell  out,  and  we  pre- 
pared to  observe  ;  some  predicting  one  parallel,  some  an- 
other. As  for  the  skipper  himself,  he  said  he  thought  we 
were  still  to  the  eastward  of  the  cape  ;  but  he  felt  confi- 
dent that  we  had  come  out  to  the  westward  of  Le  Maire. 
Marble  was  silent  ;  but  he  had  observed,  and  made  his  cal- 
culations, before  either  of  the  others  had  commenced  the 
last.  I  saw  him  scratch  his  head,  and  go  to  the  chart 
which  lay  on  the  companion-way.  Then  I  heard  him 
shout — 

"  In  the  Pacific,  by  St.  Kennebunk  !  " — he  always  swore 
by  this  pious  individual  when  excited.  "  We  have  come 
through  the  Straits  of  Magellan  without  knowing  it  !  " 


CHAPTER   XII. 

"  Sound  trumpets,  ho  ! — weigh  anchor — loosen  sail — 
The  seaward-flying  banners  chide  delay  ; 
As  if  'twere  heaven  that  breathes  this  kindly  gale, 
Our  life-bark  beneath  it  speeds  away." — PINKNEY. 

THE  stout  ship  Crisis  had,  like  certain  persons,  done  a 
£..ood  thing  purely  by  chance.  Had  her  exploit  happened 
in  the  year  1519,  instead  of  that  of  1800,  the  renowned 
passage  we  had  just  escaped  from  would  have  been  called 
the  Crisis  Straits,  a  better  name  than  the  mongrel  appella* 
tion  it  now  bears,  which  is  neither  English  nor  Portuguese. 
The  ship  had  been  lost,  like  a  man  in  the  woods,  and  came 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  165 

nearer  home  than  those  in  her  could  have  at  all  expected 
The  "  bloody  currents  "  had  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  mis- 
take, though  this  time  they  did  good,  instead  of  harm. 
Any  one  who  has  been  thoroughly  lost  on  a  heath,  or  in  a 
forest,  or  even  in  a  town,  can  comprehend  how  the  head 
gets  turned  on  such  occasions,  and  will  understand  the 
manner  in  which  we  had  mystified  ourselves. 

I  shall  remember  the  feelings  of  delight  with  which  1 
looked  around  me,  as  the  ship,  passed  out  into  the  open 
ocean,  to  my  dying  day.  There  lay  the  vast  Pacific,  its 
long,  regular  waves  rolling  in  toward  the  coast,  in  moun- 
tain-like ridges,  it  is  true,  but  under  a  radiant  sun,  and  in 
a  bright  atmosphere.  Everybody  was  cheered  by  the  view, 
and  never  did  order  sound  more  pleasant  in  my  ears,  than 
when  the  captain  called  out  in  a  cheerful  voice  "  to  man 
the  weather-braces."  This  command  was  given  the  instant 
it  was  prudent  ;  and  the  ship  went  foaming  past  the  last 
cape,  with  the  speed  of  a  courser.  Studding-sails  were 
then  set,  and,  when  the  sun  was  dipping,  we  had  a  good 
offing,  were  driving  to  the  northward  under  everything  we 
could  carry,  and  had  a  fair  prospect  of  an  excellent  run 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  and  its  stormy 
seas. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  on  our  passage  along  the 
western  coast  of  South  America.  A  voyage  to  the  Pacific 
was  a  very  different  thing  in  the  year  1800,  however,  from 
what  it  is  to-day.  The  power  of  Spain  was  then  complete- 
ly in  the  ascendant,  intercourse  with  any  nation  but  the 
mother  country  being  strictly  prohibited.  It  is  true,  a 
species  of  commerce,  that  was  called  the  "  forced  trade  on 
the  Spanish  Main,"  existed  under  that  code  of  elastic 
morals  which  adapts  the  maxim  of  "your  purse  or  your 
life  "  to  modern  diplomacy  as  well  as  to  the  habits  of  the 
highwayman.  According  to  divers  masters  in  the  art  of 
ethics  now  flourishing  among  ourselves,  more  especially  in 
the  atmosphere  of  the  journals  of  the  commercial  commu- 
nities, the  people'that  '•'can  trade  and  wont  trade  must  be 
made  to.  trade."  At  the  commencement  of  the  century, 
your  mercantile  moralists  were  far  less  manly  in  the  avow- 
al of  their  sentiments,  though  their  practices  were  in  no 
degree  wanting  in  the  spirit  of  our  more  modern  theories. 
Ships  were  fitted  out,  armed,  and  navigated,  on  this  just 
principle,  quite  as  confidently  and  successfully  as  if  the 
tongue  had  declared  all  that  the  head  had  conceived. 

Guarda-Costas  were  the  arguments  used,  on  the  other 


166  AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORT':. 

side  of  this  knotty  question,  by  the  authorities  of  Spain, 
and  a  very  insufficient  argument,  on  the  whole,  did  thej 
prove  to  be.  It  is  an  old  saying  that  vice  is  twice  as  active 
as  virtue  ;  the  last  sleeping,  while  the  former  is  hard  at 
work.  If  this  be  true  of  things  in  general,  it  is  thrice  true 
as  regards  smugglers  and  custom-house  officers.  Owing 
to  this  circumstance,  and  sundry  other  causes,  it  is  certain 
that  English  and  American  vessels  found  the  means  of 
plundering  the  inhabitants  of  South  America,  at  the  period 
of  which  I  am  writing,  without  having  recourse  to  the  no 
longer  reputable  violence  of  Dampicr,  Wood,  Rogers,  or 
Drake.  As  I  feel  bound  to  deal  honestly  with  the  reader, 
whatever  I  may  have  done  by  the  Spanish  laws,  I  shall 
own  that  we  made  one  or  two  calls  as  we  proceeded  north, 
shoving  ashore  certain  articles  purchased  in  London,  and 
taking  on  board  dollars  in  return  for  bur  civility.  I  do 
not  know  whether  I  am  bound,  or  not,  to  apologize  for 
my  own  agency  in  these  irregular  transactions — regular 
would  be  quite  as  apposite  a  word — for,  had  I  been  dis- 
posed to  murmur,  it  \vould  have  clone  my  morals  no  good, 
nor  the  smuggling  any  harm.  Captain  Williams  was  a 
silent  man,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  ascertain  precisely  what 
he  thought  on  the  subject  of  smuggling  ;  but,  in  the  way  of 
practice,  I  never  saw  any  reason  to  doubt  that  he  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  Free  Trade.  As  for  Mar- 
ble, he  put  me  in  mind  of  a  certain  renowned  editor  of  a 
well-known- New  York  journ.nl,  who  evidently  thinks  that 
all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  the 
void  above,  and  the  caverns  beneath  us,  the  universe,  in 
short,  was  created  to  furnish  materials  for  newspaper  par- 
agraphs ;  the  worthy  mate  just  as  confidently  believing 
that  coasts,  bays,  inlets,  roadsteads,  and  havens  were  all 
intended  by  nature  as  means  to  run  goods  ashore  wher- 
.ever  the  duties  or  prohibitions  rendered  it  inconvenient 
to  land  them  in  the  more  legal  mode.  Smuggling,  in  his 
view  of  the  matter,  was  rather  more  creditable  than  the 
regular  commerce,  since  it  required  greater  cleverness. 

I  shall  not  dwell  on  the  movements  of  the  Crisis  for  the 
five  months  that  succeeded  her  escape  from  the  Straits  of 
Magellan.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  she  anchored  at  as  many 
different  points  on  the  coast ;  that  all  which  came  up  the 
main-hatch,  went  ashore  ;  and  all  that  came  over  the  bul- 
warks, was  passed  down  into  the  run.  We  were  chased 
by  guarda-costas  seven  times,  escaping  from  them  on  each" 
occasion,  with  ease  ;  though  we  had  three  little  running 


•AFLOAT  AATD  ASHORE.  167 

fights.  I  observed  that  Captain  Williams  was  desirous  of 
engaging  these  emissaries  of  the  law  as  easily  as  possible, 
ordering  us  to  fire  altogether  at  their  spars.  I  have  since 
thought  that  this  moderation  proceeded  from  a  species  of 
principle  that  is  common  enough — a  certain  half-way  code 
of  right  and  wrong — which  encouraged  him  to  smuggle, 
but  which  caused  him  to  shrink  from  taking  human  life. 
Your  half-way  rogues  are  the  bane  of  honesty. 

After  quitting  the  Spanish  coast,  altogether,  we  pro- 
ceeded north,  with  the  laudable  intention  of  converting 
certain  quantities  of  glass  beads,  inferior  jack-knives,  fry- 
ing-pans, and  other  homely  articles  of  the  same  nature, 
into  valuable  furs.  In  a  word,  we  shaped  our  course  for 
that  district  which  bids  fair  to  set  the  mother  and  daughter 
by  the  ears,  one  of  these  days,  unless  it  shall  happen  to 
be  disposed  of  a  la  Texas,  or,  what  is  almost  as  bad,  a  la 
Maine,  ere  long.  At  that  time  the  whole  northwest  coast 
was  unoccupied  by  white  men,  and  I  felt  no  scruples  about 
trading  with  the  natives  who  presented  themselves  with 
their  skins  as  soon  as  we  had  anchored,  believing  that  they 
had  the  best  right  to  the  country  and  its  products.  We 
passed  months  in  this  traffic,  getting,  at  every  point  where 
we  stopped,  something  to  pay  us  for  our  trouble. 

We  went  as  far  north  as  53°,  and  that  is  pretty  much  all 
I  ever  knew  of  our  last  position.  At  the  time,  I  thought 
we  had  anchored  in  a  bay  on  the  mainland,  but  I  have 
since  been  inclined  to  think  it  was  in  one  of  the  many 
islands  that  line  that  broken  coast.  We  got  a  very  secure 
berth,  having  been  led  to  it  by  a  native  pilot  who  boarded 
us  several  leagues  at  sea,  and  who  knew  enough  English 
to  persuade  our  captain  that  he  could  take  us  to  a  point 
where  sea-otter  skins  might  be  had  for  the  asking.  N6r 
did  the  man  deceive  us,  though  a  more  unpromising-look- 
ing guide  never  had  charge  of  smuggling  Christians.  He 
carried  us  into  a  very  small  bay,  where  we  found  plenty  of 
water,  capital  holding-ground,  and  a  basin  as  smooth  as  a 
dock.  But  One  wind — that  which  blew  from  the  north- 
west— could  make  any  impression  on  it,  and  the  effects  of 
even  that  were  much  broken  by  a  small  island  that  lay 
abreast  of  the  entrance  ;  leaving  good  passages,  on  each 
side  of  it,  out  to  sea.  The  basin  itself  was  rather  small,  it 
is  true,  but  it  did  well  enough  for  a  single  ship.  Its  dU 
ameter  may  have  been  three  hundred  yards,  and  I  never 
saw  a  sheet  of  natural  water  that  was  so  near  a  circle.  Into 
a  place  like  this,  the  reader  will  imagine?  we  c]id  not  yenf/ 


1 68  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ure  without  taking  the  proper  precautions.  Marble  was 
sent  in  first,  to  reconnoitre  and  sound,  and  it  was  on  his 
report  that  Captain  Williams  ventured  to  take  the  ship  in. 

At  that  time,  ships  on  the  northwest  coast  had  to  use 
the  greatest  precautions  against  the  treachery  and  violence 
of  the  natives.  This  rendered  the  size  of  our  haven  the 
subject  of  distrust ;  for,  lying  in  the  middle  of  it,  where 
we  moored,  we  were  barely  an  arrow's  flight  from  the 
shore,  in  every  direction  but  that  which  led  to  the  narrow 
entrance.  It  was  a  most  secure  anchorage,  as  against  the 
dangers  of  the  sea,  but  a  most  insecure  one  as  against  the 
dangers  of  the  savages.  This  we  all  felt  as  soon  as  our 
anchors  were  down  ;  but,  intending  to  remain  only  while 
we  bartered  for  the  skins  which  we  had  been  told  were 
ready  for  the  first  ship  that  should  offer,  we  trusted  to  vigi- 
lance as  our  safeguard  in  the  interval. 

I  never  could  master  the  uncouth  sounds  of  the  still 
more  uncouth  savages  of  that  distant  region.  The  fellow 
who  carried  us  in  had  a  name  of  his  own,  doubtless,  but  it 
was  not  to  be  pronounced  by  a  Christian  tongue,  and  he 
got  the  sobriquet  of  the  Dipper  from  us,  owing  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  ducked  at  the  report  of  our  muskets,  which 
had  been  discharged  by  Marble  merely  with  the  intention 
to  renew  the  cartridges.  We  had  hardly  got  into  the  little 
basin,  before  the  Dipper  left  us,  returning  in  an  hour, 
however,  with  a  canoe  loaded  to  the  water's  edge  with 
beautiful  skins,  and  accompanied  by  three  savages  as  wild- 
looking,  seemingly  as  fierce,  and  certainly  as  avaricious  as 
he  was  himself.  These  auxiliaries,  through  various  little 
circumstances,  were  known  among  us  that  same  afternoon, 
t}y  the  several  appellations  of  Smudge,  Tin-pot,  and  Slit- 
nose.  These  were  not  heroic  names,  of  a  certainty,  but 
their  owners  had  as  little  of  the  heroic  in  their  appearance 
as  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  man  in  the  savage  state.  I 
cannot  tell  the  designation  of  the  tribes  to  which  these 
four  worthies  belonged,  nor  do  I  know  any  more  of  their 
history  and  pursuits  than  the  few  facts  which  .came  under 
my  own  immediate  observation.  I  did  ask  some  questions 
of  the  captain,  with  a  view  to  obtain  a  few  ideas  on  this 
subject,  but  all  he  knew  was,  that  these  people  put  a  high 
value  on  blankets,  beads,  gunpowder,  frying-pans,  and  old 
hoops,  and  that  they  set  a  remarkably  low  price  on  sea- 
otter  skins,  as  well  as  on  the  external  coverings  of  sundry 
other  animals.  An  application  to  Mr.  Marble  was  still  less 
successful,  being  met  by  the  pithy  answer  that  he  was  "  no 


AFLOAT  AN&  ASHORE.      .  169 

imturalist,  and  knew  nothing  about  these  critters,  or  any 
wild  beasts,  in  general."  Degraded  as  the  men  certainly 
were,  however,  we  thought  them  quite  good  enough  to 
be  anxious  to  trade  with  them.  Commerce,  like  mis- 
ery, sometimes  makes  a  man  acquainted  with  strange  bed' 
fellows. 

I  had  often  seen  our  own  Indians  after  they  had  become 
degraded  by  their  intercourse  with  the  whites  and  the  use 
of  rum,  but  never  had  I  beheld  any  beings  so  low  in  the 
scale  of  the  human  race,  as  the  northwestern  savages  ap- 
peared to  be.  They  seemed  to  be  the  Hottentots  of  our 
own  continent.  Still  they  were  not  altogether  without  the 
means  of  commanding  our  respect.  As  physical  men  they 
were  both  active  and  strong,  and  there  were  gleams  of 
ferocity  about  them,  that  all  their  avarice  and  art  could 
not  conceal.  I  could  not  discover  in  their  usages,  dress, 
or  deportment,  a  single  trace,  of  that  chivalrous  honor 
which  forms  so  great  a  relief  to  the  well-established  cruelty 
of  the  warriors  of  our  own  part  of  the  continent.  Then, 
these  sea-otter  dealers  had  some  knowledge  of  the  use  of 
fire-arms,  and  were  too  well  acquainted  with  the  ships  of 
us  civilized  men  to  have  any  superstitious  dread  of  our 
power. 

The  Dipper,  and  his  companions,  sold  us  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  sea-otter  skins  the  very  afternoon  we  an- 
chored. This,  of  itself,  was  thought  to  be  a  sufficient 
reward  for  the  trouble  and  risk  of  coming  into  this  un- 
known basin.  Both  parties  seemed  pleased  with  the  results 
of  the  trading,  and  we  were  given  to  understand  that,  by 
remaining  at  anchor,  we  might  hope  for  six  or  eight  times 
our  present  number  of  skins.  Captain  Williams  was  greatly 
gratified  with  the  success  with  which  he  had  already  met, 
and  having  found  that  all  the  Dipper  had  promised  came 
true,  he  determined  to  remain  a  day  or  two,  in  his  present 
berth,  in  order  to  wait  for  more  bargains.  This  resolution 
was  no  sooner  communicated  to  the  savages  than  they  ex- 
pressed their  delight,  sending  off  Tin-pot  and  Slit-nose 
with  the  intelligence,  while  the  Dipper  and  Smudge  re- 
mained in  the  ship,  apparently  on  terms  of  perfect  good- 
fellowship  with  everybody  on  board.  The  gentry  of  the 
northwest  coast  being  flagrant  thieves,  however,  all  hands 
had  orders  to  keep  a  good  look-out  on  our  two  guests. 
Captain  Williams  expressed  his  intention  to  Hog  them 
soundly,  should  they  be  detected  in  any  of  their  usual 
light-fingered  dexterity. 


1 70  AFLOAT  AND  ASIIORP:. 

Marble  and  myself  observed  that  the  canoe,  in  which  the 
messengers  left  us,  did  not  pull  out  to  sea,  but  that  it 
entered  a  small  stream,  or  creek,  that  communicated  with 
the  head  of  the  bay.  As  there  was  no  duty  on  board,  we 
asked  the  captain's  permission  to  explore  this  spot  ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  to  make  a  more  thorough  examination  of 
our  haven,  generally.  The  request  being  granted,  we  got 
into  the  yawl,  with  four  men,  all  of  us  armed,  and  set  out 
on  our  little  expedition.  Smudge,  a  withered,  gray-headed 
old  Indian,  with  muscles,  however,  that  resembled  whip- 
cord, was  alone  on  deck,  when  this  movement  took  place. 
He  watched  our  proceedings  narrowly,  and,  when  he  saw 
us  descend  into  the  boat,  he  very  coolly  slipped  down  the 
ship's  side,  and  took  his  place  in  the  stern-sheets,  with  as 
much  quiet  dignity  as  if  he  had  been  captain.  Marble  was 
a  good  deal  of  a  ship's  martinet  in  such  matters,  and  he  did 
not  more  than  half  like  the  familiarity  and  impudence  of 
the  procedure. 

"What  say  you,  Miles?"  he  asked,  a  little  sharply; 
"  shall  we  take  this  dried  orang-otang  ashore  \vith  us, 
or  shall  we  try  to  moisten  him  a  little,  by  throwing  him 
overboard  ? " 

"  Let  him  go,  by  all  means,  Mr.  Marble.  I  dare  say  the 
man  wishes  to  be  of  use,  and  he  has  only  a  bad  manner  of 
showing  it." 

"  Of  use  !  He  is  worth  no  more  than  the  carcass  of  a 
whale  that  has  been  stripped  of  its  blubber.  I  say,  Miles, 
there  would  be  no  need  of  the  windlass  to  heave  the  blanket 
off  this  fish  !  " 

This  professional  witticism  put  Marble  in  good  humor 
with  himself,  and  he  permitted  the  fellow  to  remain.  I 
remember  the  thoughts  that  passed  through  my  mind, 
as  the  yawl  pulled  toward  the  creek  on  that  occasion,  as 
well  as  if  it  had  all  occurred  yesterday.  I  sat  looking 
at  the  semi-human  being  who  was  seated  opposite,  won- 
dering at  the  dispensation  of  divine  Providence  which 
could  leave  one  endo\ved  with  a  portion  of  the  in- 
effable nature  of  the  Deity,  in  a  situation  so  degraded. 
I  had  seen  beasts  in  cages  that  appeared  to  me  to  be 
quite  as  intelligent,  and  members  of  the  diversified  family 
of  human  caricatures-,  or  of  the  baboons  and  monkeys,  that 
I  thought  were  quite  as  agreeable  objects  to  the  eye. 
Smudge  seemed  to  be  almost  without  ideas.  In  his  bar- 
gains, he  had  trusted  entirely  to  the  vigilance  of  the 
Dipper,  whom  we  supposed  to  be  some  sort  of  relation  ; 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  171 

and  the  articles  he  received  in  exchange  for  his  skins  failed 
to  arouse  in  his  grim,  vacant  countenance,  the  smallest  signs 
of  pleasure.  Emotion  and  he,  if  they  had  been  acquainted, 
now  appeared  to  be  utter  strangers  to  each  other  ;  nor 
was  this  apathy  in  the  least  like  the  well-known  stoicism 
of  the  American  Indian,  but  had  the  air  of  downright  in- 
sensibility. Yet  this  man  assuredly  had  a  soul,  a  spark  of 
the  never-dying  flame  that  separates  man  from  all  the  other 
beings  of  earth  ! 

The  basin  in  which  the  Crisis  lay  was  entirely  fringed 
with  forest.  The  trees  in  most  places  even  overhung  the 
water,  forming  an  impenetrable  screen  to  everything  in- 
land, at  the  season  when  they  were  in  leaf.  Not  a  sign 
of  a  habitation  of  any  sort  was  visible  ;  and,  as  we  ap- 
proached the  shore,  Marble  remarked  that  the  savages 
coulcl  only  resort  to  the  place  at  the  moments  when  they 
had  induced  a  ship  to  enter,  in  order  to  trade  with 
them. 

"  No,  no  ! "  added  the  mate,  turning  his  head  in  all  di. 
rections,  in  order  to  take  a  complete  survey  of  the  bay, 
"there  are  no  wigwams  or  pappooses  hereabouts.  This 
is  only  a  trading-post  ;  and,  luckily  for  us,  it  is  altogether 
without  custom-house  officers." 

"  Not  without  smugglers,  I  fancy,  Mr.  Marble,  if  con- 
triving to  get  other  people's  property  without  their  knowl- 
edge, can  make  a  smuggler.  I  never  saw  a  more  thorough- 
looking  thief  than  the  chap  we  have  nicknamed  the  Dipper. 
I  believe  he  would  swallow  one  of  our  iron  spoons,  rather 
than  not  get  it!  " 

"Ay,  there's  no  mistake  about  it,  'Master  Mile/  as  Neb 
calls  you.  But  this  fellow  here  ha'sn't  brains  enough  to 
tell  his  own  property  from  that  of  another  man.  I  would 
let  him  into  our  bread-lockers,  without  any  dread  of  his 
knowing  enough  to  eat.  I  never  saw  such  a  vacancy  in  a 
human  form  ;  a  down-east  idiot  would  wind  him  up  in  a 
trade  as  handily  as  a  pedler  sets  his  wooden  clocks  in 
motion." 

Such  was  Marble's  opinion  of  the  sagacity  of  Mr.  Smudge, 
and,  to  own  the  truth,  such,  in  a  great  measure,  was  my 
own.  The  men  laughed  at  the  remarks — seamen  are  a 
little  apt  to  laugh  at  chief  mates'  wit — and  .their  looks 
showed  how  thoroughly  they  coincided  with  us  in  opinion. 
All  this  time  the  boat  had  been  pushing  ahead,  and  it  soon 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  little  creek. 

We  found  the  inlet  deep,  but  narrow  and  winding.  Like 


I72  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  bay  itself,  it  was  fringed  with  trees  and  bushes,  and 
this  in  a  way  to  render  it  difficult  to  get  a  view  of  anything 
on  the  land,  more  especially  as  the  banks  were  ten  or  fif- 
teen feet  in  height.  Under  the  circumstances,  Marble 
proposed  that  we  should  land  on  both  sides  of  the  creek, 
and  follow  its  windings  on  foot,  for  a  short  distance,  in 
order  to  get  a  better  opportunity  to  reconnoitre.  Our  dis- 
positions were  soon  made.  Marble  and  one  of  the  boat's 
crew,  each  armed,  landed  on  one  side  of  the  inlet,  while 
Neb  and  myself,  similarly  provided,  went  Ashore  on  the 
other.  The  two  remaining  men  "were  ordered  to  keep 
abreast  of  us  in  the  boat,  in  readiness  to  take  us  on  board 
again,  as  soon  as  required. 

"Leave  that  Mr.  Smudge  in  the  boat,  Miles,"  Marble 
called  out  across  the  creek,  as  I  was  about  to  put  foot  on 
the  ground.  I  made  a  sign  to  that  effect  to  the  savage,  but 
when  I  reached  the  level  ground  on  the  top  of  the  bank,  I 
perceived  the  fellow  was  at  my  elbow.  It  was  so  difficult  to 
make  such  a  creature  understand  one's  wishes  without  the 
aid  of  speech,  that,  after  a  fruitless  effort  or  two  to  send 
him  back  by  means  of  signs,  I  abandoned  the  attempt,  and 
moved  forward  so  as  to  keep  the  whole  party  in  the  desired 
Jine.  Neb  offered  to  catch  the  old  fellow  in  his  arms  and 
to  carry  him  down  to  the  yawl ;  but  I  thought  it  more  pru- 
dent to  avoid  anything  like  violence.  We  proceeded,  there- 
fore, accompanied  by  this  escort. 

There  was  nothing,  however,  to  excite  alarm  or  awaken 
distrust.  We  found  ourselves  in  a  virgin  forest,  with  all 
its  wildness,  dampness,  gloomy  shadows,  dead  and  fallen 
trees,  and  unequal  surface.  On  my  side  of  the  creek  there 
was  not  the  smallest  sign  of  a  footpath,  and  Marble  soon 
called  out  to  say  he  was  equally  without  any  evidences  of 
the  steps  of  man.  I  should  think  we  proceeded  quite  a 
mile  in  this  manner,  certain  that  the  inlet  would  be  a  true 
guide  on  our  return.  At  length  a  call  from  the  boat  let  us 
know  there  was  no  longer  water  enough  to  float  it,  and 
that  it  could  proceed  no  further.  Marble  and  myself  de- 
scended the  banks  at  the  same  moment,  and  were  taken  in, 
intending  to  return  in  the  yawl.  Smudge  glided  back  to 
his  old  place  with  his  former  silence. 

"  I  told  you  to  leave  the  orang-otang  behind,"  Marble 
carelessly  observed,  as  he  took  his  own  seat,  after  assisting 
in  getting  the  boat  round  with  its  head  toward  the  bay.  "  I 
would  rather  have  a  rattlesnake  for  a  pet,  than  such  a 
cub." 


A  f  2.0  AT  AXD  ASHORE.  173 

"  It  is  easier  said  than  clone,  sir.  Master  Smudge  stuck 
to  me  as  close  as  a  leech." 

"  The  fellow  seems  all  the  better  for  his  walk  — I 
never  saw  him  look  half  as  amiable  as  he  does  at  this  mo- 
ment." 

Of  course  this  raised  a  laugh,  and  it  induced  me  to  look 
round.  For  the  first  time  I  could  detect  something  like 
a  human  expression  in  the  countenance  of  Smudge,  who 
seemed  to  experience  some  sensation  a  little  akin  to  satis- 
faction. 

"  I  rather  think  he  had  taken  it  into  his  head  we  were 
about  to  desert  the  coppers,"  I  remarked,  "  and  fancied 
he  might  lose  his  supper.  Now  he  must  see  we  are  go- 
ing back,  he  probably  fancies  he  will  go  to  bed  on  a  full 
stomach." 

Marble  assented  to  the  probability  of  this  conjecture, 
and  the  conversation  changed.  It  was  matter  of  surprise 
to  us  that  we  had  met  no  traces  of  anything  like  a  resi- 
dence near  the  creek,  not  the  smallest  sign  of  man  having 
been  discovered  by  either.  It  was  reasonable  to  expect 
that  some  traces  of  an  encampment  at  least,  would  have 
been  found.  Everybody  kept  a  vigilant  lookout  at  the 
shore  as  we  descended  the  creek  ;  but,  as  on  the  ascent, 
not  even  a  footprint  was  detected. 

On  reaching  the  bay,  there  being  still  several  hours  of 
daylight,  we  made  its  entire  circuit,  finding  nowhere  any 
proof  of  the  former  presence  of  man.  At  length  Marble 
proposed  pulling  to  the  small  wooded  island,  that  lay  a 
little  without  the  entrance  of  the  haven,  suggesting  that  it 
was  possible  the  savages,  might  have  something  like  an  en- 
campment there,  the  place  being  more  convenient  as  a 
lookout  into  the  offing  than  any  point  within  the  bay 
itself.  In  order  to  do  this  it  was  necessary  to  pass  the  ship, 
and  we  were  hailed  by  the  captain,  who  wished  to  know 
the  result  of  our  examinations.  As  soon  as  he  learned  our 
present  object,  he  told  us  to  come  alongside,  intending  to 
accompany  us  to  the  island  in  person.  On  getting  into  the 
boat,  which  was  small  and  a  little  crowded  by  the  presence 
of  Smudge,  Captain  Williams  made  a  sign  for  that  person- 
age to  quit  the  yawl.  He  might  as  well  have  intimated 
as  much  to  one  of  the  thwarts  !  Laughing  at  the  savage's 
stupidity,  or  obstinacy,  we  scarce  knew  which  to  term  it, 
the  boat  was  shoved  off,  and  we  pulled  through  the  en- 
trance, two  hundred  yards  outside  perhaps,  until  our  keel 
grated  against  the  low  rocks  of  this  islet. 


174  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

There  was  no  difficulty  in  landing ;  and  Neb,  who  pre- 
ceded the  party,  soon  gave  a  shout,  the  proof  that  he  had 
made  some  discovery.  Every  man  among  us  now  looked 
to  his  arms,  expecting  to  meet  an  encampment  of  savages  ; 
but  we  were  disappointed.  All  that  the  negro  had  dis- 
covered were  the  unequivocal  traces  of  a  former  bivouac  ; 
and,  judging  from  a  few  of  the  signs,  that  of  no  very  recent 
occupation.  The  traces  were  extensive,  covering  quite 
half  of  the  interior  of  the  island  ;  leaving  an  extensive 
curtain  of  trees  and  bushes,  however,  so  as  completely  to 
conceal  the  spot  from  any  eyes  without.  Most  of  the  trees 
had  been  burned  down,  as  we  at  first  thought,  in  order  to 
obtain  fuel  ;  but  further  examination  satisfied  us  that  it 
had  been  done  as  much  by  accident  as  by  design. 

At  first  nothing  was  discovered  in  this  encampment, 
which  had  every  appearance  of  not  having  been  extensive- 
ly used  for  years,  though  the  traces  of  numerous  fires,  and 
the  signs  of  footsteps,  and  a  spring  in  the  centre,  indicated 
the  recent  occupation,  of  which  I  have  just  spoken.  A 
little  further  scrutiny,  however,  brought  to  light  certain 
objects  that  we  did  not  note  without  much  wonder  and 
concern.  Marble  made  the  first  discovery.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  seamen  to  mistake  the  object,  which  was  the  head 
of  a  rudder,  containing  the  tiller-hole,  and  which  might 
have  belonged  to  a  vessel  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  or 
tnree'hundred  tons.  This  set  all  hands  of  us  at  work,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  we  found,  scattered  about,  fragments  of 
plank,  top-timbers,  floor-timbers,  and  other  portions  of  a 
ship,  all  more  or  less  burned,  and  stripped  of  every  particle 
of  metal.  Even  the  nails  had  been  drawn  by  means  of 
perseverance  and  labor.  Nothing  was  left  but  the  wood, 
which  proved  to  be  live  oak,  cedar,  and  locust,  the  proofs 
that  the  unfortunate  craft  had  been  a  vessel  of  some  value. 
We  wanted  no  assurance  of  this,  however,  as  none  but  a 
northwest  trader  could  well  have  got  as  high  up  the  coast, 
and  all  vessels  of  that  class  were  of  the  best  description. 
Then  the  locust,  a  wood  unknown  to  the  ship-builders  of 
Europe,  gave  us  the  nearly  certain  assurance  that*  this 
doomed  craft  had  been  a  countryman. 

At  first,  we  were  all  too  much  occupied  with  our  inter- 
esting discovery  to  bethink  us  of  Smudge.  At  length,  I 
turned  to  observe  its  effect  on  the  savage.  He  evidently 
noted  our  proceedings  ;  but  his  feelings,  if  the  creature 
had  any,  were  so  deeply  buried  beneath  the  mask  of  dull- 
ness, as  completely  to  foil  my  penetration.  He  saw  us 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  175 

take  up  fragment  after  fragment,  examine  them,  heard  us 
converse  over  them,  though  in  a  language  he  could  not 
understand,  and  saw  us  throw  them  away,  one  after  an- 
other, with  seemingly  equal  indifference.  At  length,  he 
brought  a  half-burned  billet  to  the  captain,  and  held  it 
before  his  eyes,  as  if  he  began  to  feel  some  interest  in  our 
proceedings.  It  proved  to  be  merely  a  bit  of  ordinary 
wood,  a  fragment  of  one  of  the  beeches  of  the  forest  that 
lay  near  an  extinguished  pile  ;  and  the  act  satisfied  us  all 
the  fellow  did  not  comprehend  the  reason  of  the  interest 
we  betrayed.  He  clearly  knew  nothing  of  the  strange  ves- 
sel. 

In  walking  around  this  deserted  encampment,  the  traces 
of  a  pathway  to  the  shore  were  found.  They  were  too  ob- 
vious to  be  mistaken,  and  led  us  to  the  water  in  the  passage 
opposite  to  that  by  which  the  Crisis  had  been  carried  in  by 
the  Dipper,  and  at  a  point  that  was  not  in  view  from  her 
present  anchorage.  Here  we  found  a  sort  of  landing,  and 
many  of  the  heavier  pieces  of  the  wreck  ;  such  as  it  had 
not  been  thought  necessary  to  haul  up  to  the  fires,  having 
lio  metal  about  them.  Among  other  things  of  this  sort, 
was  a  portion  of  the  keel,  quite  thirty  feet  long,  th~  keel- 
son bolts;  keelson,  and  floor-timbers  all  attached.  This  was 
the  only  instance  in  which  we  discovered  any  metal ;  and 
this  we  found,  only  because  the  fragment  was  too  strong 
and  heavy  to  be  manageable.  We  looked  carefully,  in  all 
directions,  in  the  hope  of  discovering  something  that  might 
give  us  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  disaster  that  had 
evidently  occurred,  but,  for  some  time,  without  success. 
At  length  I  strolled  to  a  little  distance  from  the  landing, 
and  took  a  seat  on  a  flat  stone,  which  had  been  placed  on 
the  living  rock  that  faced  most  of  the  island,  evidently  to 
form  a  resting-place.  My  seat  proved  unsteady,  and  in 
endeavoring  to  adjust  it  more  to  my  mind,  I  removed  the 
stone,  and  discovered  that  it  rested  on  a  common  log-slate. 
This  slate  was  still  covered  with  legible  writing,  and  I  soon 
had  the  whole  party  around  me,  eager,  to  learn  the  con-* 
tents.  The  melancholy  record  was  in  these  precise  words, 
viz. : — 

"The  American  brig  Sea  Otter,  John  Squires,  master, 
coaxed  into  this  bay,  June  9th,  1797,  and  seized  by  savages 
on  the  morning  of  the  nth.  Master,  second  mate,  and 
seven  of  the  people  killed  on  the  spot.  Brig  gutted  first, 
then  hauled  up  htrey  and  burned  to  the  water's  edge  for  the 


176  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

iron.  David  King,  first  mate,  and  six  others,  viz.,  George 
Lunt,  Henry  Webster,  Stephen  Stimpson,  and  John  Har- 
ris, seamen,  Bill  Flint,  cook,  and  Peter  Doolittle,  boy,  still 
living,  but  God  only  knows  what  is  to  be  our  fate.  I  shall 
put  this  slate  beneath  the  stone  I  now  sit  on,  in  the  hope  it 
may  one  day  let  our  friends  learn  what  has  happened." 

We  looked  at  each  other,  astounded.  Both  the  cap- 
tain and  Marble  remembered  to  have  heard  that  a  brig  in 
this  trade,  called  the  Sea  Otter,  was  missing  ;  and  here, 
by  a  communication  that  was  little  short  of  miraculous,  we 
were  let  into  the  secret  of  her  disappearance. 

"  Coaxed  in,"  repeated  the  captain,  running  his  eye  over 
the  writing,  which  had  been  thus  singularly  preserved,  and 
that  in  a  situation  where  one  would  think  it  might  have 
been  discovered  a  thousand  times.  "Yes,  yes — I  now 
begin  to  understand  the  whole  matter.  If  there  were  any 
wind,  gentlemen,  I  would  go  to  sea  this  very  night." 

"That  would  be  hardly  worth  our  while,  Captain  Will- 
iams," Lhe  chief  mate  answered,  "  since  we  are  now  on  our 
guard,  and  I  feel  pretty  certain  that  there  are  no  savages 
in  our  neighborhood.  So  far,  the  Dipper  and  his  friends 
have  traded  with  us  fairly  enough,  and  it  is  likely  they 
have  more  skins  to  dispose  of.  This  chap,  whom  the  people 
have  christened  Smudge,  takes  matters  so  coolly,  that  I 
hardly  think  he  knows  anything  about  the  Sea  Otter, 
which  may  have  been  cut  off  by  another  gang  altogether." 

There  was  good  reason  in  these  remarks,  and  they  had 
their  effect  on  the  captain.  The  latter,  however,  deter- 
mined to  put  Smudge  to  the  proof,  by  showing  him  the 
slate,  and  otherwise  bringing  him  under  such  a  cross- 
examination  as  signs  alone  could  effect.  I  dare  say,  an 
indifferent  spectator  would  have  laughed  at  witnessing 
our  efforts  to  confound  the  Indian.  We  made  grimaces, 
pointed,  exclaimed,  hallooed,  swore,  and  gesticulated  in 
vain.  Smudge  was  as  unmoved  at  it  all,  as  the  fragment 
'of  keel  to  which  he  was  confronted.  The  fellow  either  did 
not,  or  would  not  understand  us.  His  stupidity  defied  our 
tests  ;  and  Marble  gave  the  matter  up  in  despair,  declaring 
that  "the  beast  knows  nothing  of  anything,  much  less  of 
the  Sea  Otter."  As  for  the  slate,  he  did  not  seem  to  have 
the  smallest  notion  what  such  a  thing  meant. 

We  returned  to  the  ship,  carrying  with  us  the  slate,  and 
the  report  of  our  discoveries.  All  hands  were  called,  and 
the  captain  made  us  a  speech.  It  was  sufficiently  to  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  177 

point,  though  it  was  not  in  the  least  of  the  "  God-like  " 
character.  We  were  told  how  ships  were  lost  by  the  care 
lessness  of  their  crews  ;  reminded  we  were  on  the  north- 
west coast,  where  a  vessel  with  a  few  boxes  of  beads  and 
bales  of  blankets,  to  say  nothing  of  her  gunpowder,  fire- 
arms, and  metals,  was  as  valuable,  as  a  vessel  laden  with 
gold  dust  would  be  in  one  of  our  own  ports.  Vigilance, 
while  on  watch,  and  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  vessel, 
in  the  event  of  an  alarm,  were  the  principal  things  dwelt 
on.  By  observing  these  two  great  requisites,  we  should 
all  be  safe  enough  ;  whereas,  by  disregarding  them,  we 
should  probably  share  the  fate  of  the  people  of  the  brig, 
of  which  we  had  just  discovered  some  of  the  remains. 

I  will  confess  I  passed  an  uncomfortable  night.  An 
unknown  enemy  is  always  a  formidable  enemy  ;  and  I 
would  rather  have  fought  three  guarda-costas  at  once,  than 
lie  where  we  did,  in  a  bay  as  smooth  as  a  looking-glass, 
surrounded  by  forests  as  silent  as  a  desert,  and  in  a  well- 
armed  ship,  that  was  prepared  at  all  points  to  meet  her 
foes,  even  to  her  boarding-nettings. 

Nothing  came  of  it  all.  The  Dipper  and  Smudge  eat 
their  supper  with  the  appetites  of  injured  innocence,  and 
slept  like  tops.  If  guilty,  we  all  agreed  that  they  must  be 
utterly  destitute  of  consciences.  As  for  ourselves,  we  were 
on  the  alert  until  near  morning,  the  very  moment  when 
the  danger  would  probably  be  the  greatest,  provided  there 
were  any  at  all  ;  and  then  \veariness  overcame  all  who 
were  not  on  the  lookout  and  some  who  were.  Still,  noth- 
ing happened.  The  sun  returned  to  us  in  due  season, 
gilding  the  tree-tops  with  its  beams  ;  our  little  bay  began 
to  bask  in  its  glory,  and  with  the  cheerfulness  that  usually 
accompanies  such  a  scene,  vanished  most  of  our  appre- 
hensions for  the  moment.  A  night  of  reflection  had  quieted 
our  fears,  and  we  all  woke  up  next  morning,  as  indifferent 
to  the  fate  of  the  Sea  Otter  as  was  at  all  decent. 

12 


178  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

**  The  monarch  mind — the  mystery  of  commanding, 
The  godlike  power — the  art  Napoleon, 
Of  winning,  fettering,  moulding,  wielding,  banding 
The  hearts  of  millions,  till  they  move  as  one  ; 
Thou  hast  it." — HALLECK — Red  Jacket. 

SMUDGE  and  the  Dipper  behaved  admirably  all  next  day. 
Beef,  pork,  and  bread — those  great  desiderata  of  life,  which 
the  European  is  apt  to  say  form  the  primum  mobile  of 
American  existence — seemed  to  engross  their  thoughts*; 
and  when  they  were  not  eating,  they  were  busy  with  sleep. 
At  length  we  grew  ashamed  of  watching  such  mere  ani- 
mals, and  turned  our  thoughts  to  other  subjects.  We  had 
understood  t»he  Dipper  that  eight  and-forty  hours  must 
elapse  before  we  might  expect  to  see  any  more  skins  ;  and 
Captain  Williams,  passing  from  alarm  to  extreme  security, 
determined  to  profit  by  a  lovely  day,  and  send  down  or 
rather  strip,  all  three  of  the  topmasts,  and  pay  some  neces- 
sary attention  to  their  rigging.  At  nine  o'clock,  accord- 
ingly, the  hands  were  turned-to,  and  before  noon  the  ship 
was  pretty  thoroughly  en  deshabille.  We  sent  as  little  down 
as  possible,  keeping  even  the  topsail-yards  aloft,  though 
without  their  lifts  or  braces,  steadying  them  by  guys  ;  but 
the  topmasts  were  lowered  as  far  as  was  found  possible, 
without  absolutely  placing  the  lower  yards  on  the  ham- 
mock-cloths. In  a  word,  we  put  the  ship  in  a  most  un- 
manageable position,  without  absolutely  littering  our  decks. 
The  security  of  the  haven,  and  the  extreme  beauty  of  the 
weather,  emboldened  the  captain  to  do  this  ;  apprehension 
of  every  sort  appearing  to  have  quite  taken  leave  of  him. 

The  work  proceeded  merrily.  We  had  not  only  a  strong 
crew,  but  we  had  a  good  crew  ;  and  our  Philadelphians 
were  in  their  element  the  moment  there  was  a  question  of 
the  rigging.  By  sunset  the  chafes  were  examined,  and 
parcelled,  and  served  anew  ;  and  the  topmast  rigging  was 
all  got  up  and  put  over  the  mast-heads  again,  and  every- 
thing was  ready  to  sway  upon  in  the  morning.  But  an 
uncommonly  active  day  required  a  good  night's  rest ;  and 
the  people  were  all  ordered  to  turn  in,  as  soon  as  they  had 
supped.  The  ship  was  to  be  left  to  the  vigilance  of  the 
captain  and  the  three  mates  during  the  night. 

The  anchor-watch  was  set  at  eight,  and  ran  from  two 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  179 

hours  to  two  hours.  My  turn  commenced  at  midnight, 
and  was  to  last  until  two  ;  Marble  succeeding  me  from,  two 
until  four,  when  all  hands  were  to  be  called  to  get  our 
sticks  aloft.  When  I  turned  out  at  twelve,  I  found  the 
third  mate  conversing,  as  well  as  he  could,  with  the  Dipper: 
who,  with  Smudge,  having  slept  so  much  of  the  day,  ap- 
peared disposed  to  pass  the  night  in  smoking. 

"  How  long  have  these  fellows  been  on  deck  ? "  I  asked 
of  the  third  mate,  as  he  was  about  to  go  below. 

"  All  my  watch  ;  I  found  them  with  the  captain,  who 
passed  them  over  to  me  for  company.  If  that  chap,  the 
Dipper,  only  knew  anything  of  a  human  language,  he  would 
be  something  of  society;  but  I  am  as  tired  of  making  signs 
to  him  as  I  ever  was  with  a  hard  day's  work." 

I  was  armed,  and  felt  ashamed  of  manifesting  fear  of  an 
unarmed  man.  Then  the  two  savages  gave  no  additional 
cause  of  distrust;  the  Dipper  having  taken  a  seat  on  the 
windlass,  where  he  was  smoking  his  pipe  with  an  appear- 
ance of  philosophy  that  would  have  done  credit  to  the 
gravest-looking  baboon.  As  for  Smudge,  he  did  not  ap- 
pear to  be  sufficiently  intellectual  to  smoke — an  occupa- 
tion that  has  at  least  the  merit  of  affecting  the  air  of  wis- 
dom and  reflection.  I  never  could  discover  whether  your 
great  smokers  were  actually  wiser  than  the  rest  of  the  race, 
or  not;  but,  it  will  be  admitted,  they  occasionally 'seem  to 
be  so.  It  was  a  pity  Smudge  did  not  have  recourse  to  the 
practice,  as  it  might  have  given  the  fellow  an  appearance 
of  sometimes  cogitating.  As  it  was,  while  his  companion 
was'  enjoying  his  pipe  at  the  windlass,  he  kept  strolling 
about  the  deck,  much  as  a  pig  would  have  wandered  in 
the  same  place,  and  seemingly  with  the  same  object. 

I  took  charge  of  the  decks  with  a  very  lively  sense  of 
the  peculiarity  of  our  situation.  The  security  that  pre- 
vailed on  board  struck  me  as  unnatural ;  and  yet  I  could 
detect  no  particular  reason  for  immediate  alarm.  I  might 
be  thrown  overboard  or  murdered  by  the  two  savages  on 
deck,  it  was  very  true  ;  but  of  what  use  would  it  be  to  de- 
stroy me,  since  they  could  not  hope  to  destroy  all  the  rest 
on  board  without  being  discovered.  The  night  was  star -lit, 
and  there  was  little  chance  of  a  canoe's  approaching  the 
ship  without  my  seeing  it ;  a  circumstance  that,  of  itself, 
in  a  great  measure,  removed  the  danger.  I  passed  the  first 
quarter  of  an  hour  in  reflecting  on  these  things  ;  and  then, 
as  use  accustomed  me  to  my  situation,  I  began  to  think 
less  of  them  and  to  revert  to  other  subjects. 


i8o  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Clawbonny,  Grace,  Lucy,  and  Mr.  Hardinge,  often  rose 
before  my  mind's  eye,  in  those  distant  seas.  It  was  seldom  I 
passed  a  tranquil  watch  at  night  without  revisiting  the 
scenes  of  my  boyhood,  and  wandering  through  my  own 
fields  accompanied  by  my  beloved  sister  and  her  quite  as 
well  beloved  friend.  How  many  hours  of  happiness  had  I 
thus  passed  on  the  trackless  wastes  of  the  Pacific  and  the 
Atlantic,  and  with  how  much  fidelity  did  memory  recall 
the  peculiar  graces,  whether  of  body  or  mind,  of  each  of 
the  dear  girls  in  particular.  Since  my  recent  experience 
in  London,  Emily. Merton  would  occasionally  adorn  the 
picture,  with  her  more  cultivated  discourse  and  more  fin- 
ished manner ;  and  yet  I  do  not  remember  to  have  ever 
given  her  more  than  a  third  place  on  the  scale  of  my  ad- 
miration. 

On  the  present  occasion  I  was  soon  lost  in  ruminations 
on  the  past,  and  in  imagining  events  for  the  future.  I  was 
not  particularly  expert  at  building  castles  in  the  air  ;  but 
what  youth  of  twenty,  or  maiden  "of  sixteen,  never  reared 
some  sort  of  a  fabric  of  this  nature  ?  These  fanciful  struct- 
ures are  the  results  of  inexperience  building  with  the  ma- 
terials of  hope.  In  my  most  imaginative  moments,  I  could 
even  fancy  Rupert  an  industrious,  staid  lawyer,  adorning 
his  profession,  and  rendering  both  Lucy  and  Grace  happy. 
Beyond  this  it  was  not  easy  for  the  human  faculties  to 
conceive. 

Lucy  sung  sweetly.  At  times  her  songs  fairly  haunted 
me,  and  for  hours  I  could  think  of  nothing  but  their  tender 
sentiment  and  their  touching  melody.  I  was  no  nightin- 
gale myself,  though  I  sometimes  endeavored  to  hum  some 
one  of  the  airs  that  floated  in  my  recollection,  like  beauti- 
ful visions  of  the  past.  This  night,  in  particular,  my 
thoughts  recurred  to  one  of  those  songs  that  told  of  affec- 
tion and  home  ;  and  I  stood  for  several  minutes  leaning 
over  the  railing  forward,  humming  the  tune  to  myself, 
while  I  endeavored  to  recall  not  only  the  words  but  the 
sweet  voice  that  was  wont  to  give  them  so  much  thrilling 
pathos.  I  did  this  sometimes  at  Clawbonny  ;  and  time 
and  again  had  Lucy  placed  her  soft  little  hand  on  my 
mouth,  as  she  would  laughingly  say,  "Miles,  Miles,  do 
not  spoil  so  pretty  a  song !  You  will  never  succeed  with 
music,  so  work  the  harder  with  your  Latin."  Sometimes 
she  would  steal  behind  me — I  fancied  I  could  hear  her 
breathing  at  my  shoulder,  even  as  I  leaned  over  the  rail 
— and  would  apply  her  hand  slyly  to  my  lips,  in  her  many 


A  FLO  A  7    AND  ASH  ORE.  181 

attempts  of  this  nature.  So  vivid  did  one  of  these  scenes 
become,  that  I  thought  I  really  felt  the  smooth  hand  on 
my  mouth,  and  I  was  actually  about  to  kiss  it,  when  some- 
thing that  was  smooth  enough,  certainly,  but  which  was 
very  far  from  being  soft,  passed  between  my  teeth,  and  I 
felt  it  drawn  so  tight  as  to  completely  prevent  my  calling 
out.  At  the  same  moment  my  arms  were  seized  from 
behind,  and  held  as  if  grasped  by  a  vise.  Turning,  as  well 
as  I  was  able,  I  found  that  rascal  Smudge  had  been  breath- 
ing within  an  inch  of  my  ear,  while  he  passed  the  gag ; 
and  the  Dipper  was  busy  in  lashing  my  arms  together 
behind  my  back.  The  whole  had  been  done  so  suddenly, 
and  yet  with  so  much  skill,  that  I  was  a  helpless  prisoner, 
as  it  might  be,  in  a  single  instant. 

Resistance  being  as  much  out  of  my  power  as  it  was  to 
give  any  alarm,  I  was  soon  secured,  hands  and  feet,  and 
placed  carefully  in  the  waist,  a  little  out  of  the  way ;  -for  I 
probably  owed  my  li.fe  solely  to  the  wish  of  Smudge  to  keep 
me  as  his  slave.  From  that  instant  every  appearance  of 
stupidity  vanished  from  this  fellow's  countenance  and 
manner,  and  he  became  the  moving  spirit  and  I  might  say 
the  soul,  of  all  the  proceedings  of  his  companions.  As  for 
myself  there  I  sat,  lashed  to  a  spar,  utterly  unable  to  help 
myself,  an  unwilling  witness  of  all  that  followed.  I  felt 
the  imminent  danger  of  our  situation,  but  I  think  I  felt 
the  disgrace  of  having  such  a  surprise  occur  in  my  watch, 
more  even  than  the  personal  risks  I  ran. 

In  the  first  place,  I  was  disarmed.  Then  the  Dipper  took 
a  lantern  which  stood  on  the  binnacle,  lighted  it,  and 
showed  it,  for  half  a  minute,  above  the  taffrail.  His  signal 
must  have  been  instantly  answered,  for  he  soon  extinguished 
the  light,  and  moved  about  the  deck,  in  attentive  watchful- 
ness to  seize  any  straggler  who  might  happen  to  come  on 
deck.  Little  fear  of  that,  however,  weariness  chaining  the 
men  to  their  berths  as  closely  as  if  they  had  been  bolted 
down  with  iron.  I  now  expected  to  see  the  fellows  fill  the 
yawl  with  effects,  and  run  away  with  them,  for,  as  yet,  I 
could  not  believe  that  t\vo  men  \vould  have  the  hardihood 
to  attack  such  a  ship's  company  as  ours. 

I  reckoned  without  my  host.  It  might  have  been  ten 
minutes  after  I  was  seized,  that  dark-looking  figures  began 
to  climb  the  ship's  sides  until  more  than  thirty  of  them 
were  on  her  decks.  This  was  done  so  noiselessly,  too,  that 
the  most  vigilant  attention  on  my  part  gave  no  notice  of 
their  approach,  until  they  stood  among  us.  All  these  men 


1 82  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

were  armed  ;  a  few  with  muskets,  others  with  clubs,  and 
some  with  bows  and  arrows.  So  far  as  I  could  discover, 
each  had  some  sort  of  a  knife,  and  a  few  had  hatchets,  or 
tomahawks.  To  my  great  regret,  I  saw  that  three  or  four 
were  immediately  stationed  at  the  companion-way,  aft,  and 
as  many  more  at  the  booby-hatch,  forward.  This  was  effectu- 
ally commanding  the  only  two  passages  by  which  the 
officers  and  men  would  be  likely  to  ascend,  in  the  event  of 
their  attempting  to  come  on  deck.  It  is  true,  the  main- 
hatch,  as  well  as  that  of  the  steerage,  was  used  by  day,  but 
both  had  been  covered  over  night,  and  no  one  would  think 
of  using  either  unless  aware  of  the  danger  that  existed  on 
deck. 

I  suffered  a  good  deal  both  from  the  gag  and  the  ropes 
that  bound  my  limbs,  and  yet  I  hardly  thought  of  the  pain, 
so  intense  was  my  curiosity  as  to  what  was  to  follow.  After 
the  savages  were  all  on  board,  the  first  quarter  of  an  hour 
passed  in  making  their  dispositions.  Smudge — the  stupid, 
inanimate,  senseless  Smudge — acting  as  leader,  and  mani- 
festing not  only  authority,  but  readiness  and  sagacity.  He 
placed  all  his  people  in  ambush,  so  that  one  appearing 
from  below,  would  not  at  once  be  apprised  of  the  change 
that  had  taken. place. on  deck,  and  thus  give  the  savages 
time  to  act.  After  this,  another  quarter  of  an  hour  passed, 
during  which  the  fall  of  a  pin  might  almost  have  been 
heard,  so  profound  was  the  silence.  I  shut  my  eyes  in  this 
terrific  interval,  and  endeavored  to  pray. 

"  On  deck,  here — forward  there  !  "  said  a  voice,  suddenly, 
that  at  once  I  knew  to  be  the  captain's.  I  would  have  given 
the  world  to  be  able  to  answer,  in  order  to  warn  him  of  the 
danger,  but  this  was  impossible.  I  did  groan,  and  I  be- 
lieve the  captain  heard  me  ;  for  he  moved  away  from  the 
cabin  door,  and  called  out,  "Mr.  Wallingford — where  have 
you  got  to,  Mr.  Wallingford  ?  "  He  was  without  his  hat, 
having  come  on  deck  half-clad,  simply  to  ascertain  how 
went  the  night,  and  it  makes  me  shudder,  even  now,  to 
write  about  the  blow  that  fell  on  his  unprotected  skull.  It 
would  have  felled  an  ox,  and  it  crushed  him  on  the  spot. 
The  caution  of  his  murderers  prevented  his  falling,  how- 
ever, for  they  did  not  wish  to  alarm  the  sleepers  below  ; 
though  the  plash  on  the  water  that  followed  could  not  fail 
to  reach  ears  which  took  in  every  sound  with  the  avidity 
of  mine.  Thus  perished  Captain  Williams,  a  mild,  well- 
meaning  man,  an  excellent  seaman,  and  one  whose  prin- 
cipal fault  was  want  of  cautic-n.  I  do  not  think  the  water 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  183 

was  necessary  to  complete  his  fate,  as  nothing  human 
could  have  survived  such  a  blow. 

Smudge  had  been  the  principal  actor  in  this  frightful 
scene  ;  and  as  soon  as  it  was  over,  he  caused  his  men  to 
return  to  their  ambushes.  I  now  thought  the  officers  and 
men  were  to  be  murdered  in  this  manner,  as  one  by  one 
they  appeared  on  deck.  It  would  soon  be  time  for  Marble 
to  turn  out,  though  there  was  the  hope  he  might  not  un- 
less called,  and  I  could  not  do  this  office,  situated  as  I  was. 
But  I  was  mistaken.  Instead  of  enticing  any  men  on  deck, 
the  savages  pursued  a  different  course.  Having  destroyed 
the  captain,  they  closed  the  doors  of  the  companion-way, 
drew  over  the  booby-hatch,  and  adopted  the  safe  expedient 
of  making  all  below  prisoners.  This  was  not  done  alto- 
gether without  noise,  and  the  alarm  was  evidently  given  by 
the  means  taken  to  secure  the  fastenings.  I  heard  a  rush 
at  the  cabin  doors,  which  was  soon  followed  by  one  at  the 
booby-hatch  ;  but  Smudge's  ingenuity  had  been  sufficient 
to  prevent  either  from  being  successful. 

As  soon  as  certain  that  their  prisoners  were  safe,  the 
savages  came  and  loosened  the  ropes  of  my  arm  sufficiently 
to  put  me  more  at  my  ease.  They  removed  those  which 
bound  my  feet,  entirely,  and,  at  the  same  instant,  the  gag 
was  taken  from  my  mouth.  I  was  then  led  to  the  com- 
panion-way, and,  by  a  sign,  given  to  understand  I  might 
communicate  with  my  friends  below.  -In  the  management 
of  all  this,  I  found  that  Smudge,  the  semi-human,  dull, 
animal-seeming  Smudge,  was  at  the  head.  I  also  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  my  life  was  to  be  spared,  for  a  time  at 
least,  and  for  some  purpose  that,  as  yet,  baffled  my  con- 
jectures. I  did  not  call  out  immediately,  but  waited  until 
I  heard  a  movement  on  the  ladder,  when  I  complied  with 
the  orders  of  my  captors  and  masters. 

"  Mr.  Marble,"  !  cried,  loud  enough  to  be  heard  below, 
"  is  that  you  ?  " 

"  Ay,  ay — and  is  that  you,  Master  Miles  ?" 

"This  is  I.  Be  cautious  how  you  act,  Mr.  Marble.  The 
savages  are  in  possession  of  the  upper  deck,  and  I  am  their 
prisoner.  The  people  are  all  below,  with  a  strong  watch 
at  the  fore-scuttle." 

I  heard  a  long,  low  whistle  within  the  companion-way 
doors,  which  it  was  easy  enough  to  interpret  into  an  ex- 
pression of  the  chief  mate's  concern  and  wonder.  For  my- 
self I  saw  no  use  in  attempting  concealment,  but  was  re- 
solved to  speak  out  fully,  even  though  it  might  be  at  the 


184  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

risk  of  betraying  some  of  my  feelings  to  my  captors,  among 
whom  I  thought  it  probable  there  might  be  more  than  one 
who  understood  something  of  English. 

'•We  miss  Captain  Williams  below,  here,"  Marble  re- 
sumed, after  a  short  delay.  "Do  you  know  anything  of 
his  movements  ? " 

"Alas!  Mr.  Marble — poor  Captain  Williams  can  be  of 
no  service  to  any  of  us,  now." 

"What  of  him?"  was  demanded  in  a  clear,  full  voice, 
and  as  quick  as  lightning.  "  Let  me  know  at  once." 

"  He  has  been  killed  by  a  blow  from  a  club,  and  is 
thrown  overboard." 

A  dead  silence  followed,  and  it  lasted  near  a  minute. 

"  Then  it  has  fallen  to  my  duty  to  decide  what  is  to  be 
done  !  "  Marble  at  length  exclaimed.  "  Miles,  are  you  at 
liberty?  Dare  you  say  what  you  think  ? " 

"  I  am  held  here  by  two  of  the  savages,  whose  prisoner  I 
certainly  am.  Still,  Mr.  Marble,  they  encourage  me  to 
speak  ;  but  I  fear  some  among  them  understand  what  we 
say." 

There  -was  another  pause,  during  which  the  mate  was 
doubtless  reflecting  on  the  best  course  to  pursue. 

"  Harkee,  Miles,"  Marble  continued,  "  we  know  each 
other  and  can  tell  what  is  meant  without  blabbing.  How 
old  are  you,  out  there  on  deck  ? " 

u  Quite  thirty  years,  Mr.  Marble — and  good  stout  years 
they  are  too !  " 

"  Well  provided  for,  with  sulphur  and  the  pills,  or  only 
with  Indian  tools,  such  as  our  boys  sometimes  play  witli  ?" 

"  A  little  of  the  first — half  a  dozen,  perhaps  ;  with  some 
of  the  last,  and  a  plenty  of  carvers." 

An  impatient  push  from  the  Dipper  warned  me  to  speak 
plainer,  and  satisfied  me  that  the  fellow  could  compre- 
hend what  passed,  so  long  as  we  confined  ourselves  to 
a  straightforward  discourse.  This  discovery  had  the  ef- 
fect to  put  me  still  more  on  my  guard. 

"  I  understand  you,  Miles,"  Marble  answered,  in  a 
thoughtful  manner  ;  "we  must  be  on  our  guard.  Do  you 
think  they  mean  to  come  below  ?  " 

"I  see  no  signs  at  present;  but  understanding" — erru 
phasizing  the  word — "  is  more  general  than  you  imagine, 
and  no  secrets  must  be  told.  My  advice  is,  '  Millions  for 
defence,  and  not  a  cent  for  tribute.'  " 

As  this  last  expression  was  common  in  the  mouths  of 
the  Americans  of  the  day,  having  been  used  on  the  occasion 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  185 

of  the  existing  war  with  France,  I  felt  confident  it  would 
be  understood.  Marble  made  no  answer,  and  I  was  per- 
mitted to  move  from  the  companion-way,  and  to  take  a 
seat  on  the  hen-coops.  My  situation  was  sufficiently  re- 
markable. It  was  still  dark  ;  but  enough  light  fell  from 
the  stars  to  permit  me  to  see  all  the  swarthy  and  savage 
forms  that  were  gliding  about  the  decks,  and  even  to  ob- 
serve something  of  the  expression  of  the  countenances  of 
those  who,  from  time  to  time,  came  near  to  stare  me  in  the 
face.  The  last  seemed  ferociously  disposed  ;  but  it  was 
evident  that  a  master-spirit  held  all  these  wild  beings  in 
strict  subjection  ;  quelling  the  turbulence  of  their  humors, 
restraining  their  fierce  disposition  to  violence,  and  giving 
concert  and  design  to  all  their  proceedings.  This  master- 
spirit wTas  Smudge  !  Of  the  fact,  I  could  not  doubt ;  his 
gestures,  his  voice,  his  commands,  giving  movement  and 
method  to  everything  that  was  done.  I  observed  that  he 
spoke  with  authority  and  confidence,  though  he  spoke 
calmly.  He  was  obeyed  without  any  particular  marks  of 
deference,  but  he  was  obeyed  implicitly.  I  could  also  see 
that  the  savages  considered  themselves  as  conquerors  ; 
caring  very  little  for  the  men  under  hatches. 

Nothing  material  occurred  until  day  dawned.  Smudge 
— for  so  I  must  continue  to  call  this  revolting-looking 
chief,  for  want  of  his  true  name — would  permit  nothing  to 
be  attempted  until  the  light  became  sufficiently  strong  to 
enable  him  to  note  the  proceedings  of  his  followers.  I 
subsequently  ascertained,  too,  that  he  waited  for  reinforce- 
ments, a  yell  being  raised  in  the  ship,  just  as  the  sun  ap- 
peared, which  was  answered  from  the  forest.  The  last 
seemed  fairly  alive  with  savages  ;  nor  was  it  long  before 
canoes  issued  from  the  creek,  and  I  counted  one  hundred 
and  seven  of  these  wretches  on  board  the  ship.  This  was 
their  whole  force,  however,  no  more  ever  appearing. 

All  this  time,  or  for  three  hours,  I  had  no  more  com- 
munication with  our  own  people.  I  was  certain,  however, 
that  they  were  all  together,  a  junction  being  easy  enough, 
by  means  of  the  middle-deck,  which  had  no  other  cargo 
than  the  light  articles  intended  for  the  northwest  trade, 
and  by  knocking  down  the  forecastle  bulkhead.  There 
was  a  sliding  board  in  the  last,  indeed,  that  would  admit 
of  one  man's  passing  at  a  time,  without  having  recourse  to 
this  last  expedient.  I  entertained  no  doubt  that  Marble 
had  collected  all  hands  below  ;  and,  being  in  possession  of 
plenty  of  arms,  the  men  having  carried  their  muskets  and 


i86  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

pistols  below  with  them,  with  all  the  ammunition,  he  was 
still  extremely  formidable. 

What  course  he  would  pursue,  I  was  obliged  to  conject- 
ure. A  sortie  would  have  been  very  hazardous,  if  practi- 
cable at  all  :  and  it  was  scarcely  practicable,  after  the 
means  taken  by  Smudge  and  the  Dipper  to  secure  the 
passages.  Everything,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  was  left 
to  conjecture. 

The  manner  in  which  my  captors  treated  me  excited  my 
surprise.  As  soon  as  it  was  light,  my  limbs  were  released, 
and  I  was  permitted  to  walk  up  and  down  the  quarter-deck 
to  restore  the  circulation  of  the  blood.  A  clot  of  blood, 
with  some  fragments  of  hair,  marked  the  spot  where  poor 
Captain  Williams  had  fallen  ;  and  I  was  allowed  to  dash  a 
bucket  of  water  over  the  place,  in  order  to  wash  away  the 
revolting  signs  of  the  murder.  For  myself,  a  strange  reck- 
lessness had  taken  the  place  of  concern,  and  I  became  mo- 
mentarily indifferent  to  my  fate.  I  expected  to  die,  and  I 
am  now  ashamed  to  confess  that  my  feelings  took  a  direc- 
tion toward  revenge,  rather  than  toward  penitence  for  my 
past  sins.  At  times,  I  even  envied  Marble,  and  those  be- 
low, who  might  destroy  their  enemies  at  a  swoop,  by  throw- 
ing a  match  into  the  magazine.  I  felt  persuaded,  indeed, 
it  would  come  to  that  before  the  mate  and  men  would  sub- 
mit to  be  the  captives  of  such  wretches  as  were  then  in 
possession  of  the  deck.  Smudge  and  his  associates,  how- 
ever, appeared  to  be  perfectly  indifferent  to  this  danger, 
of  the  character  of  which  they  were  probably  ignorant. 
Their  scheme  had  been  very  cunningly  laid  ;  and,  thus  far, 
it  was  perfectly  successful. 

The  sun  was  fairly  up,  and  the  savages  began  to  think 
seriously  of  securing  their  prize,  when  the  twro  leaders, 
Smudge  and  the  Dipper,  approached  me  in  a  manner  to 
show  that  they  were  on  the  point  of  commencing  opera- 
tions. The  last  of  these  men  I  now  discovered  had  a 
trifling  knowledge  of  English,  which  he  had  obtained  from 
different  ships.  Still  he"  was  a  savage,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  the  little  information  thus  gleaned,  serving  to 
render  his  worst  propensities  more  dangerous,  rather  than, 
in  any  manner,  tempering  them.  He  now  took  the  lead, 
parading  all  his  men  in  two  lines  on  the  deck,  making  a 
significant  gesture  toward  his  fingers,  and  uttering,  with 
emphasis,  the  word  "  count."  I  did  count  the  wretches, 
making,  this  time,  one  hundred  and  six,  exclusive  of  the 
two  leaders. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  187 

"Tell  him,  down  there,"  growled  the  Dipper,  pointing 
below. 

I  called  for  Mr.  Marble,  and  when  he  had  reached  the 
companion-way  the  following  conversation  took  place  be- 
tween us  : 

"What  is  it  now,  Miles,  my  hearty?"  demanded  the 
chief  mate. 

"  I  am  ordered  to  tell  you,  sir,  that  the  Indians  number 
one  hundred  and  eight,  having  just  counted  them  for  this 
purpose." 

"  I  wish  there  were  a  thousand,  as  we  are  about  to  lift 
the  deck  from  the  ship,  and  send  them  all  into  the  air.  Do 
you  think  they  can  understand  what  I  say,  Miles  ? " 

"  The  Dipper  does,  sir,  when  you  speak  slow  and  plain. 
He  has  only  half  a  notion  of  what  you  now  mean,  as  I 
can  see  by  his  countenance." 

"  Does  the  rascal  hear  me  now  ? — is  he  anywhere  near 
the  companion-way  ? " 

"  He  does,  and  is — he  is  standing  at  this  moment  on  the 
larboard  side  of  the  com  pan  ton- way,  kneeling  one  knee  on 
the  forward  end  of  the  hen-coop." 

"Miles,"  said  Marble,  in  a  doubting  sort  of  a  voice. 

"  Mr.  Marble — I  hear  what  you  say." 

"  Suppose — eh — lead  through  the  companion-way — eh 
— what  would  happen  \.Q  you  ?  " 

"  I  should  care  little  for  that,  sir,  as  I've  made  up  my 
mind  to  be  murdered.  But  it  would  do  no  good  just  now, 
and  might  do  harm.  I  will  tell  them,  however,  of  your  in- 
tention to  blow  them  up,  if  you  please  ;  perhaps  that  may 
make  them  a  little  shy." 

Marble  assented,  and  I  set  about  the  office  as  well  as  I 
could.  Most  of  my  communications  had  to  be  made  by 
means  of  signs  ;  but  in  the  end,  I  succeeded  in  making 
the  Dipper  understand  my  meaning.  By  this  man  the 
purport  was  told  to  Smudge,  in  terms.  The  old  man  lis- 
tened with  grave  attention,  but  the  idea  of  being  blown,  up 
produced  no  more  effect  on  him  than  would  have  been 
produced  by  a  message  from  home  to  tell  him  that  his 
chimney  was  on  fire,  supposing  him  to  have  possessed  such 
a  civilized  instrument  of  comfort. 

That  he  fully  comprehended  his  friend,  I  could  see  by 
the  expression  of  his  orang-otang-looking  countenance. 
But  fear  was  a  passion  that  troubled  him  very  little  ;  and, 
sooth  to  say,  a  man  whose  time  was  passed  in  a  condition 
as  miserable  as  that  in  which  he  habitually  dwelt,  had  no 


1 88  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

great  reason  to  set  a  very  high  value  on  his  life.  Yet  these 
miserable  wretches  never  commit  suicide  !  That  is  a  relict 
reserved  rather  for  those  who  have  become  satiated  with 
human  enjoyments,  nine  pampered  sensualists  dying  in 
this  mode  for  one  poor  wretch  whose  miseries  have  driven 
him  to  despair. 

I  was  astonished  at  seeing  the  intelligence  that  gleamed 
in  the  baboon-like  face  of  Smudge,  as  he  listened  to  his 
friend's  words.  Incredulity  was  the  intellectual  meaning  in 
his  eye,  while  indifference  seemed  seated  in  his  whole  visage. 

It  was  evident  the  threat  had  made  no  impression,  and  I 
managed  to  let  Marble  understand  as  much,  and  that  in 
terms  which  the  Dipper  could  not  very  well  comprehend. 
I  got  no  answer,  a  death-like  stillness  reigning  below  decks, 
in  lieu  of  the  bustle  that  had  so  lately  been  heard  there. 
Smudge  seemed  struck  with  the  change,  and  I  observed  he 
was  giving  orders  to  two  or  three  of  the  elder  savages,  ap- 
parently to  direct  a  greater  degree  of  watchfulness.  I 
confess  to  some  uneasiness  myself,  for  expectation  is  an 
unpleasant  guest  in  a  scene  like  that,  and  more  especially 
when  accompanied  by  uncertainty. 

Smudge  now  seemed  to  think  \t  time  to  commence  his 
operations  in  earnest.  Under  the  direction  of  the  Dipper 
a  quantity  of  line  was  thrown  into  the  yawl,  studding-hal- 
yards,  and  such  other  rope  of  convenient  size  as  could  be 
found  in  the  launch,  and  the  boat  was  towed  by  two  or 
three  canoes  to  the  island.  Here  the  fellows  made  what 
seamen  call  a  "guess-warp"  of  their  rope,  fastening  one 
end  to  a  tree,  and  paying  out  line  as  the  yawl  was  towed 
back  again  to  the  ship.  The  Dipper's  calculation  proved 
to  be  sufficiently  accurate,  the  rope  reaching  from  the  ves- 
sel to  the  tree. 

As  soon  as  this  feat  was  accomplished,  and  it  was  done 
with  sufficient  readiness,  though  somewhat  lubberly,  twen- 
ty or  thirty  of  the  savages  clapped  on  the  warp  until  they 
had  tautened  it  to  as  great  a  strain  as  it  would  bear.  After 
tliit  they  ceased  pulling,  and  I  observed  a  search  around 
the  galley  in  quest  of  the  cook's  axe,  evidently  with  a  de- 
sign to  cut  the  cables.  I  thought  this  a  fact  worth  com- 
municating to  Marble,  and  I  resolved  to  do  so  at  the  risk 
of  my  life. 

"  The  Indians  have  run  a  .line  to  the  island,  and  are 
about  to  cut  the  cables,  no  doubt  intending  to  warp  the 
ship  ashore,  and  that,  too,  at  the  very  spot  where  they  once 
had  the  Sea  Otter." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  189 

"  Ay,  ay — let  them  go  on  ;  we'll  be  ready  for  them  in 
time,"  was  the  only  answer  I  received. 

I  never  knew  whether  to  ascribe  the  apathy  the  savages 
manifested  to  this  communication,  to  a  wish  that  the  fact 
might  be  known  to  the  people  below,  or  to  indifference. 
They  certainly  proceeded  in  their  movements  with  just  as 
much  coolness  as  if  they  had  the  ship  all  to  themselves. 
They  had  six  or  eight  canoes,  and  parties  of  them  began 
to  move  round  the  vessel  with  precisely  the  same  confi- 
dence as  men  would  do  it  in  a  friendly  port.  What  most 
surprised  me  were  the  quiet  and  submission  to  orders  they 
observed.  At  length  the  axe  was  found  secreted  in  the  bows 
of  the  launch,  and  Marble  was  apprised  of  the  use  to  which 
it  was  immediately  applied  by  the  heavy  blows  that  fell 
upon  the  cables. 

"Miles,"  said  the  chief  mate,  "these  blows  go  to  my 
heart !  Are  the  blackguards  really  in  earnest  ?  " 

"  The  larboard  bower  is  gone,  sir,  and  the  blows  you 
now  hear  are  on  the  starboard,  which  is  already  half  in 
two — that  finishes  it ;  the  ship  now  hangs  only  by  the  warp." 

"  Is  there  any  wind,  boy  ?" 

"  Not  a  breath  of  it  ki  the  bay,  though  I  can  see  a  little 
ripple  on  the  water  outside." 

"  Is  it  rising  or  falling  water,  Miles  ?" 

"  The  ebb  is  nearly  done — they'll  never  be  able  to  get 
the  ship  up  on  the  shelving  rock  where  they  had  the  Sea 
Otter,  until  the  water  rises  ten  or  twelve  feet." 

"  Thank  God  for  that !  I  was  afraid  they  might  get  her 
on  that  accursed  bed,  and  break  her  back  at  once." 

"Is  it  of  any  importance  to  us,  Mr.  Marble  ?  What 
hope  can  we  have  of  doing  anything  against  such  odds, 
and  in  our  circumstances?" 

"  The  odds  I  care  nothing  for,  boy.  My  lads  are  screwed 
up  so  tight,  they'd  lick  the  whole  northwest  if  they  could 
only  get  on  deck  without  having  their  fashion-pieces  stove 
in.  The  circumstances,  I  allow,  must  count  for  a  great 
deal." 

"The  ship  is  moving  fast  toward  the  island — I  see  no 
hope  for  us,  Mr.  Marble." 

"  I  say,  Miles,  it  is  worth  some  risk  to  try  and  save  the 
craft — were  it  not*  for  fear  of  you,  I  would  have  played  the 
rascals  a  trick  half  an  hour  since." 

"  Never  mind  me,  sir — it  was  my  fault  it  .has  happened, 
and  I  ought  to  suffer  for  it — do  what  duty  and  discretion 
tell  you  is  best." 


190  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

I  waited  a  minute  after  this  in  intense  expectation,  not 
knowing  what  was  to  follow,  when  a  report  made  me  fancy 
for  an  instant  some  attempt  was  making  to  blow  up  the 
deck.  The  wails  and  cries  that  succeeded,  however,  soon 
let  me  into  the  real  state  of  the  case.  A  volley  of  muskets 
had  been  fired  from  the  cabin  windows,  and  every  individ- 
ual in  two  canoes  that  were  passing  at  the  time,  to  the 
number  of  eleven,  were  shot  down  like  bullocks.  Three 
were  killed  dead,  arid  the  remainder  received  wounds  that 
promised  to  be  mortal.  My  life  would  have  been  the  in- 
stant sacrifice  of  this  act,  had  it'  not  been  for*  the  stern 
authority  of  Smudge,  who  ordered  my  assailants  off,  with 
a  manner  and  tone  that  produced  immediate  compliance. 
It  was  clear  I  was  reserved  for  some  peculiar  fate. 

Every  man  who  could,  rushed  into  the  remaining  canoes 
and  the  ship's  yawl,  in  order  to  pick  up  the  killed  and 
wounded,  as  soon  as  the  nature  of  the  calamity  was  known. 
I  watched  them  from  the  taffrail,  and  soon  ascertained 
that  Marble  was  doing  the  same  from  the  windows  below 
me.  But  the  savages  did  not  dare  venture  in  a  line  with 
a  fire  that  had  proved  so  fatal,  and  were  compelled  to  wait 
until  the  ship  had  moved  sufficiently  ahead  to  enable  them 
to  succor  their  friends  without  exposing  their  own  lives. 
As  this  required  some  distance  as  well  as  time,  the  ship 
was  not  only  left  ^without  a  canoe  or  boat  of  any  sort,  in 
the  water,  but  with  only  half  her  assailants  on  board  of  her. 
Those  who  did  remain,  for  want  of  means  to  attack  any 
other  enemy,  vented  -their  spite  on  the  ship,  expending  all 
their  strength  in  frantic  efforts  on  the  warp.  The  result 
was,  that  while  they  gave  great  way  to  the  vessel,  they 
finally  broke  the  line. 

I  was  leaning  on  the  wheel  with  Smudge  near  me,  when 
this  accident  occurred.  The  tide  was  still  running  ebb  and 
with  some  strength,  and  the  ship  was  just  entering  the 
narrow  passage  between  the  island  and  the  point  that 
formed  one  termination  of  the  bay,  heading,  of  course,  to- 
ward the  tree  to  which  the  warp  had  been  secured.  It  was 
an  impulsive  feeling,  rather  than  any  reason,  that  made 
me  give  the  vessel  a  sheer  with  the  helm,  so  as  to  send  her 
directly  through  the  passage,  instead  of  letting  her  strike 
the  rocks.  I  had  no  eventual  hope  in  so  doing,  nor  any 
other  motive  than  the  strong  reluctance  I  felt  to  have  the 
good  craft  hit  the  bottom.  Luckily,  the  Dipper  was  in  the 
canoes,  and  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  to  follow  the  ship, 
under  the  fire  from  her  cabin  windows,  had  he  understood 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  ig\ 

the  case  and  been  disposed  to  do  so.  But,  like  all  the  rest 
in  the  canoes,  he  was  busy  with  his  wounded  friends,  .who 
were  all  carried  off  toward  the  creek.  This  left  me  master 
of  the  ship's  movements  for  five  minutes,  and  by  that  time 
she  had  drawn  through  the  passage,  and  was  actually  shoot- 
ing out  into  the  open  ocean. 

This  was  a  novel,  and  in  some  respects  an  embarrassing 
situation.  It  left  a  gleam  of  hope,  but  it  was  a  hope  with- 
out a  direction  and  almost  without  an  object.  I  could 
perceive  that  none  of  the  savages  on  board  hadk any  knowl- 
edge of  the  cause  of  our  movement  unless  they  might  un- 
derstand the  action  of  the  tide.  They  had  expected  the 
ship  to  be  run  ashore  at  the  tree  ;  and  here  she  was  gliding 
into  the  ocean,  and  was  already  clear  of  the  passage.  The 
effect  was  to  produce  a  panic,  and  fully  one  half  of  those 
who  had  remained  in  the  ship,  jumped  overboard  and  be- 
gan to  swim  for  the  island.  I  was  momentarily  in  hope  all 
would  take  this  course  ;  but  quite  five-and-twenty  re- 
mained, more  from  necessity  than  choice,  as  I  afterward 
discovered,  for  they  did  not  know  how  to  swim.  Of  this 
number  was  Smudge,  who  probably  still  remained  to  se- 
cure his  conquest. 

It  struck  me  the  moment  was  favorable,  and  I  went  to 
the  companion-way  and  was  about  to  remove  its  fastenings, 
thinking  the  ship  might  be  recovered  during  the  preva- 
lence of  the  panic.  But  a  severe  blow,  and  a  knife  gleam- 
ing in  the  hands  of  Smudge,  admonished  me  of  the  neces- 
sity of  greater  caution.  The  affair  was  not  yet  ended,  nor 
was  my  captor  a  man  as  easily  disconcerted  as  I  had  in- 
cautiously supposed.  Unpromising  as  he  seemed,  this 
fellow  had  a  spirit  that  fitted  him  for  great  achievements, 
and  which,  under  other  circumstances,  might  have  made 
him  a  hero.  He  taught  me  the  useful  lesson  of  not  judg« 
ing  of  men  merely  by  their  exteriors. 


192  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  Court. — Brother  John  Bates,  is  not  that  the  morning  which  breaks 
yonder  ? 

Bates. — I  think  it  be  ;  but  we  have  no  great  cause  to  desire  the  ap- 
proach of  day. 

Will. — We  see  yonder  the  beginning  of  the  day  ;  but  I  think  we  shall 
never  see  the  end  of  it." — Henry  V. 

THE  ship  did  not  lose  her  steerage  way.  As  soon  as  past 
the  point  of  the  island  a  gentle  southerly  breeze  was  felt, 
and  acting  on  the  spars  and  hull  it  enabled  me,  by  putting 
the  helm  "a  little  up,  to  keep  her  head  off  shore,  and  thus 
increase  her  distance  from  the  bay.  The  set  of  the  tide  did 
more  for  her  than  the  wind,  it  is  true,  but  the  two  acting 
in  unison,  carried  her  away  from  the  coast  at  a  rate  that 
nearly  equalled  two  knots  in  the  hour.  This  was  slow  mov- 
ing, certainly,  for  a  vessel  in  such  a  strait ;  but  it  would 
require  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  for  the  canoes  to  return 
from  the  creek,  and  make  the  circuit  of  the  island  by  the 
other  channel.  By  that  time  we  should  be  near  half  a  mile 
at  sea. 

Smudge,  beyond  a  question,  understood  that  he  was  in 
a  dilemma,,  though  totally  ignorant  of  some  of  the  leading 
difficulties  of  his  case.  It  was  plain  to  me  he  could  not 
comprehend  why  the  ship  took  the  direction  of  the  offing, 
for  he  had  no  conception  of  the  power  of  the  rudder.  Our 
tiller  worked  below,  and  it  is  possible  this  circumstance 
mystified  him  ;  more  small  vessels  in  that  day  managing 
their  helms  without  the  aid  of  the  wheel,  than  with  it.  At 
length  the  movement  of  the  vessel  became  too  palpable  to 
admit  of  further  delay  ;  and  this  savage  approached  me 
with  a  drawn  knife,  and  a  manner  that  proved  natural  af- 
fection had  not  been  the  motive  of  his  previous  moderation. 
After  flourishing  his  weapon  fiercely  before  my  eyes,  and 
pressing  it  most  significantly,  once  or  twice,  against  my 
breast,  he  made  signs  for  me  to  cause  the  ship  to  turn  round 
and  re-enter  the  port.  I  thought  my  last  moment  had  come, 
but  naturally  onough  pointed  to  the  spars,  giving  my  master 
to  understand  that  the  vessel  was  not  in  her  usual  trim. 
I  believe  I  was  understood  as  to  this  part  of  my  excuses,  it 
being  too  apparent  that  our  masts  and  yards  were  not  in 
their  usual  places  for  the  fact  to  be  overlooked  even  by  a 
savage.  Smudge,  however,  saw  that  several  of  the  sails 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  193 

were  bent,  and  he  pointed  to  those,  growling  out  his  threats 
should  I  refuse  to  set  them.  The  spanker,  in  particular, 
being  near  him,  he  took  hold  of  it,  shook  it,  and  ordered 
me  to  loosen  it  forthwith. 

It  is  scarcely -necessary  to  say,  I  obeyed  this  order  with 
secret  joy.  Casting  loose  the  brails,  I  put  the  out-hauler 
in  the  hands  of  a  dozen  of  the  savages,  and  set  the  exam- 
ple of  pulling.  In  a  minute  we  had  this  sail  spread,  with 
the  sheet  a  little  eased  off.  I  then  led  a  party  forward, 
and  got  the  fore  and  main  staysails  on  the  ship.  To  these 
were  added  the  mizzen  staysail,  the  only  other  piece  of 
Lanvas  we  could  show,  until  the  topmasts  were  fidded. 
The  effect  of  these  four  sails,  however,  was  to  add  at  least 
another  knot  to  the  way  of  the  ship,  and  to  carry  her  out 
sooner  to  a  point  where  she  felt  the  full  force  of  the  light 
breeze  that  was  blowing  from  the  southeast.  By  the  time 
the  four  sails  were  set,  we  were  fully  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  island,  every  instant  getting  more  fairly  into  the 
true  currents  of  the  air. 

Smudge  watched  me  with  the  eyes  of  a  hawk.  As  I  had 
obeyed  his  own  orders  in  making  sail,  he  could  not  com- 
plain of  that  ;  but  the  result  evidently  disappointed  him. 
He  saw  we  were  still  moving  in  the  wrong  direction,  and 
as  yet,  not  a  canoe  was  visible.  As  for  these  last,  now  the 
vessel  had  way  on  her,  I  was  not  without  hopes  of  being 
able  to  keep  them  exposed  to  the  fire  from  the  cabin  win- 
dows, and,  finally,  of  getting  rid  of  them  by  drawing  off 
the  land  to  a  distance  they  would  not  be  likely  to  follow. 
The  Dipper,  howrever,  I  was  aware,  was  a  bold  fellow — 
knew  something  of  vessels — and  I  was  determined  to  give 
a  hint  to  Marble  to  pick  him  off,  should  he  come  within 
range  of  his  muskets. 

In  the  meantime  the  alarm  and  impatience  of  Smudge 
and  his  companions  very  sensibly  increased.  Five  min- 
utes were  an  age,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed,  and  I  saw  that  it  would  soon  be  necessary  to  adopt 
some  new  expedient,  or  I  might  expect  to  be  sacrificed  to 
the  resentment  of  these  savages.  Necessity  sharpens  the 
wits,  and  I  hit  upon  a  scheme  which  was  not  entirely  with- 
out the  merit  of  ingenuity.  As  it  was,  I  suppose  I  owed 
my  life  to  the  consciousness  of  the  savages  that  they  could 
do  nothing  without  me. 

Smudge,  with  three  or  four  of  the  fiercest  of  his  eom^, 
panions,  had  begun  again  to  menace  me  with  the  knife, 
making  signs,  at  the  same  time,  for  me  to  turn  the  ship's 


I94  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

head  toward  the  land.  I  asked  for  a  little  room,  and  then 
describing  a  long  circle  on  "the  deck,  pointing  to  the  four 
sails  we  had  set,  and  this  in  a  way  to  tell  them  that  under 
the  canvas  we  carried,  it  would  be  necessary  to  go  a  great 
distance  in  order  to  turn  round.  When  I  had  succeeded 
in  communicating  this  idea,  I  forthwith  set  about  giving 
them  to  understand  that  by  getting  up  the  topmasts,  and 
making  more  sail,  we  might  return  immediately.  The 
savages  understood  me,  and  the  explanation  appearing 
reasonable  to  them,  they  went  aside  and  consulted  to- 
gether. As  time  pressed,  it  was  not  long  before  Smudge 
came  to  me  with  signs  to  show  him  and  his  party  how  to 
get  the  remainder  of  the  sails  set.  Of  course,  I  was  not 
backward  in  giving  the  desired  information. 

In  a  few  minutes,  I  had  a  string  of  the  savages  hold  of 
the  mast-rope,  forward,  a  luff-tackle  being  applied.  As 
everything  was  ready  aloft  all  we  had  to  do  was  to  pull, 
until,  judging  by  the  eye,  I  thought  the  spar  was  high 
enough,  when  I  ran  up  the  rigging  and  clapped  in  the  fid. 
Having  the  topmast  out  of  the  way,  without  touching  any 
of  its  rigging,  I  went  down  on  the  fore-yard,  and  loosened 
the  sail.  This  appeared  so  much  like  business,  that  the 
savages  gave  sundry  exclamations  of  delight ;  and  by  the 
time  I  got  on  deck,  they  were  all  ready  to  applaud  me  as  a 
good  fellow.  Even  Smudge  was  completely  mystified  ; 
and  when  I  set  the  others  at  work  at  the  jeer- fall  to  sway 
up  the  fore-yard,  he  was  as  active  as  any  of  them.  We 
soon  had  the  yard  in  its  place,  and  I  went  aloft  to  secure 
it,  touching  the  braces  first  so  as  to  fill  the  sail. 

The  reader  may  rest  assured  I  did  not  hurry  myself,  now 
I  had  things  in  so  fair  a  way.  I  could  perceive  that  my 
power  and  importance  increased  with  every  foot  we  went 
from  the  land  ;  and  the  ship  steering  herself  under  such 
canvas,  the  wheel  being  a  trifle  up,  there  was  no  occasion 
for  extraordinary  exertion  on  my  part.  I  determined  now 
to  stay  aloft  as  long  as  possible.  The  yard  was  soon 
secured,  and  then  I  went  up  into  the  top,  where  I  began  to 
set  up  the  weather-rigging.  Of  course,  n'othing  was  very 
thoroughly  done,  though  sufficiently  so  for  the  weather  we 
had. 

From  the  top  I  had  a  good  view  of  the  offing,  and  of  the 
coast  for  leagues,  We  were  now  quite  a  mile  at  sea,  and, 
though  the  tide  was  no  longer  of  any  use  to  us,  we  were 
Drawing  through  the  water  quite  at  the  rate  of  two  knots. 
I  thought  that  the  flood  had  made,  and  that  it  took  us  a 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  195 

little  on  our  lee-bow,  hawsing  us  up  to  windward.  Just  as 
I  had  got  the  last  lanyard  fastened,  the  canoes  began  to 
appear,  coming  round  the  island  by  the  further  passage, 
and  promising  to  overtake  us  in  the  course  of  the  next 
twenty  minutes.  The  crisis  demanded  decision,  and  I  de- 
termined to  get  the  jib  on  the  ship.  Accordingly,  I  was 
soon  on  deck. 

Having  so  much  the  confidence  of  the  savages,  who  now 
fancied  their  return  depended  on  me,  I  soon  had  them  at 
work,  and  we  had  the  stay  set  up  in  two  or  three  minutes. 
I  then  ran  out  and  cast  off  the  gaskets,  when  my  boys 
began  to  hoist  at  a  signal  from  me.  I  have  seldom  been 
so  happy  as  when  I  saw  that  large  sheet  of  canvas  open  to 
the  air.  The  sheet  was  hauled  in  and  belayed  as  fast  as 
possible,  and  then  it  struck  me  I  should  not  have  time  to 
do  any  more  before  the  canoes  would  overtake  us.  It  was 
my  wish  to  communicate  with  Marble.  While  passing  aft, 
to  effect  this  object,  I  paused  a  moment  to  examine  the 
movement  of  the  canoes  ;  old  Smudge,  the  whole  time,  ex- 
pressing his  impatience  that  the  ship  did  not  turn  round. 
I  make  no  doubt  I  should  have  been  murdered  a  dozen 
times,  had  I  lives  enough,  were  it  not  that  the  savages  felt 
how  dependent  they  were  on  me  for  the  government  of  the 
vessel.  I  began  to  see  my  importance,  and  grew  bold  in 
proportion. 

As  for  the  canoes,  I  took  a  look  at  them  through  a  glass. 
They  were  about  half  a  mile  distant,  and  ceased  paddling, 
and  were  lying  close  together,  seemingly  in  consultation. 
I  fancied  the  appearance  of  the  ship,  under  canvas,  had 
alarmed  them,  and  that  they  began  to  think  we  had  regained 
the  vessel,  and  were  getting  her  in  sailing  condition  again, 
and  that  it  might  not  be  prudent  to  come  too  near.  Could  I 
confirm  this  impression,  a  great  point  would  be  gained. 
Under  the  pretence  of  making  more  sail,  in  order  to  get 
the  ship's  head  round,  a  difficulty  I  had  to  explain  to 
Smudge  by  means  of  signs  some  six  or  eight  times,  I  placed 
the  savages  at  the  ;;z<2*>z-topmast  mast-rope,  and  told  them 
to  drag.  This  was  a  task  likely  to  keep  them  occupied, 
and  what  was  more,  it  kept  them  all  looking  forward,  leav- 
ing me  affecting  to  be  busied  aft.  I  had  given  Smudge  a 
cigar  too,  to  put  him  in  good  humor,  and  I  had  also  taken 
the  liberty  to  light  one  for  myself. 

Our  guns  had  all  been  primed,  levelled,  and  had  their 
tompions  taken  out  the  night  before,  in  readiness  to  re- 
pel any  assault  that  might  be  made.  I  had  only  to  remove 


196  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  apron  from  the  after-gun,  and  it  was  ready  to  be  dis» 
charged.  Going  to  the  wheel,  I  put  the  helm  hard  up, 
until  our  broadside  bore  on  the  canoes.  Then  glancing 
along  my  gun,  until  I  saw  it  had  a  tolerable  range,  I  clapped 
the  cigar  to  the  priming,  springing  back  to  the  wheel,  and 
putting  the  helm  down.  The  explosion  produced  a  gener- 
al yell  among  the  savages,  several  of  them  whom  actually 
leaped  into  the  chains  ready  to  go  overboard,  while  Smudge 
rushed  toward  me,  fiercely  brandishing  his  knife.  I  thought 
my  time  had  come  !  but  perceiving  that  the  ship  was  luff- 
ing fast,  I  motioned  eagerly  forward,  to  draw  the  attention 
of  my  assailant  in  that  quarter.  The  vessel  was  coming-to, 
and  Smudge  was  easily  induced  to  believe  it  was  the  com- 
mencement of  turning  round.  The  breathing  time  allowed 
me  to  mystify  him  with  a  few  more  signs  ;  after  which  he 
rejoined  his  people,  showed  them  exultingly  the  ship  still 
luffing,  and  I  make  no  doubt,  he  thought  himself,  and  in- 
duced the  rest  to  think,  that  the  gun  had  a  material  agency 
in  producing  all  these  apparent  changes.  As  for  the  ca- 
noes, the  grape  had  whistled  so  near  them  that  they  began 
to  paddle  back,  doubtless  under  the  impression  that  we 
were  again  masters  of  the  ship,  and  had  sent  them  this  hint 
to  keep  aloof. 

Thus  far  I  had  succeeded  beyond  my  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations ;  and  I  began  .to  entertain  lively  hopes  of  not 
only  saving  my  life,  but  of  recovering  the  command  of  the 
vessel.  Could  I  manage  to  get  her  out  of  sight  of  land, 
my  services  would  be  so  indispensable  as  almost  to  insure 
success.  The  coast  was  very  low,  and  a  run  of  six  or 
eight  hours  would  do  this,  provided  the  vessel's  head  could 
be  kept  in  the  right  direction.  The  wind,  moreover,  was 
freshening,  and  I  judged  that  the  Crisis  had  already  four 
knots  way  on  her.  Less  than  twenty  miles  would  put  all 
the  visible  coast  under  water.  But  it  was  time  to  say 
something  to  Marble.  With  a  view  to  lull  distrust,  I 
called  Smudge  to  the  companion-way,  in  order  that  he 
might  hear  what  passed,  though  I  felt  satisfied,  now  that 
the  Dipper  was  out  of  the  ship,  not  a  soul  remained  among 
the  savages  who  could  understand  a  syllabic  of  English,  or 
knew  anything  of  vessels.  The  first  call  brought  the  mate 
to  the  door.  "  Well,  Miles  ;  what  is  it  ? "  he  asked  ;  "what 
meant  the  gun,  and  who  fired  it  ?" 

"All  right,  Mr.  Marble.  I  fired  the  gun  to  keep  off  the 
canoes,  and  it  has  had  the  effect  I  wished." 

"Yes;  my  head  was  out   of  the   cabin   window   at    the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  197 

• 

time,  for  I  believed  the  ship  was  wearing,  and  thought  you 
had  given  up,  and  were  going  back  into  port.  I  saw  the 
round-shot  strike  within  twenty  fathoms  of  the  canoes, 
and  as  for  the  grape,  some  of  it  flew  beyond  them.  Why, 
we  are  more  than  half  a  league  from  the  land,  boy  !  Will 
Smudge  stand  that  much  longer  ? " 

I  then  told  Marble  precisely  how  we  were  situated  on 
deck,  the  sail  we  were  under,  the  number  of  savages  we 
had  on  board,  and  the  notion  the  savages  entertained  on 
the  subject  of  turning  the  ship  round.  It  is  not  easy  to 
say  which  listened  with  the  most  attention,  Marble  or 
Smudge.  The  latter  made  frequent  gestures  for  me  to 
turn  the  ship  toward  the  coast,  for  by  this  time  she  had  the 
wind  abeam  again,  and  was  once  more  running  in  a  straight 
line.  It  was  necessary,  on  more  accounts  than  one,  to 
adopt  some  immediate  remedy  for  the  danger  that  began 
to  press  on  me  anew.  Not  only  must  Smudge  and  his  as- 
sociates be  pacified,  but,  as  the  ship  got  into  the  offing,  she 
began  to  feel  the  ground-swell,  and  her  spars  aloft  were 
anything  but  secure.  The  main-topmast  was  about  half- 
up,  and  it  was  beginning  to  surge  and  move  in  the  cap  in 
a  way  I  did  not  like.  It  is  true,  there  was  not  much  dan- 
ger yet  ;  but  the  wind  was  rising,  and  what  was  to  be  done 
ought  to  be  done  at  once.  I  was  not  sorry,  however,  to 
perceive  that  five  or  six  of  the  savages,  Smudge  among  the 
number,  began  to  betray  signs  of  sea-sickness.  I  would 
have  given  Clawbonny  at  the  moment  to  have  had  all  the 
rascals  in  rough  water! 

I  now  endeavored  to  make  Smudge  understand  the  ne- 
cessity of  my  having  assistance  from  below,  both  to  assist 
in  turning  the  vessel,  and  in  getting  the  yards  and  masts 
into  theif  places.  The  old  fellow  shook  his  head  and 
looked  grave  at  this.  I  saw  he  was  not  sick  enough  yet  to 
be  indifferent  about  his  life.  After  a  time,  however,  he 
pronounced  the  names  of  Neb  and  Yo,  the  blacks  having 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  savages,  the  last  being  the 
cook.  I  understood  him  he  would  suffer  these  two  to  come 
to  my  assistance,  provided  it  could  be  done  without  en- 
dangering his  own  ascendency.  Three  unarmed  men  could 
hardly  be  dangerous  to  twenty-five  who  were  nrmed  ;  and 
then  I  suspected  that  he  fancied  the  negroes  would  prove 
allies  to  himself,  in  the  event  of  a  struggle,  rather  than 
foes.  As  for  Neb,  he  made  a  fatal  mistake  ;  nor  was  he 
much  nearer  the  truth  in  regard  to  Joe — or  Yo,  as  he  called 
him — the  cook  feeling  quite  as  much  for  the  honor  of  the 


198  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

American  flag,  as  the  fairest-skinned  seaman  in  the  country, 
It  is  generally  found  that  the  loyalty  of  the  negroes  is  ol 
proof. 

I  found  means  to  make  Smudge  understand  the  manner 
in  which  these  two  blacks  could  be  got  on  deck  without 
letting  up  the  rest.  As  soon  as  he  fairly  comprehended 
the  means  to  be  used,  he  cheerfully  acquiesced,  and  I  made 
the  necessary  communication  to  Marble.  A  rope  was  sent 
down  over  the  stern-boat  to  the  cabin  windows,  and  Neb 
took  a  turn  round  his  body  ;  when  he  was  hauled  up  to  the 
gunwale  of  the  boat,  into  which  he  was  dragged  by  the  as- 
sistance of  the  savages.  The  same  process  was  used  with 
Joe.  Before  the  negroes  were  permitted  to  go  aloft,  how- 
ever, Smudge  made  them  a  brief  oration,  in  which  oracular 
sentences  were  blended  with  significant  gestures,  and  indi- 
cations of  what  they  were  to  expect  in  the  event  of  bad  be- 
havior. After  this,  I  sent  the  blacks  into  the  main-top,  and 
glad  enough  I  thought  they  were  both  to  get  there. 

Thus  reinforced,  we  had  the  main  topmast  fidded  in  a 
very  few  minutes.  Neb  was  then  directed  to  set  up  the 
rigging,  and  to  clear  away  the  yard,  so  it  might  be  got  into 
its  place.  In  a  word,  an  hour  passed  in  active  exer- 
tions, at  the  end  of  which  we  had  everything  rove,  bent, 
and  in  its  place,  on  the  mainmast,  from  the  topmast-head 
to  the  deck.  The  topgallant-mast  was  lying  fore  and  aft 
in  the  waist,  and  could  not  then  be  touched  ;  nor  was  it 
necessary.  I  ordered  the  men  to  loosen  both  sails,  and  to 
overhaul  down  their  rigging.  In  the  eyes  of  Smudge,  this 
looked  highly  promising ;  and  the  savages  gave  a  yell  of 
delight  when  they  saw  the  topsail  fairly  filled  and  draw- 
ing. I  added  the  mainsail  to  the  pressure,  and  then  the 
ship  began  to  walk  off  the  coast,  at  a  rate  that  promised 
all  I  hoped  for.  It  was  now  necessary  for  me  to  stick  by 
the  wheel,  of  the  uses  of  which  Smudge  began  to  obtain 
some  notions.  At  this  time,  the  vessel  was  more  than  two 
leagues  from  the  island,  and  objects  began  to  look  dim 
along  the  coast.  As  for  the  canoes,  they  could  no  longer 
be  seen,  and  chasing  us  any  further  was  quite  out  of  the 
question.  I  felt  that  the  crisis  was  approaching. 

Smudge  and  his  companions  now  became  more  and 
more  earnest  on  the  subject  of  turning  the  ship  round. 
The  indistinctness  of  the  land  began  seriously  to  alarm 
them,  and  sea-sickness  had  actually  placed  four  of  their 
number  flat  on  the  deck.  I  could  see  that  the  old  fellow 
himself  was  a  good  deal  affected,  though  his  spirit,  and 


AFLOAT  AND   A  SHORE.  199 

the  risks  he  ran,  kept  him  in  motion  and  vigilantly  on  the 
watch.  It  was  necessary  to  seem  to  do  something  ;  and  I 
sent  the  negroes  up  into  the  fore-top  to  get  the  topsail- 
yard  in  its  place,  and  the  sail  set.  This  occupied  anothef 
hour,  before  we  were  entirely  through,  when  the  land  was 
getting  nearly  awash.  As  soon  as  the  mizzen-topsail  was 
set,  I  braced  sharp  up,  and  brought  the  ship  close  upon 
the  wind.  This  caused  the  Indians  to  wilt  down  like  flowers 
under  a  burning  sun,  just  as  I  expected;  there  being,  by 
this  time,  a  seven-knot  breeze,  and  a  smart  head-sea  on. 
Old  Smudge  felt  that  his  forces  were  fast  deserting  him, 
and  he  now  came  to  me,  in  a  manner  that  would  not  be 
denied,  and  I  felt  the  necessity  of  doing  something  to  ap- 
pease him.  I  got  the  savages  stationed  as  well  as  I  could, 
hauled  up  the  mainsail,  and  put  the  ship  in  stays.  We 
tacked  better  than  I  could  have  believed  possible,  and 
when  my  wild  captors  saw  that  we  were  actually  moving 
in  the  direction  of  the  land  again,  their  delight  was  in- 
finite. Their  leader  was  ready  to  hug  me ;  but  I  avoided 
this  pleasure  in  the  best  manner  I  could.  As  for  the  con- 
sequences, I  had  no  apprehensions,  knowing  we  were  too 
far  off  to  have  any  reason  to  dread. the  canoes,  and  being 
certain  it  was  easy  enough  to  avoid  them  in  such  a  breeze. 

Smudge  and  his  companions  were  less  on  the  alert,  as 
soon  as  they  perceived  the  ship  was  going  in  the  proper 
direction.  They  probably  believed  the  danger  in  a  measure 
over,  and  they  began  to  yield  a  little  to  their  physical  suf- 
ferings. I  called  Neb  to  the  wheel,  and  leaning  over  the 
taffrail,  I  succeeded  in  getting  Marble  to  a  cabin  window, 
without  alarming  Smudge.  I  then  told  the  mate  to  get  all 
his  forces  in  the  forecastle,  having  observed  that  the  Indians 
avoided  that  part  of  the  vessel,  on  account  of  the  heavy 
plunges  she  occasionally  made,  and  possibly  because  they 
fancied  our  people  were  all  aft.  As  soon  as  the  plan  was 
understood,  I  strolled  forward,  looking  up  at  the  sails,  and 
touching  a  rope,  here  and  there,  like  one  bent  on  his  or- 
dinary duty.  The  savage  stationed  at  the  fore-scuttle  was 
as  sick  as  a  dog,  and  with  streaming  eyes,  he  was  paying 
the  landsman's  tribute  to  the  sea/  The  hatch  was  very 
strong,  and  it  was  secured  simply  by  its  hasp  and  a  bit  of 
iron  thrust  through  it.  I  had  only  to  slip  my  hand  down, 
remove  the  iron,  throw  open  the  hatch,  when  the  ships 
company  streamed  up  on  deck,  Marble  leading. 

It  was  not  a  moment  for  explanations.  I  saw  «it  a 
glance,  that  the  mate  and  his  followers  regarded  the  situ- 


200  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ation  of  the  ship  very  differently  from  what  I  did  my  sell 
I  had  now  been  hours  with  the  savages,  and  attained  a 
little  of  their  confidence,  and  knew  how  dependent  they 
were  on  myself  for  their  final  safety  ;  all  of  which,  in  a 
small  degree,  disposed  me  to  treat  them  with  some  of  the 
lenity  I  fancied  I  had  received  from  them,  in  my  own 
person.  But,  Marble  and  the  crew  had  been  chafing  be- 
low, like  caged  lions,  the  whole  time,  and  as  I  afterward 
learned,  had  actually  taken  an  unanimous  vote  to  blow 
themselves  up,  before  they  would  permit  the  Indians  to 
retain  the  control  of  the  vessel.  Then  poor  Captain  Will- 
iams was  much  beloved  forward,  and  his  death  remained 
to  be  avenged.  I  would  have  said  a  word  in  favor  of  my 
captors,  but  the  first  glance  I  got  at  the  flushed  face  of  the 
mate,  told  me  it  would  be  useless.  I  turned,  therefore,  to 
the  sick  savage  who  had  been  left  as  a  sentinel  over  the  fore- 
scuttle,  to  prevent  his  interference.  This  man  was  armed 
with  the  pistols  that  had  been  taken  from  me,  and  he 
showed  a  disposition  to  use  them.  I  was  too  quick  in  my 
motions,  however,  falling  upon  him  so  soon  as  to  prevent 
one  who  was  not  expert  with  the  weapons  from  using 
them.  We  clinched,  and  fell  on  the  deck  together,  the 
Indian  letting  the  pistols  fall  to  meet  my  grasp. 

As  this  occurred,  I  heard  the  cheers  of  the  seamen  ;  and 
Marble,  shouting  out  to  "revenge  Captain  Williams,"  gave 
the  order  to  charge.  I  soon  had  my  own  fellow  perfectly 
at  my  mercy,  and  got  him  so  near  the  end  of  the  jib  down- 
haul,  as  to  secure  him  with  a  turn  or  two  of  that  rope. 
The  man  made  little  resistance  after  the  first  onset  ;  and, 
catching  up  the  pistols,  I  left  him,  to  join  in  what  was  doing 
aft.  As  I  lay  on  the  deck,  I  heard  several  plunges  into 
the  water,  and  then  half  a  dozen  of  most  cruelly  crushing 
blows,  succeeded.  Not  a  shot  was  fired  by  either  party, 
though  some  of  our  people,  who  had  carried  all  their  arms 
below  the  night  the  ship  was  seized,  used  their  pikes  with 
savage  freedom.  Bv  the  time  I  got  as  far  aft  as  the  main- 
mast, the  vessel  was  our  own.  Nearly  half  the  Indians 
had  thrown  themselves  into  the  sea  ;  the  remaining  dozen 
had  either  been  knocked  in  the  head  like  beeves,  or  were 
stuck,  like  so  many  porkers.  The  dead  bodies  followed 
the  living  into  the  sea.  Old  Smudge  alone  remained,  at 
the  moment  at  which  I  have  spoken. 

The  leader  of  the  savages  was  examining  the  movements 
of  Neb,  at  the  moment  the  shout  was  raised;  and  the 
black,  abandoning  the  wheel,  threw  his  arms  round  those 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  201 

of  the  old  man,  holding  him  like  a  vise.  In  this  situation 
he  was  found  by  Marble  and  myself,  who  approached 
at  the  same  instant,  one  on  each  side  of  the  quarter- 
deck. 

"  Overboard  with  the  blackguard  !  "  called  out  the  ex- 
cited mate  ;  "  overboard  with  him,  Neb,  like  a  trooper's 
horse  !  " 

"  Hold,"  I  interrupted ;  "  spare  .the  old  wretch,  Mr0 
Marble  ;  he  spared  me." 

A  request  from  me  would,  at  any  moment,  outweigh  an 
order  from  the  captain  himself,  so  far  as  the  black  was  con- 
cerned, else  Smudge  would  certainly  have  gone  into  the 
ocean,. like  a  bundle  of  straw.  Marble  had  in  him  a  good 
deal  of  the  indifference  to  bodily  suffering  that  is  generated 
by  habit,  and,  aroused,  he  was  a  dangerous,  and  sometimes 
a  hard  man  ;  but,  in  the  main,  he  was  not  cruel ;  and  then 
he  was  always  manly.  In  the  short  struggle  which  had 
passed,  he  had  actually  dropped  his  pike,  to  knock  an 
Indian  down  with  his  fist ;  bundling  the  fellow  through  a 
port  without  ceremony,  ere  he  had  time  to  help  himself. 
But  he  disdained  striking  Smudge,  with  such  odds  against 
him  ;  and  he  went  to  the  helm,  himself,  bidding  Neb  se- 
cure the  prisoner.  Glad  of  this  little  relief  to  a  scene  so 
horrible,  I  ran  forward,  intending  to  bring  my  own  prisoner 
aft,  and  to  have  the  two  confined  together,  below.  But  I 
was  too  late.  One  of  the  Philadelphians  had  just  got  the 
poor  wretch's  head  and  shoulders  through  the  bow-port, 
and  I  was  barely  in  time  to  see  his  feet  disappear. 

Not  a  cheer  was  given  for  our  success.  When  all  was 
over,  the  men  stood  gazing  at  each  other,  stern,  frowning, 
and  yet  with  the  aspects. of  those  who  felt  they  had  been, 
in  a  manner,  disgraced  by  the  circumstances  which  led 
them  to  the  necessity  of  thus  regaining  the  command  of 
their  own  vessel.  As  for  myself,  I  ran  and  sprung  upon 
the  taffrail  to  look  into  the  ship's  wake.  A  painful  sight 
met  me,  there  !  During  the  minute  or  two  passed  in  the 
brief  struggle,  the  Crisis  had  gone  steadily  ahead,  like  the 
earth  moving  in  its  orbit,  indifferent  to  the  struggles  of 
the  nations  that  are  contending  on  its  bosom.  I  could  see 
heads  and  arms  tossing  in  our  track  for  a  hundred  fathoms, 
those  who  could  not  swim  struggling  to  the  last  to  preserve 
their  existence.  Marble,  Smudge,  and  Neb,  were  all  look- 
ing in  the  same  direction,  at  that  instant.  Under  an  im- 
pulse I  could  not  control,  I  ventured  to  suggest  that  we 
might  yet  tack  and  save  several  of  the  wretches. 


2C2  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  Let  them  drown,  and  be  d — d  !  "  was  the  chief  mate'* 
sententious  answer. 

"No — no — Masser  Mile,"  Neb  ventured  to  add,  with  q 
remonstrating  shake  of  the  head,  "  dat  will  nebber  do — no 
good  ebber  come  of  Injin.  If  you  don't  drown  him,  he  sar- 
tain  drown  you." 

I  saw  it  was  idle  to  remonstrate,  and  by  this  time  one 
dark  spot  after  another  began  to  disappear,  as  the  victims 
sank  in  the  ocean.  As  for  Smudge,  his  eye  was  riveted  on 
the  struggling  forms  of  his  followers,  in  a  manner  to  show 
that  traces  of  human  feeling  are  to  be  found,  in  some  as- 
pect or  other,  in  every  condition  of  life.  I  thought  I  could 
detect  workings  of  the  countenance  of  this  being,  indurat- 
ed as  his  heart  had  become  by  a  long  life  of  savage  ferocity, 
which  denoted  how  keenly  he  felt  the  sudden  destruction  that 
had  alighted  on  his  tribe.  He  might  have  had  sons  and  grand- 
sons among  those  struggling  wretches,  on  whom  he  was 
now  gazing  for  the  last  time.  If  so,  his  self-command  was 
almost  miraculous  ;  for  while  I  could  see  that  he  felt,  and 
felt  intensely,  not  a  sign  of  weakness  escaped  him.  As 
the  last  head  sunk  from  view  I  could  see  him  shudder,  a 
suppressed  groan  escaped  him,  then  he  turned  his  face 
toward  the  bulwarks,  and  Stood  immovable  as  one  of  the 
pines  of  his  own  forests,  for  a  longtime.  I  asked  Marble's 
permission  to  release  the  old  man's  arms,  and  the  mate 
granted  it,  though  not  without  growling  a  few  curses  on 
him,  and  on  all  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  late  occur- 
rences on  board  the  ship. 

There  was  too  much  duty  to  be  done,  to  render  all  se- 
cure, to  suffer  us  to  waste  much  time  in  mere  sympathy. 
All  the  topmast  rigging,  backstays,  etc.,  had  to  be  set  up 
afresh,  and  gangs  were  sent  about  this  duty,  forward  and 
aft.  The  blood  was  washed  from  the  decks,  and  a  portion 
of  the  crew  got  along  the  topgallant-masts,  and  pointed 
them.  The  topsails  were  all  close  reefed,  the  courses 
hauled  up,  the  spanker  and  jib  taken  in,  and  the  ship  hove- 
to.  It  wanted  but  two  hours  of  sunset  when  Mr.  Marble 
had  got  things  to  his  mind.  We  had  crossed  royal-yards, 
and  had  everything  set  that  would  draw,  from  the  trucks 
down.  The  launch  was  in  the  water  towing  astern  ;  the 
ship  was  then  about  a  mile  from  the  southern  pas'sage  into 
the  bay,  toward  which  she  was  steering  with  the  wind 
very  much  as  it  had  been  since  an  hour  after  sunrise, 
though  slightly  falling.  Our  guns  were  loose,  and  the 
crew  was  at  quarters.  Even  I  did  not  know  what  the  new 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  203 

captain  intended  to  do,  for  he  had  given  his  orders  in  the 
manner  of  one  whose  mind  was  too  immovably  made  up  to 
admit  of  consultation.  The  larboard  battery  was  manned, 
and  orders  had  been  given  to  see  the  guns  on  that  side 
levelled  and  ready  for  firing.  As  the  ship  rushed  past  the 
island,  in  entering  the  bay,  the  whole  of  this  broadside  was 
delivered  in  among  its  bushes  and  trees.  We  heard  a  few 
yells  in  reply,  that  satisfied  us  the  grape  had  told,  and  that 
Marble  had  not  miscalculated  the  position  of  some  of  his 
enemies,  at  least. 

When  the  ship  entered  the  little  bay,  it  was  with  a  mod- 
erate and  steady  movement,  the  breeze  being  greatly 
broken  by  the  forests.  The  main-yard  was  thrown  aback, 
and  I  was  ordered  into  the  launch,  with  its  crew  armed. 
A  swivel  was  in  the  bows  of  the  boat,  and  I  pulled  into  the 
creek  in  order  to  ascertain  if  there  were  any  signs  of  the 
savages.  In  entering  the  creek  the  swivel  was  discharged 
according  to  orders,  and  we  soon  detected  proofs  that  we 
disturbed  a  bivouac.  I  now  kept  loading  and  firing  this 
little  piece  into  the  bushes,  supporting  it  with  occasional 
volleys  of  musketry,  until  pretty  well  satisfied  that  we  had 
"swept  the  shore  effectually.  At  the  bivouac  I  found  the 
canoes  and  our  own  yawl,  and  what  was  some  little  re- 
venge for  what  had  happened,  I  also  found  a  pile  of  no 
less  than  six  hundred  skins,  which  had  doubtless  been 
brought  to  trade  with  us,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  blind 
our  eyes  until  the  favorable  moment  for  the  execution  of 
the  conspiracy  should  offer.  I  made  no  scruple  about 
confiscating  these  skins,  which  were  taken  on  board  the 
ship. 

I  went  next  to  the  island,  on  which  I  found  one  man  dying 
with  a  grape-shot  wound,  and  evidence  that  a  considerable 
party  had  left  it,  as  soon  as  they  felt  our  fire.  This  party 
had  probably  gone  outside  the  island,  but  it  was  getting 
too  late  too  follow.  On  my  return  I  met  the  ship  coming 
out,  Captain  Marble  being  determined  not  to  trust  her  in- 
side another  night.  The  wind  was  getting  light,  and  the 
tides  running  fiercely  in  that  high  latitude,  we  were  glad 
to  make  an  offing  again  while  there  was  still  day.  The 
success  with  the  skins  greatly  mollified  the  new  captain, 
who  declared  to  me  tha*  after  he  had  hanged  Smudge  in 
sight  of  his  own  shores,  he  should  "  feel  something  like 
himself  again." 

We  passed  the  night  under  our  topsails,  standing  off  and 
on,  with  the  wind  steady,  but  light  at  the  southward 


204  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Next  morning,  the  duty  of  the  ship  went  on  as  usual, 
until  the  men  had  breakfasted,  when  he  stood  again  into 
the  bay.  This  time,  we  hove-to  so  as  to  get  one  of  the 
buoys,  when  we  dropped  the  stream,  leaving  the  topsails 
set.  We  then  hove  up  the  anchor,  securing  the  range  of 
cable  that  was  bent  to  it.  Both  of  the  anchors,  and 
their  ranges  of  cable  were  thus  recovered ;  the  ends 
of  the  last  being  entered  at  the  hawse-holes,  and  the 
pieces  spliced.  This  work  may  have  occupied  us  four 
hours  ;  after  which,  the  stream  anchor  was  hove  up,  catted 
and  fished.  Marble  then  ordered  a  whip  rove  at  the  fore- 
yard-arm. 

I  was  on  the  quarter-deck  when  this  command  was  sud- 
denly given.  I  wished 'to  remonstrate,  for  I  had  some 
tolerably  accurate  notions  of  legality,  and  the  rights  of 
persons.  Still,  I  did  not  like  to  say  anything  ;  for  Captain 
Marble's  eye  and  manner  were  not  the  least  in  the  trifling 
mood,  at  that  instant.  The  whip  was  soon  rove,  and  the 
men  stood  looking  aft,  in  silent  expectation. 

"  Take  that  murdering  blackguard  forward,  fasten  his 
arms  behind  his  back,  place  him  on  the  third  gun,  and 
wait  for  orders,"  added  our  new  captain,  sternly. 

No  one  'dared  hesitate  about  obeying  these  orders, 
though  I  could  see  that  one  or  two  of  the  lads  disliked 
the  business. 

"Surely,"  I  ventured  to  say,  in  a  low  voice,  "you  are 
not  in  earnest,  Mr.  Marble  !" 

"Captain  Marble,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Wallingford.  I  am 
now  master  of  this  vessel,  and  you  are  her  chief  mate.  I 
intend  to  hang  your  friend  Smudge,  as  an  example  to  the 
rest  of  the  coast.  These  woods  are  full  of  eyes  at  this 
moment  ;  and  the  sight  they'll  presently  see  will  do  more 
good  than  forty  missionaries,  and  threescore  and  ten  years 
of  preaching.  Set  the  fellow  up  on  the  gun,  men,  as  I  or- 
dered. This  is  the  way  to  generalize  with  an  Indian." 

In  a  moment,  there  stood  the  hapless  wretch,  looking 
about  him  with  an  expression  that  denoted  the  conscious- 
ness of  danger,  though  it  was  not  possible  he  could  com- 
prehend the  precise  mode  of  his  execution.  I  went  to 
him",  and  pressed  his  hand,  pointing  upward,  as  much  as 
to  say  his  whole  trust  was  now  in  the  Great  Spirit.  The 
Indian  understood  me,  for  from  that  instant  he  assumed 
an  air  of  dignified  composure,  like  one  every  way  pre- 
pared to  meet  his  fate.  It  is  not  probable,  with  his  habits, 
that  he  saw  any  peculiar  hardship  in  his  own  case ;  for  he 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  205 

had,  doubtless,  sacrificed  many  a  prisoner  under  circum- 
stances of  less  exasperation  than  that  which  his  own  con- 
duct had  provoked. 

"  Let  two  of  the  '  niggers  '  take  a  turn  with  the  end  of 
the  whip  round  the  chap's  neck,"  said  Marble,  too  digni- 
fied to  turn  Jack  Ketch  in  person,  and  unwilling  to  set 
any  of  the  white  seamen  at  so  ungracious  an  office.  The 
cook,  Joe,  and  another  black,  soon  performed  this  revolt' 
ing  duty,  from  the  odium  of  which  a  sailor  seldom  alto- 
gether escapes. 

I  now  perceived  Smudge  looking  upward,  seeming  to 
comprehend  the  nature  of  the  fate  that  awaited  him.  The 
deeply-seated  principle  within  him  caused  a  dark  shadow 
to  pass  over  a  countenance  already  so  gloomy  and  wrinkled 
by  suffering  and  exposure  ;  and  he  turned  his  look  wist- 
fully toward  Marble,  at  whose  command  each  order  in 
succession  had  been  obeyed.  Our  new  captain  caught 
that  gaze,  and  I  was,  for  a  single  moment,  in  hope  he 
would  relent  and  let  the  wretch  go.  But  Marble  had  per- 
suaded himself  he  was  performing  a  great  act  of  nautical 
justice  ;  nor  was  he  aware  himself  how  much  he  was  in- 
fluenced by  a  feeling  allied  to  vengeance. 

"  Sway  away!"  he  called  out  ;  and  Smudge  was  dang- 
ling at  the  yard-arm  in  a  few  seconds. 

A  block  of  wood  could  not  have  been  more  motionless 
than  the  body  of  this  savage,  after  one  quivering  shudder 
of  suffering  had  escaped  it.  There  it  hung,  like  a  jewel- 
block,  and  every  sign  of  life  was  soon  taken  away.  In  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  a  man  was  sent  up,  and,  cutting  the 
rope,  the  body  fell,  with  a  sharp  plunge,  into  the  water, 
and  disappeared. 

At  a  later  day,  the  account  of  this  affair  found  its  way 
into  the  newspapers  at  home.  A  few  moralists  endeavored 
to  throw  some  doubts  over  the  legality  and  necessity  of 
the  proceedings,  pretending  that  more  evil  than  good  was 
done  to  the  cause  of  sacred  justice  by  such  disregard  of 
Jaw  and  principles  ;  but  the  feeling  of  trade,  and  the  secu- 
rity of  ships  when  far  from  home,  were  motives  too  power- 
ful to  be  put  down  by  the  still,  quiet  remonstrances  of 
reason  and  right.  The  abuses  to  which  such  practices 
would  be  likely  to  lead,  in  cases  in  which  one  of  the  par- 
ties constituted  himself  the  law,  the  judge,  and  the  execu- 
tioner, were  urged  in  vain  against  the  active  and  ever-stimu- 
lating incentive  of  a  love  of  gold.  Still,  I  knew  that 
Marble  wished  the  thing  undone  when  it  was  too  late,  it 


206  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

being  idle  to  think  of  quieting  the  suggestions  of  thaV 
monitor  God  has  implanted  within  us,  by  the  meretricious 
and  selfish  approbation  of  those  who  judge  of  right  and 
wrong  by  their  own  narrow  standard  of  interest. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

"  First  Lord. — Throca  movonsas,  cargo,  cargo,  cargo. 
AIL— -Cargo,  cargo,  villianda  par  corbo,  cargo. 
Par. — O  !  ransome,  ransome  : — Do  not  hide  mine  eyes. 
First  Sold. — Boskos  Thromuldo  boskos. 
Par. — I  know  you  are  the  Muskos'  regiment, 

And  I  shall  lose  my  life  for  want  of  language." 

—Airs   Well  That  Ends   Well. 

THE  Crisis  was  tacked  as  soon  as  the  body  of  Smudge 
was  cut  down,  and  she  moved  slowly,  her  crew  maintaining 
a  melancholy  silence,  out  of  the  little  haven.  I  never  wit- 
nessed stronger  evidence  of  sadness  in  the  evolutions  of  a 
vessel ;  the  slow  and  stately  departure  resembling  that  of 
mourners  leaving  the  grave  on  which  they  had  just  heard 
the  fall  of  the  clod.  Marble  told  me  afterward  he  had  been 
disposed  to  anchor,  and  remain  until  the  body  of  poor  Cap- 
tain Williams  should  rise,  as  it  probably  would  within  the 
next  forty-eight  hours  ;  but  the  dread  of  a  necessity  of  sacri- 
ficing more  of  the  natives  induced  him  to  quit  the  fata, 
spot,  without  paying  the  last  duties  to  our  worthy  old  com- 
mander. I  always  regretted  we  did  not  remain,  for  I  think 
no  Indian  would  have  come  near  us,  had  we  continued  in 
the  harbor  a  month. 

It  was  high  noon  when  the  ship  once  more  issued  into 
the  broad  bosom  of  the  Pacific.  The  wind  was  at  south- 
east, and  as  we  drew  off  from  the  land,  it  came  fresh 
and  steady.  About  two,  having  an  offing  of  ten  or 
twelve  miles,  orders  were  issued  to  set  all  the  larboard 
studding-sails,  and  we  stood  to  the  southward  and  west- 
ward under  a  press  of  canvas.  Every  one  saw  in  this 
change  a  determination  to  quit  the  coast ;  nor  did  we 
regret  the  measure,  for  our  trade  had  been  quite  suc- 
cessful, down  to  the  moment  of  the  seizure,  but  could 
hardly  be  prosperous  after  wrhat  had  passed.  I  had  not 
been  consulted  in  the  affair  at  all,  but  the  second  mate 
having  the  watch,  I  was  now  summoned  to  the  cabin,  and 
let  into  the  secret  of  our  future  movements.  I  found 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


207 


Marble  seated  at  the  cabin  table,  with  Captain  Williams's 
writing-desk  open  before  him,  and  sundry  papers  under 
examination. 

"  Take  a  seat,  Mr.  Wallingford,"  said  the  new  master, 
with  a  dignity  and  manner  suited  to  the  occasion.  "  I  have 
just  been  overhauling  the  old  man's  instructions  from  the 
owners,  and  find  I  have  done  right  in  leaving  these  hang- 
gallows  rascals  to  themselves,  and  shaping  our  course  to 
the  next  point  of  destination.  As  it  is,  the  ship  has  done 
surprisingly  well.  There  are  $67, 370  good  Spaniards  down 
in  the  run,  and  that  for  goods  which  I  see  are  invoiced  at 
just  $26,240  ;  and  when  you  consider  that  no  duties,  port- 
charges,  or  commissions  are  to  be  deducted,  but  that  the 
dollars  under  our  feet  are  all  our  own,  without  any  draw- 
backs, I  call  the  operation  a  good  one.  Then  that  blun- 
dering through  the  straits,  though  it  must  never  be  talked 
of  in  any  other  light  than  a  bold  push  for  a  quick  passage, 
did  us  a  wonderful  deal  of  good,  shoving  us  ahead  near  a 
month  in  time.  It  has  put  us  so  much  ahead  of  our  cal- 
culations, indeed,  that  I  would  cruise  for  Frenchmen  for 
five  or  six  weeks,  were  there  the  least  probability  that  one 
of  the  chaps  was  to  the  westward  of  the  Horn.  Such  not 
being  the  fact,  however,  and  there  still  being  a  very  long 
road  before  us,  I  have  thought  it  best  to  push  for  the  next 
point  of  destination.  Read  that  page  of  the  owners'  ideas, 
Mr.  Wallingford,  and  you  will  get  their  advice  for  just  such 
a  situation  as  that  in  which  we  find  ourselves." 

The  passage  pointed  out  by  Captain  Marble  was  somewhat 
parenthetical,  and  was  simply  intended  to  aid  Captain 
Williams,  in  the  event  of  his  not  being  able  to  accomplish 
the  other  objects  of  his  voyage.  It  had  a  place  in,  the  in- 
structions, indeed,  solely  on  account  of  a  suggestion  of 
Marble's  himself,  the  project  being  one  of  those  favorite 
schemes  of  the  mate,  that  men  sometimes  maintain  through 
thick  or  thin,  until  they  get  to  be  ruling  thoughts.  On 
Captain  Williams  it  had  not  weighed  a  feather ;  his  inten- 
tion having  been  to  proceed  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  for 
sandal  wood,  which  was  the  course  then  usually  pursued 
by  northwest  traders,  after  quitting  the  coast.  The  paren- 
thetical project,  however,  was  to  touch  at  the  last  island, 
procure  a  few  divers,  and  proceed  in  quest  of  certain 
islands  where  it  was  supposed  the  pearl  fishery  would  suc- 
ceed. Our  ship  was  altogether  too  large,  and  every  way 
too  expensive,  to  be  risked  in  such  an  adventure,  and  so 
I  told  the  ex-mate  without  any  scruple.  But  this  fishery 


2o8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

was  a  "  fixed  idea,"  a  quick  road  to  wealth,  in  the  new 
captain's  mind,  and  finding  it  in  the  instructions,  though 
simply  as  a  contingent  course,  he  was  inclined  to  regard  it 
as  the  great  object  of  the  voyage.  Such  it  was  in  his  eyes, 
and  such  it  ought  to  be,  as  he  imagined,  in  those  of  the 
owners. 

Marble  had  excellent  qualities  in  his  way,  but  he  was 
not  fit  to  command  a  ship.  No  man  could  stow  her  better, 
fit  her  better,  sail  her  better,  take  better  care  of  her  in 
heavy  weather,  or  navigate  her  better  ;  and  yet  he  wanted 
the  judgment  necessary  to  manage  the  property  that  must 
be  committed  to  his  care,  and  he  had  no  more  ideas  of 
commercial  thrift  than  if  he  had  never  been  employed  in 
any  of  the  concerns  of  commerce.  This  was,  in  truth,  the 
reason  he  had  never  risen  any  higher  in  his  profession,  the 
mercantile  instinct — one  of  the  liveliest  and  most  acute  to 
be  found  in  natural  history — forewarning  his  different  own- 
ers that  he  was  already  in  the  berth  nature  and  art  had 
best  qualified  him  to  fill.  It  is  wonderful  how  acute  even 
dull  men  get  to  be,«on  the  subject  of  money  ! 

I  own  my  judgment,  such  as  it  was  at  nineteen,  was  op- 
posed to  the  opinion  of  the  captain.  I  could  see  that  the 
contingency  contemplated  by  the  instructions  had  not 
arisen,  and  that  we  should  be  acting  more  in  conformity 
with  the  wishes  of  the  owners,  by  proceeding  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  in  quest  of  sandal  wood,  and  thence  to  China, 
after  a  cargo  of  teas.  Marble  was  not  to  be  convinced, 
however,  though  I  think  my  arguments  shook  him  a  little. 
What  might  have  been  the  result,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  had 
not  chance  befriended  the  views  of  each  of  us,  respectively. 
It  is  p'roper  to  add,  that  Marble  availed  himself  of  this  op- 
portunity to  promote  Talcott,  who  was  brought  into  the 
cabin  as  third  mate.  I  rejoiced  greatly  in  this  addition  to 
our  little  circle  on  the  quarter-deck,  Talcott  being  a  man 
of  education,  much  nearer  my  own  age  than  the  two  others, 
and  united  to  me  by  unusual  ties  since  our  common  ad- 
venture in  the  prize.  I  was  not  only  rejoiced,  to  be  able 
to  associate  with  him,  but  to  hear  him  called  Mr.  Talcott 

We  had  a  long,  but  mild  passage  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  This  group  occupied  a  very  different  place,  in 
the  opinions  of  the  world,  in  the  year  1800,  from  that  it 
fills  to-day.  Still  it  has  made  some  small  advances  in 
civilization  since  the  time  of  Cook.  I  am  told  there  are 
churches,  taverns,  billiard  tables,  and  stone  dwellings  in 
these  islands  now,  which  are  fast  turning  to  the  Christian 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  209 

religion,  and  obtaining  the  medley  of  convenience,  security, 
vice,  roguery,  law,  and  comfort  that  is  known  as  civiliza- 
tion. It  was  far  different  then,  our  reception  being  by 
men  who  were  but  a  small  degree  removed  from  savages. 
Among  those  who  first  came  on  board  us,  however,  was 
the  master  of  an  American  brig,  belonging  to  Boston, 
whose  vessel  had  got  on  a  reef,  and  bilged.  He  intended 
to  remain  by  the  wreck,  but  wished  to  dispose  of  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  sandal  wood  that  was  still  in  his 
vessel,  and  for  the  safety  of  which  he  was  under  great  con- 
cern, as  the  first  gale  of  wind  might  scatter  it  to  the  winds 
of  the  ocean.  If  he  could  obtain  a  fresh  stock  of  goods  to 
trade  on,  he  proposed  remaining  on  the  islands  until  an- 
other vessel  belonging  to  the  same  owners,  which  was 
expected  in  a  few  months,  should  arrive,  on  board  which 
vessel  he  intended  to  embark  with  everything  he  could 
save  from  the  wreck,  and  such  wood  as  he  could  purchase 
in  the  interim.  Captain  Marble  rubbed  his  hands  with 
delight,  when  he  returned  from  a  visit  to  the  wreck,  his 
arrangements  all  completed. 

"Luck  is  with  us,  Master  Miles,"  he  said,  "and  we'll  be 
off  for  them  pearl  fisheries  next  week.  I  have  bought  all 
the  sandal  wood  in  the  wreck,  paying  in  trumpery,  and  at 
prices  only  about  double  Indian  trade,  and  we  will  heave 
up,  and  carry  the  ship  round  to  the  wreck,  and  begin  to 
take  in  this  afternoon.  There  is  capital  holding-ground 
inside  the  reef,  and  the  ship  can  be  safely  carried  within  a 
hundred  fathoms  of  her  cargo  !  " 

All  turned  out  as  Marble  had  hoped  and  predicted,  and 
the  Crisis  was  back  at  her  anchorage  in  front  of  the  vil- 
lage, which  is  now  the  city  of  Honolulu,  within  the  week 
named.  We  got  our  supply  of  hogs,  and  having  procured 
four  of  the  best  divers  going,  we  sailed  in  quest  of  Captain 
Marble's  Eldorado  of  pearls.  I  was  less  opposed  to  the 
scheme  than  I  had  been,  for  we  were  now  so  much  in  ad^ 
vance  of  our  time,  that  we  could  afford  to  pass  a  few  weeks 
among,  the  islands,  previously  to  sailing  for  China.  Our 
course  was  to  the  southwest,  crossing  the  line  in  about 
170°  west  longitude.  There  was  a  clear  sea  for  more  than  a 
fortnight  while  we  were  near  the  equator,  the  ship  making 
but  little  progress.  Glad  enough  was  I  to  hear  the  order 
given  to  turn  more  to  the  northward  again,  for  the  heat 
was  oppressive,  and  this  was  inclining  toward  our  route  to 
China.  We  had  been  out  from  Owyhee,  as  it  was  then 
usual  to  call  the  island  where  Cook  was  killed — Hawaii,  as 


210  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

it  is  called  to-day — we  had  been  out  from  this  island  about 
a  month,  when  Marble  came  up  to  me  one  fine  moonlight 
evening,  in  my  watch,  rubbing  his  hands,  as  was  his  cus- 
tom when  in  good-humor,  and  broke  out  as  follows  : 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,  Miles,"  he  said,"  you  and  I  have  been 
salted  down  by  Providence  for  something  more  than  com- 
mon !  Just  look  back  at  all  our  adventures  in  the  last  three 
years,  and  see  what  they  come  to.  Firstly,  there  was  a  ship- 
wreck over  here  on  the  coast  of  Madagascar,"  jerking  his 
thumb  over  a  shoulder  in  a  manner  that  was  intended  to  in- 
dicate about  two  hundred  degrees  of  longitude,  that  being 
somewhat  near  our  present  distance  from  the  place  he 
mentioned,  in  an  air-line  ;  "  then  followed  the  boat  business 
under  the  Isle  of  Bourbon,  and  the  affair  with  the  priva- 
teer oft  Guadeloupe.  Well,  as  if  that  weren't  enough,  we 
ship  together  again  in  this  vessel,  and  a  time  we  had  of  it 
with  the  French  letter-of-marque.  After  that,  a  devil  of  a 
passage  we  made  of  it  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 
Then  came  the  melancholy  loss  of  Captain  Williams,  and 
all  that  business  ;  after  which  we  got  the  sandal-wood  out 
of  the  wreck,  which  I  consider  the  luckiest  transaction  of 
all." 

"I  hope  you  don't  set  down  the  loss  of  Captain  Will- 
iams among  our  luck,  sir  !  " 

"  Not  I,  but  the  stuff  is  all  logged  together  you  know  ; 
and  in  overhauling  for  one  idee,  in  such  a  mess,  a  fellow 
is  apt  to  get  hold  of  another.  As  I  was  saying,  we  have 
been  amazingly  lucky,  and  I  expect  nothing  else  but  we 
shall  discover  an  island  yet !  " 

;<  Can  that  be  of  any  great  service  to  us  ?  There  are  so 
many  owners  ready  to  start  up  and  claim  such  discov- 
eries, that  I  question  if  it  would  do  us  any  great  bene-' 
fit." 

"  Let  them  start  up — who  cares  for  them  ?  We'll  have 
the  christening,  and  that's  half  the  battle.  Marble  Land, 
Wallingford  Bay,  Talcott  Hills,  and  Cape  Crisis,  would 
look  well  on  the  chart — ha  !  Miles  ?" 

"  I  have  no  objection  to  see  it,  sir." 

"  Land  ho  ! "  cried  the  look-out  on  the  forecastle. 

"  There  it  is  now,  by  George  !  "  cried  Marble  spring- 
ing forward.  "  I  overhauled  the  chart  half  an  hour  since, 
and  there  ought  to  be  nothing  within  six  hundred  miles 
of  us." 

There  it  was,  sure  enough,  and  much  nearer  to  us  than 
was  at  all  desirable.  So  near,  indeed,  that  the  wash  of 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  zi\ 

the  breakers  on  the  reef  that  so  generally  lies  off  from  the 
low  coral  islands  of  the  Pacific,  was  distinctly  audible  from 
the  ship.  The  moon  gave  a  strong  light,  it  is  true,  and  the 
night  was  soft  and  balmy,  but  the  air,  which  was  very 
light,  blew  directly  toward  this  reef,  and  then  there  were 
always  currents  to  apprehend.  We  sounded,  but  got  no 
bottom. 

"  Ay,  this  is  one  of  your  coral  reefs,  where  a  man  goes 
on  the  rocks  from  off  soundings,  at  a  single  jump,"  mut- 
tered Marble,  ordering  the  ship  brought  by  the  wind  on 
the  best  tack  to  haul  off-shore.  "  No  notice,  and  a  wreck. 
As  for  anchoring  in  such  a  place,  a  fellow  might  as  well 
run  a  line  out  to  Japan  ;  and,  could  an  anchor  find  the 
bottom,  the  cable  would  have  some  such  berth  as  a  man 
who  slept  in  a  hammock  filled  with  open  razors." 

All  this  was  true  enough  ;  and  we  watched  the  effect  of 
our  change  of  course  with  the  greatest  anxiety.  All  hands 
were  called,  and  the  men  were  stationed  in  readiness  to 
work  the  ship.  But  a  few  minutes  satisfied  us  the  hope  of 
clawing  off  in  so  light  an  air  was  to  the  last  degree  vain. 
The  vessel  set  in  fast  toward  the  reef,  the  breakers  on 
which  now  became  apparent,  even  by  the  light  of  the 
moon,  the  certain  sign  they  were  fearfully  near. 

This  was  one  of  those  moments  in  which  Marble  could 
show  himself  to  be  a  true  man.  He  wras  perfectly  calm 
and  self-possessed  ;  and  stood  on  the  taffrail,  giving  his 
orders,  with  a  distinctness  and  precision  I  have  never  seen 
surpassed.  I  was  kept  in  the  chains,  myself,  to  watch  the 
casts  of  the  lead.  "  No  bottom,"  however,  was  the  never- 
failing  report  ;  nor  was  any  bottom  expected  ;  it  being 
known  that  these  reefs  were  quite  perpendicular  on  their 
seaward  side.  The  captain  called  out  to  me,  from  time  to 
time,  to  be  active  and  vigilant,  as  our  set  in-shore  was 
uncontrollable,  and  the  boats,  if  in  the  water,  as  the  launch 
could  not  be  for  twenty  minutes,  would  be  "altogether 
useless.  I  proposed  to  lower  the  yawl,  and  to  pull  to  lee- 
ward, to  try  the  soundings,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  it  were 
not  possible  to  find  bottom  at  some  point  short  of  the  reef, 
on  which  we  should  hopelessly  be  set,  unless  checked  by 
some  such  means,  in  the  course  of  the  next  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes. 

"Do  it  at  once,  sir,"  cried  Marble.  "The  thought  is  a 
good  one,  and  does  you  credit,  Mr.  Wallingford." 

I  left  the  ship  in  less  than  five  minutes,  and  pulled  oif, 
under  the  ship's  lee-bow,  knowing  that  tacking  or  wearing 


212  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

would  be  out  of  the  question,  under  the  circumstances.  I 
stood  up  in  the  stern-sheets,  and  made  constant  casts  with 
the  hand-lead,  with  a  short  line,  however,  as  the  boat  went 
foaming  through  the  water.  The  reef  was  now  plainly  in 
sight,  and  I  could  see,  as  well  as  hear,  the  long,  formidable 
ground-swells  of  the  Pacific,  while,  fetching  up  against 
these  solid  barriers,  they  rolled  over,  broke,  and  went 
beyond  the  rocks  in  angry  froth.  At  this  perilous  instant, 
when  I  would  not  have  given  the  poorest  acre  of  Claw- 
bonny  to  have  been  the  owner  of  the  Crisis,  I  saw  a  spot 
to  leeward  that  was  comparatively  still,  or  in  which  the 
water  did  not  break.  It  was  not  fifty  fathoms  from  me 
when  first  discovered,  and  toward  it  I  steered,  animating 
the  men  to  redoubled  exertions.  We  were  in  this  narrow 
belt  of  smooth  water,  as  it  might  be,  in  an  instant,  and  the 
current  sucked  the  boat  through  it  so  fast  as  to  allow  time 
to  make  but  a  single  cast  of  the  lead.  I  got  bottom  ;  but 
it  was  in  six  fathoms ! 

The  boat  was  turned,  and  headed  out  again,  as  if  life  and 
death  depended  on  the  result.  The  ship  was  fortunately 
within  sound  of  the  voice,  steering  still  by  the  wind,  though 
setting  three  feet  toward  the  reef,  for  one  made  in  the  de- 
sired direction  ;  and  I  hailed. 

"What  now,  Mr.  Wallingford  ? "  demanded  Marble,  as 
calmly  as  if  anchored  near  a  wharf  at  home. 

"  Do  you  see  the  boat,  sir  ? " 

"  Quite  plainly  ; — God  knows  you  are  near  enough  to  be 
seen." 

"  Has  the  ship  steerage-way  on  her,  Captain  Marble  ?" 

"  Just  that,  and  nothing  more  to  boast  of." 

"  Then  I  ask  no  questions  ;  but  try  to  follow  the  boat. 
It  is  the  only  hope  ;  and  it  may  succeed." 

I  got  no  'answer  ;  but  I  heard  the  deep,  authoritative 
voice  of  Marble,  ordering  the  "  helm  up  "  and  the  men, 
"  to  man  the  weather-braces."  I  could  scarcely  breathe, 
while  I  stood  looking  at  the  ship's  bows,  as  they  fell  off, 
and  noted  her  slow  progress  ahead.  Her  speed  increased 
sensibly,  however,  and  I  kept  the  boat  far  enough  to  wind- 
ward to  give  the  vessel  room  fairly  to  enter  the  pass.  At 
the  proper  moment,  we  moved  toward  the  inlet,  the  Crisis 
keeping  more  and  more  away,  in  order  to  follow.  I  was 
soon  in  the  pass  itself,  the  water  breaking  within  ten 
fathoms  on  each  side  of  me,  sending  portions  of  its  foam 
to  the  very  blades  of  our  oars  ;  but  the  lead  still  gave  me 
six  fathoms.  At  the  next  cast,  I  got  ten  ;  and  then  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  213 

ship  was  at  the  point  where  I  had  just  before  found  six. 
The  breakers  were  roaring  behind  me,  and  I  pulled  round, 
and  waited  for  the  ship,  steering  to  the  southward,  sound- 
ing as  I  went.  I  could  see  that  the  ship  hauled  up,  and 
that  I  was  already  behind  the  reef.  Straining  my  voice, 
I  now  called  out — 

"Anchor,  sir — bear  a  hand  and  anchor,  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible." 

Not  a  word  came  back  ;  but  up  went  the  courses,  fol- 
lowed by  the  top-gallant  sails,  after  which  down  went  the 
jib.  I  heard  the  fore  and  main-topsail  halyards  overhaul- 
ing themselves,  spite  of  the  roar  of  the  breakers,  and  then 
the  ship  luffed  into  the  wind.  Glad  enough  was  I  to  hear 
the  heavy  plunge  of  one  of  the  bowers,  as  it  fell  from  the 
cathead  into  the  water.  Even  then  I  remained  stationary 
to  note  the  result.  The  ship  took  her  scope  of  cable  freely, 
after  which  I  observed  that  she  was  brought  up.  The 
next  moment  I  was  on  board  her. 

"A  close  shave,  Mr.  Wallingford,"  said  Marble,  giving 
me  a  squeeze  of  the  hand,  that  said  more  for  his  feelings 
than  any  words  such  a  being  could  utter  ;  "  and  many 
thanks  for  your  piloting.  Is  not  that  land  I  see,  away 
here  to  the  leeward — more  to  the  westward,  boy  ?" 

"  It  is  sir,  beyond  a  doubt.  It  must  be  one  of  the  coral 
islands  ;  and  this  is  the  reef  that  usually  lies  to  seaward 
from  them.  There  is  the  appearance  of  trees  ashore!  " 

"It's  a  discovery,  youngster,  and  will  make  us  all  great 
names!  Remember,  this  passage  I  call  *  Miles's  Inlet;' 
and  to  the  reef,  I  give  the  name  of  '  Yawl  Reef.'  " 

I  could  not  smile  at  this  touch  of  Marble's  vanity,  for 
concern  left  me  no  thoughts  but  for  the  ship.  The  weather 
was  now  mild  and  the  bay  smooth  :  the  night  was  fine,  and 
it  might  be  of  the  last  importance  to  us  to  know  some- 
thing more  of  our  situation.  The  cable  might  chafe  off, 
probably  would,  so  near  a  coral  reef ;  and  I  offered  to  pull 
in  toward  the  land,  sounding  as  I  went,  and  otherwise 
gaining  the  knowledge  that  might  be  necessary  to  our 
security.  After  a  little  reflection,  the  captain  consented, 
ordering  me  to  take  provisions  and  water  in  the  boat  as  the 
duty  might  detain  me  until  morning. 

I  found  the  bay  between  the  reef  and  the  island  about  a 
league  in  breadth,  and  across  its  entire  width  the  soundings 
did  not  vary  much  from  ten  fathoms.  The  outer  barrier  of 
rock,  on  which  the  sea  broke,  appeared  to  be  an  advanced 
wall,  that  the  indefatigable  little  insects  had  erected,  as  it 


214  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

might  be,  in  defence  of  their  island,  which  had  probably 
been  raised  from  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  a  century  or  two 
ago,  by  some  of  their  own  ancestors.  The  gigantic  works 
completed  by  these  little  aquatic  animals  are  well  known 
to  navigators,  and  give  us  some  tolerably  accurate  notions 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  face  of  the  globe  has  been 
made  to  undergo  some  of  its  alterations.  I  found  the 
land  easy  of  access,  low,  wooded,  and  without  any  sign  of 
habitation. 

The  night  was  so  fine  that  I  ventured  inland,  and  after 
walking  more  than  a  mile,  most  of  the  distance  in  a  grove 
of  cocoa  and  bananas,  I  came  to  the  basin  of  water  that  is 
usually  found  in  the  islands  of  this  particular  formation. 
The  inlet  from  the  sea  was  at  no  great  distance,  and  I  sent 
one  of  the  men  back  to  the  yawl,  with  orders  for  the  boat 
to  proceed  thither.  I  next  sounded  the  inlet  and  the  bay, 
and  found  everywhere  a  sandy  bottom,  and  about  ten 
fathoms  of  water.  As  I  expected,  the  shoalest  spot  was 
the  inlet,  but  in  this,  which  I  sounded  thoroughly,  there 
was  nowhere  less  than  five.  It  was  now  midnight,  and  I 
should  have  remained  on  the  island  until  morning,  to  make 
further  surveys  by  daylight,  had  we  not  seen  the  ship 
under  her  canvas,  and  so  much  nearer  to  us  than  we  had 
supposed  possible,  as  to  satisfy  me  she  was  drifting  in  fast 
toward  the  land.  Of  course  I  did  not  hesitate,  but  pulled 
on  board. 

It  was  as  I  suspected.  The  rocks  so  near  the  reef  had 
chafed  off  the  cable  ;  the  ship  struck  adrift,  and  Marble 
was  under  his  canvas  waiting  my  return,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain where  he  might  anchor  anew.  I  told  him  of  the  lagoon 
in  the  centre  of  the  island,  and  gave  him  every  assurance 
of  there  being  water  enough  to  carry  in  any  craft  that  floats. 
My  reputation  was  up,  in  consequence  of  the  manner  the 
ship  had  been  taken  through  the  first  inlet,  and  I  was  or- 
dered to  con  her  into  this  new  haven. 

The  task  was  not  difficult.  The  lightness  of  the  wind, 
and  uncertainty  about  the  currents  proving  the  only 
source  of  embarrassment,  I  succeeded  in  finding  the  pas- 
sage, after  a  short  trial ;  and  sending  the  boat  ahead,  under 
Talcott,  as  an  additional  precaution,  soon  had  the  Crisis 
floating  in  the  very  centre  of  this  natural  dock.  Sail  was 
shortened  as  we  came  in,  and  the  ship  made  a  flying  moor ; 
after  which  we  lay  as  securely  as  if  actually  in  some  basin 
wrought  by  art.  It  is  my  opinion,  the  vessel  would  have 
ridden  out  the  hardest  gale,  or  anything  short  of  a  hurri- 


AFLOAT  AND  AS  PI  ORE.  215 

cane,  at  single  anchor,  in  that  place.  The  sense  of  secu- 
rity was  now  so  strong  upon  us,  that  we  rolled  up  our 
canvas,  set  an  anchor-watch  of.  only  one  man,  and  turned  in. 

I  never  laid  my  head  down,  on  board  ship,  with  greater 
satisfaction  than  I  did  that  night.  Let  the  truth  be  frankly 
stated.  I  was  perfectly  satisfied  with  myself.  It  was  ow- 
ing to  my  decision  and  vigilance  that  the  ship  was  saved, 
when  outside  the  reef,  out  of  all  question  ;  and  I  think 
she  would  have  been  lost  after  she  had  struck  adrift,  had 
I  not  discovered  her  present  berth.  There  she  was,  how- 
ever, with  land  virtually  all  around  her,  a  good  bottom, 
plenty  of  water,  and  well  moored.  As  I  have  said  already, 
she  could  not  be  better  secured  in  an  artificial  dock.  In 
the  midst  of  the  Pacific,  away  from  all  custom-house  offi- 
cers, in  a  recently  discovered  and  uninhabited  island,  there 
was  nothing  to  fear.  Men  sleep  soundly  in  such  circum- 
stances, and  I  should  have  been  in  a  deep  ^slumber  in  a 
minute  after  I  was  in  my  berth,  had  not  Marble's  conver- 
sation kept  me  awake,  quite  unwillingly  on  my  part,  for 
five  minutes.  His  state-room  door  was  open,  and  through 
it,  the  following  discourse  was  held. 

"  I  think,  on  the  whole,"  commenced  the  captain,  "  it 
will  be  better  to  generalize  a  little  more  " — this  was  a  favor- 
ite expression  of  the  ex-mate's,  and  one  he  often  used 
without  exactly  knowing  its  application  himself.  "  Yes, 
to  generalize  a  little  more  ;  it  shall  be  Marble  Land,  Wal- 
lingford  Bay,  Yawl  Reef,  Talcott  inlet,  Miles's  Anchorage 

— and  a  d d  bad  anchorage  it  was,  Miles;  but  never 

mind,  we  must  take  the  good  with  the  bad  in  this  wicked 
world." 

"Very  true,  sir  ;  but,  as  for  taking  that  anchorage,  you 
must  excuse  me,  as  I  shall  never  take  it  again." 

"  Perhaps  not.  Well,  this  is  what  I  call  comfort — ha ! 
Talcott  ?  Is  Talcott  asleep,  Miles  ?  " 

"  He  and  the  second  mate  are  hard  at  it,  sir — full  and 
by,  and  going  ten  knots,"  I  muttered,  wishing  my  tor- 
mentor in  Japan,  at  the  moment. 

"Ay  ;  they  are  rackers  at  a  sleep!  I  say,  Miles,  such  a 
discovery  as  this  will  make  a  man's  fortune  !  The  wrorld 
generalizes  in  discoveries,  altogether,  making  no  great 
matter  of  distinction  between  your  Columbuses,  Cooks, 
or  Marbles.  An  island  is  an  island,  and  he  who  first  dis- 
covers it  has  the  credit.  Poor  Captain  Williams  !  he  would 
have  sailed  this  ship  for  a  whole  generation,  and  never 
found  anything  in  the  way  of  novelty." 


Sit>  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  Except  the  straits,"  I  muttered,  very  indistinctly, 
breathing  deep,  and  hard: 

'  'Ay,  that  was  an  affair !  Hadn't  you  and  I  been  aboard,  the 
ship  never  would  have  done  that.  We  are  the  very  offspring 
of  luck  !  There  was  the  affair  of  the  wreck  off  Madagascar 
— there  are  bloody  currents  in  the  Pacific,  too,  I  find,  Miles." 

"  Yes,  sir — hard-a-weather — 

"The  fellow's  dreaming.  One  word,  boy,  before  you 
cut  loose  from  all  reason  and  reflection.  Don't  you  think 
it  would  be  a  capital  idea  to  pok«  in  a  little  patriotism 
among  the  names  !  patriotism  goes  so  far  in  our  part  of 
the  world.  Congress  Rocks  would  be  a  good  title  for  the 
highest  part  of  the  reef,  and  Washington  Sands  would  do 
for  the  landing  you  told  me  of.  Washington  should  have 
a  finger  in  the  pie." 

"  Crust  isn't  down,  sir." 

"  The  fellow's  off,  and  I  may  as  well  follow,  though  it  is 
not  easy  to  sleep  on'  the  honor  of  a  discovery  like  this. 
Good-night,  Miles  !  " 

"Ay-,  ay,  sir!" 

Such  was  the  account  Marble  afterward  gave  me  of  the 
termination  of  the  dialogue.  Sleep,  sleep,  sleep  !  Never 
did  men  enjoy  their  rest  more  than  we  did  for  the  next 
five  hours,  the  ship  being  as  silent  as  a  church  on  a  week 
day,  during  the  whole  time.  For  myself,  I  can  safely  say 
I  heard  nothing,  or  knew  nothing,  until  I  was  awakened 
by  a  violent  shake  of  the  shoulder.  Supposing  myself  to 
have  been  aroused  for  an  ordinary  watch  at  sea,  I  was  erect 
in  an  instant,  and  found  the  sun's  rays  streaming  into  my 
face  through  the  cabin  windows.  This  prevented  me  for 
a  moment  from  seeing  that  I  had  been  disturbed  by  Cap- 
tain Marble  himself.  The  latter  waited  until  he  perceived 
I  could  understand  him,  and  then  he  said  in  a  grave,  mean- 
ing manner — 

"  Miles,  there  is  a  mutiny  in  the  ship  !  Do  you  under- 
stand me,  Mr.  Wallingford  ? — a  bloody  mutiny  !  " 

"  A  mutiny,  Captain  Marble  !  You  confound  me,  sir — I 
had  thought  our  people  perfectly  satisfied." 

"  Umph !  one  never  knows  whether  the  copper  will  come 
up  head  or  tail.  I  thought  when  I  turned  in  last  night,  it 
was  to  take  the  surest  nap  I  ever  tasted  afloat  ;  and  here  I 
awake,  and  find  a  mutiny." 

I  was  on  my  feet  and  dressing  in  an  instant,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  having  first  gone  to  the  berths  of  the  two  other 
mates,  and  given  each  a  call. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  217 

"  But  how  do  you  know  this,  Captain  Marble  ?"  I  re. 
sumed,  as  soon  as  there  was  a  chance.  "I  hear  no  dis- 
turbance, and  the  ship  is  just  where  we  left  her,"  glanc- 
ing through  the  cabin  windows  ;  "  1  think,  you  must  be 
mistaken,  sir." 

"  Not  I.  I  turned  out  ten  minutes  since,  and  was  about 
to  go  on  deck  to  get  a  look  at  your  basin,  and  breathe  the 
fresh  air,  when  I  found  the  companion-doors  fastened,  pre- 
cisely Smudge-fashion.  I  suppose  you  will  allow  that  no 
regular  ship's  company  would  dare  to  fasten  the  officers 
below,  unless  they  intended  to  seize  the  craft." 

"This  is  very  extraordinary!  Perhaps  some  accident 
has  befallen  the  doors.  Did  you  call  out,  sir?" 

"  I  thumped  like  an  admiral,  but  got  no  answer.  When 
on  the  point  of  trying  the  virtue  of  a  few  kicks,  I  overheard 
a  low  laugh  on  deck,  and  that  let  me  into  the  secret  of  the 
state  of  the  nation  at  once.  I  suppose  you  will  all  admit, 
gentlemen,  when  sailors  laugh  at  their  officers,  as  well  as 
batten  them  down,  that  they  must  be  somewhat  near  a  state 
of  mutiny." 

"It  does  look  so,  indeed,  sir.  We  had  better  arm  the 
moment  we  are  dressed,  Captain  Marble." 

"  I  have  done  that  already,  and  you  will  each  find  loaded 
pistols  in  my  state-room." 

In  two  minutes  from  that  moment,  all  four  of  us  were  in 
a  state  for  action,  each  man  armed  with  a  brace  of  ship's 
pistols,  well  loaded  and  freshly  primed.  Marble  was  for 
making  a  rush  at  the  cabin  doors  at  once,  but  I  suggested 
the  improbability  of  the  steward  or  Neb's  being  engaged 
in  any  plot  against  the  officers,  and  thought  it  might  be 
well  to  ascertain  what  had  become  of  the  two  blacks  before 
we  commenced  operations.  Talcott  proceeded  instantly 
to  the  steerage  where  the  steward -slept,  and  returned  in  a 
moment  to  report  that  he  had  found  him  sound  asleep  in 
his  berth. 

Reinforced  by  this  man,  Captain  Marble  determined  to 
make  his  first  demonstration  by  way  of  the  forecastle, 
where,  by  acting  with  caution,  a  surprise  on  the  mutineers 
might  be  effected.  It  will  be  remembered  that  a  door 
communicated  with  the  forecastle,  the  fastenings  of  which 
were  on  the  side  of  "'twixt  decks."  Most  of  the  cargo  be- 
ing in  the  lower  hold  there  was  no  difficulty  in  making  our 
way  to  this  door,  where  we  stopped  and  listened,  in  order 
to  learn  the  state  of  things  on  the  other  side  of  the  bulk- 
head.  Marble  had  whispered  to  me,  as  we  groped  our 


2i8  AFLOAT  AA'D   ASHORE. 

way  along  in  the  sort  of  twilight  which  pervaded  the  place, 
the  hatches  being  on  and  secured,  that  "  them  bloody 
Philadelphians  "  must  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  mischief,  as 
our  old  crew  were  a  set  of  as  "  peaceable,  well  disposed 
chaps  as  ever  eat  duff  (dough)  out  of  a  kid." 

The  result  of  the  listening  was  to  produce  a  general  sur- 
prise. Out  of  all  question,  snoring,  and  that  on  no  small 
scale  of  the  gamut  of  Morpheus,  was  unequivocally  heard. 
Marble  instantly  opened  the  door,  and  we  entered  the  fore- 
castle, pistols  in  hand.  Every  berth  had  its  tenant,  and  all 
hands  were  asleep  !  Fatigue,  and  the  habit  of  waiting  for 
calls,  had  evidently  kept  each  of  the  seamen  in  his  berth, 
until  that  instant.  Contrary  to  usage,  in  so  warm  a  cli- 
mate, the  scuttle  was  on,  and  a  trial  soon  told  us  it  was  fast. 
"  To  generalize  on  this  idee,  Miles,"  exclaimed  the  cap- 
tain, "  I  should  say  we  are  again  battened  down  by  sav- 
ages  ! " 

"  It  does  indeed  look  so,  sir  ;  and  yet  I  saw  no  sign  of 
the  island's  being  inhabited.  It  may  be  well,  Captain 
Marble,  to  muster  the  crew,  that  we  may  learn  who's 
who." 

"Quite  right — do  you  turn  'em  up,  and  send  'em  all  aft 
into  the  cabin,  where  w^e  have  more  daylight." 

I  set  about  awaking  the  people,  which  was  not  difficult, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  everybody  was  sent  aft.  Following 
the  crew,  it  was  soon  found  that  only  one  man  was  miss- 
ing, and  he  was  the  very  individual  whom  we  had  left  on 
deck,  when  we  had  all  gone  below  on  securing  the  ship. 
Every  soul  belonging  to  the  vessel  was  present  in  the 
cabin  or  steerage,  but  this  solitary  man — Philadelphians 
and  all ! 

"  It  can  never  be  that  Harris  has  dared  to  trifle  with 
us,"  said  Talcott ;  "  and  yet  it  does  look  surprisingly  like 
it." 

"Quite  sure,  Miles,  that  Marble  Land  is  an  uninhabited 
island  ? "  said  the  captain,  interrogatively. 

"  I  can  only  say,  sir,  that  it  is  as  much  like  all  the  other 
uninhabited  coral  islands  we  have  passed,  as  one  pea  is  likff 
another  ;  and  that  there  were  no  signs  of  a  living  being 
visible  last  night.  It  is  true  we  saw  but  little  of  the  island, 
though  to  all  appearances  there  was  not  much  to  see." 

"  Unluckily,  all  the  men's  arms  are  on  deck,  in  the  arm- 
chest,  or  strapped  to  the  boom  or  masts.  There  is  no  use, 
however,  in  dillydallying  against  one  man  ;  so  I  will  make 
a  rumpus  that  will  soon  "bring  the  chap  to  his  bearings/' 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  219 

Hereupon  Marble  made  what  he  called  a  rumpus  in  good 
earnest.  I  thought,  for  a  minute,  he  would  kick  the  cabin 
doors  down. 

"  'Andzomelee — 'andzomelee,"  said  some  one  on  deck. 
"  Vat  for  you  make  so  much  kick  ? " 

"Who  the  devil  are  you  ?"  demanded  Marble,  kicking 
harder  than  ever.  "  Open  the  cabin  doors,  or  I'll  kick 
them  down,  and  yourself  overboard." 

"Monsieur — sair,"  rejoined  another  voice,  " tenez — you 
a\\:  prisonnier.  Comprenez-vous — prisonair,  eh?" 

"  These  are  Frenchmen,  Captain  Marble,"  I  exclaimed, 
"and  we  are  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

This  was  astounding  intelligence,  so  much  so,  that  all 
had  difficulty  in  believing  it.  A  further  parley,  however, 
destroyed  our  hopes,  little  by  little,  until  we  entered  into 
an  arrangement  with  those  on  deck,  to  the  following  effect : 
I  was  to  be  permitted  to  go  out,  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
real  facts  of  our  situation  ;  while  Marble  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  crew  were  to  remain  below,  passive,  until 
the  result  should  be  reported.  Under  this  arrangement, 
one  of  the  cabin  doors  was  opened,  and  I  sallied  forth. 

Astonishment  almost  deprived  me  of  the  power  of  vision, 
when  I  looked  around  me.  Quite  fifty  armed  white  men, 
sailors  and  natives  of  France,  by  their  air  and  language, 
crowded  around  me,  as  curious  to  see  me,  as  I  could  possi- 
bly be  to  see  them.  In  their  midst  was  Harris,  who  ap- 
proached me  with  an  embarrassed  and  sorrowful  air — 

"  I  know  I  deserve  death,  Mr.  Wallingford,"  this  man 
commenced  ;  "  but  I  fell  asleep  after  so  much  work,  and 
everything  looking  so  safe  and  out-of-harm's-way  like  ;  and 
when  I  woke  up,  I  found  these  people  on  board,  and  in 
possession  of  the  ship." 

"  In  the  name  of  wonder,  whence  come  they,  Harris  ?  Is 
there  a  French  ship  at  the  island  ?" 

"  By  all  I  can  learn  and  see,  sir,  they  are  the  crew  of  a 
wrecked  letter-of-marque — an  Indiaman  of  some  sort  or 
other  ;  and  finding  a  good  occasion  to  get  off  the  island, 
and  make  a  rich  prize,  they  have  helped  themselves  to  the 
poor  Crisis — God  bless  her!  say  I,  though  she  is  now 
under  the  French  flag,  I  suppose." 

I  looked  up  at  the  gaff,  and,  sure  enough,  there  was  fly- 
ing the  tri-cohr  ! 


220  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"  The  morning  air  blows  fresh  on  him  ; 
The  waves  dance  gladly  in  his  sight ; 
The  sea-birds  call,  and  wheel,  and  skim— 
O,  blessed  morning  light ! 
He  doth  not  hear  their  joyous  call  ;  he  sees 
No  beauty  in  the  wave,  nor  feels  the  breeze." — DANA. 

TRUTH  is,  truly,  often  stranger  than  fiction. 

The  history  of  the  circumstances  that  brought  us  into 
the  hands  of  our  enemies  will  fully  show  this.  La  Pauline 
was  a  ship  of  six  hundred  tons,  that  carried  letters-of- 
marque  from  the  French  government.  She  sailed  from 
France  a  few  weeks  after  we  had  left  London,  bound  on  a 
voyage  somewhat  similar  to  our  own,  though  neither  sea- 
otter  skins,  sandal-wood,  nor  pearls,  formed  any  part  of  her 
contemplated  bargains.  Her  first  destination  was  the 
French  islands  off  Madagascar,  where  she  left  part  of  her 
cargo,  and  took  in  a  few  valuables  in  return.  Thence  she 
proceeded  to  the  Philippine  Islands,  passing  in  the  track 
of  English  and  American  traders,  capturing  two  of  the 
former,  and  sinking  them  after  taking  out  such  portions 
of  cargo  as  suited  her  own  views.  From  Manilla,  La  Pau- 
line shaped  her  course  for  the  coast  of  South  America, 
intending  to  leave  certain  articles  brought  from  France, 
others  purchased  at  Bourbon,  the  Isle  of  France,  and  the 
Philippines,  and  divers  bales  and  boxes  found  in  the  holds 
of  her  prizes,  in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  in  exchange  for 
the  precious  metals.  In  effecting  all  this,  Monsieur  Le 
Compte,  her  commander,  relied,  firstly,  on  the  uncommon 
sailing  of  iiis  ship  ;  secondly,  on  his  own  uncommon  bold- 
ness and  dexterity,  and,  thirdly,  on  the  well-known  dispo- 
sition of  the  South  Americans  to  smuggle.  Doubloons  and 
dollars  taking  up  but  little  room,  he  reserved  most  of  the 
interior  of  his  vessel,  after  his  traffic  on  the  "Main,"  for 
such  property  as  might  be  found  in  the  six  or  eight  prizes 
he  calculated,  with  certainty,  on  making,  after  getting  to 
the  eastward  of  the  Horn.  All  these  well-grounded  an- 
ticipations had  been  signally  realized  down  to  a  period  of 
just  three  months  to  a  day  prior  to  our  own  arrival  at  this 
unhappy  island. 

On  the  night  of  the  day  just  mentioned,  La  Pauline,  with- 
out the  smallest  notice  of  the  vicinity  of  any  danger,  run- 


AFLOAT  AMD  ASHORE.  221 

ning  in  an  easy  bowline  and  without  much  sea,  had  brought 
up  on  another  part  of  the  very  reef  from  which  we  had 
made  so  narrow  an  escape.  The  rocks  being  coral,  there 
was  little  hope  for  her  ;  and,  in  fact,  they  appeared  through 
her  bottom  within  two  hours  after  she  struck.  The  sugars 
taken  in  at  the  Isle  of  France,  as  a  ground  tier  of  ballast, 
were  soon  rendered  of  doubtful  value,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
but  the  weather  remaining  pleasant,  Captain  Le  Compte 
succeeded,  by  means  of  his  boats,  in  getting  everything 
else  of  value  on  the  island,  and  forthwith  set  about  break- 
ing up  the  wreck,  in  order  to  construct  a  craft  that  might 
carry  himself  and  his  people  to  some  civilized  land.  Having 
plenty  of  tools,  and  something  like  sixty  men,  great  prog- 
ress had  been  made  in  the  work,  a  schooner  of  about 
ninety  tons  being  then  so  far  completed  as  to  be  nearly 
ready  to  be  put  in  the  water.  Such  was  the  state  of  things, 
when,  one  fine  night,  we  arrived  in  the  manner  already  re- 
lated. The  French  kept  constant  lookouts,  and  it  seems 
we  were  seen,  a  distant  speck  on  the  ocean,  just  as  the  sun 
set,  while  the  low  trees  of  the  island  eluded  our  vigilance. 
By  the  aid  of  a  good  night-glass  our  movements  were 
watched,  and  a  boat  was  about  to  be  sent  out  to  warn  us 
of  our  danger,  when  we  passed  within  the  reef.  Captain 
Le  Compte  knew  the  chances  were  twenty  to  one  that  we 
were  an  enemy,  and  he  chose  to  lie  concealed  to  watch  the 
result.  As  soon  as  we  had  anchored  within  the  basin,  and 
silence  prevailed  in  the  ship,  he  manned  his  own  gig, 
and  pulled  with  muffled  oars  up  under  our  bows,  to  recon- 
noitre. Finding  everything  quiet,  he  ventured  into  the 
fore-chains,  and  thence  on  deck,  accompanied  by  three  of 
his  men.  He  found  Harris  snoring,  with  his  back  sup- 
ported against  a  gun-carriage,  and  immediately  secured 
him.  Then  it  only  remained  to  close  the  fore-scuttle  and 
the  cabin  doors,  and  to  fasten  them,  to  have  us  all  prison- 
ers below.  The  boat  was  sent  for  more  men,  and  hours 
before  any  of  us  in  the  berths  were  awake,  the  ship  had 
effectually  changed  masters.  Harris  told  our  story,  and 
the  captors  knew  our  whole  history,  from  the  day  of  sail-, 
ing  down  to  the  present  time. 

Much  of  this  I  learned  in  subsequent  conversations  with 
the  French,  but  enough  of  it  was  related  to  me  then  to  let 
me  understand  the  outlines  of  the  truth.  My  eyes  also  let 
me  into  many  secrets.  I  found  the  island,  by  daylight, 
substantially  as  I  had  supposed  it  to  be.  It  was  not  so  large, 
however,  as  it  had  seemed  to  me  by  the  aid  of  the  moon, 


222  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

though  its  general  character  was  the  same.  The  basin  in 
which  the  ship  lay  might  have  covered  a  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  in  extent,  the  belt  of  land  which  encircled  it,  varying 
in  breadth  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  three  miles.  Most 
of  the  island  was  an  open  grove,  lying  at  an  elevation  of 
from  ten  to  thirty  feet  above  the  ocean  ;  and  we  ascer- 
tained there  were  several  springs  of  the  sweetest  water 
on  it.  Nature,  by  one  of  its  secret  processes,  had  covered 
the  earth  with  a  beautiful  short  grass  ;  and  the  French, 
with  their  usual  attention  to  the  table,  and  their  com- 
mendable activity,  had  already  several  materials  for  salads, 
etc.,  in  full  growth.  String  beans  might  be  had  for  ask- 
ing, and  petits  pois  were  literally  a  drug.  I  saw  the  tents 
of  the  French  extending  in  a  line  beneath  the  shades  of 
the  trees  ;  and  there  was  La  Petite  Pauline  (the  schooner) 
on  her  ways,  actually  undergoing  the  process  of  receiving 
her  first  coat  of  paint.  As  for  La  Pauline  herself,  I  could 
just  discover  her  lower  mastheads,  inclining  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees  from  the  perpendicular,  through  a  vista 
in  the  trees. 

There  was  a  good-humored  common  sense  in  all  the 
proceedings  of  Monsieur  Le  Compte,  that  showed  he  was 
a  philosopher  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  He  took 
things  without  repining  himself,  and  wished  to  make 
others  as  happy  as  circumstances  would  allow.  At  his 
suggestion  I  invited  Marble  on  deck  ;  and  after  making 
my  own  commander  acquainted  with  the  state  of  the  facts, 
we  both  listened  to  the  propositions  of  our  captor.  Mon- 
sieur le  Compte,  all  his  officers,  and  not  a  few  of  his  men, 
had  been  prisoners,  some  time  or  other,  in  England,  and 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  carrying  on  the  negotiations  in 
our  mother  tongue. 

"  Votre  bailment — your  sheep,  shall  become  French — Men 
entendu"  commenced  our  captor;  "vid  her  car  gaison — rig, 
and  tout  cela.  Bien;  cest  convenu.  I  shall  not  exact  rigueur 
in  mes  conditions.  If  you  shall  have  possible  to  take  your 
sheep  from  nous  autres  Fran$ais — d'accord.  Every  man  for 
himself  et  sa  nation.  Zere  is  the  pavillion  Francais — and 
zere  it  shall  fly,  so  long  as  we  shall  not  help — mais — parole 
d'honncur,  ze  prize  come  sheep,  and  shall  be  sell  very  dear 
— entendez  vous?  Bien.  Now,  sair,  I  shall  put  you  and  all 
your  peepl'  on  ze  island,  vere  you  shall  take  our  place, 
while  we  take  your  place.  Ze  arm  shall  be  in  our  hand 
while  ze  sheep  stay,  but  we  leave  you  fusils,  poudre  et  tout 
cela,  behind." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  223 

This  was,  nearly  verbatim,  the  programme  of  capitulation 
as  laid  down  by  Captain  Le  Compte.  As  for  Marble,  it 
was  not  in  his  nature  to  acquiesce  in  such  an  arrangement 
without  much  cavilling  and  contention.  But  cui  bono  ?  We 
were  in  Monsieur  Le  Compte's  hands  ;  and,  though  dis- 
posed to  deal  very  handsomely  by  us,  it  was  easy  enough 
to  see  he  was  determined  to  make  his  own  conditions.  I 
succeeded,  at  last,  in  making  Marble  understand  that  re- 
sistance was  useless  ;  and  he  submitted,  though  with  some 
such  grace  as  a  man  who  has  not  been  mesmerized,  submits 
to  an  amputation — those  who  have,  are  said  rather  to  de- 
light in  the  amusement. 

The  terms  of  the  capitulation — and  they  differed  but 
little  from  surrendering  at  discretion — were  no  sooner 
agreed  to,  than  our  people  were  ordered  into  the  forecastle, 
whence  they  were  transferred  to  the  boats,  in  readiness  to 
be  sent  ashore.  All  the  chests  and  private  effects  were 
moved  out,  m  the  most  honorable  manner,  and  sent  into 
La  Pauline's  boats,  which  lay  prepared  to  receive  them. 
As  for  us  officers,  we  were  put  in  the  gig,  Neb  and  the 
cabin  steward  being  charged  with  the  duty  of  looking  after 
our  private  property.  When  everybody,  the  blacks  ex- 
cepted,  was  in  a  boat,  we  shoved  off  and  proceeded  toward 
the  landing,  as  chopfallen  and  melancholy  a  party  as  ever 
took  possession  of  a  newly-discovered  country.  Marble 
affected  to  whistle,  for  he  was  secretly  furious  at  the  non- 
chalance manifested  by  Captain  Le  Compte  ;  but  I  detected 
him  in  getting  parts  of  Monny  Musk  and  the  Irish  Wash- 
erwoman, into  the  same  strain.  To  own  the  truth,  the  ex- 
mate  was  morally  much  disturbed.  As  for  myself,  I  con- 
sidered the  affair  as  an  incident  of  war,  and  cared  much 
less. 

"  Voila,  messieurs"  exclaimed  Monsieur  Le  Compte,  flour- 
ishing his  arms,  with  an  air  of  unsurpassed  generosity ; 
"you  shall  be  master  here  so  soon  after  we  shall  go  away, 
and  take  our  leetl'  property  wid  us  ! " 

"  He's  d — d  generous,  Miles,"  growled  Marble,  in  my 
ear.  "  He'll  leave  us  the  island,  and  the  reef,  and  the 
cocoa-nuts,  when  he  lias  gone  off  with  our  ship,  and  her 
cargo.  I'll  bet  all  I'm  worth,  he  tows  off  his  bloody 
schooner,  in  the  bargain." 

"  There  is  no  use  in  complaining,  sir  ;  and  by  keeping 
on  good  terms  with  the  French,  we  may  fare  the  better." 

The  truth  of  this  was  soon  apparent.  Captain  Le 
Compte  invited  us  to  share  his  breakfast,  and  we  repaired 


224  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

to  the  tent  of  the  French  officers,  with  that  purpose.  In 
the  meantime,  the  French  sailors  were  transferring  the 
few  articles  they  intended  to  carry  away,  to  the  ship,  with 
the  generous  object  of  leaving  their  own  tents  to  the  im- 
mediate occupation  of  us  prisoners.  As  Monsieur  Le 
Compte's  plan  was  to  proceed  to  the  Spanish  Main  in 
order  to  complete  his  contemplated  traffic  in  that  quarter, 
no  sooner  were  the  tents  prepared,  than  the  French  began 
also  to  ship  such  articles  of  their  own,  as  it  had  originally 
been  proposed  to  exchange  for  Spanish  dollars.  In  the 
meantime,  we  sat  down  to  breakfast-. 

"  C'est  la  fortune  de  guerre  ! — vat  you  call  fortune  of  war, 
messieurs"  observed  Captain  Le  Compte,  whirling  the  stick 
in  a  vessel  of  chocolate,  in  a  very  artistical  manner,  all  the 
while.  "Bon — c'est  excellente.  Antoin." 

Antoin  appeared  in  the  shape  of  a  well-smoked,  copper- 
colored  cabin-boy.  He  was  told  to  take  a  small  pitcher  of 
the  chocplate,  with  Captain  Le  Compte's  compliments,  to 
mademoiselle,  and  to  tell  her  there  was  now  every  prospect 
of  their  quitting  the  island  in  a  very  few  days,  and  of  see- 
ing la  belle  France  in  the  course  of  the  next  four  or  five 
months.  This  was  said  in  French,  and  rapidly,  with  the 
vehemence  of  one  who  felt  all  he  uttered,  and  more  too, 
but  I  knew  enough  of  the  language  to  understand  its 
drift. 

"  I  suppose  the  fellow  is  generalizing  on  our  misfort- 
unes, in  his  d — d  lingo,"  growled  Marble;  "but,  let  him 
look  out — lie's  not  home  yet,  by  many  a  thousand  miles  ! " 

I  endeavored  to  explain  it  all  to  Marble  ;  but  it  was  use- 
less ;  he  insisted  the  Frenchman  was  sending  chocolate 
from  his  own  table  to  his  crew,  in  order  to  play  the  mag- 
nifico,  on  the  score  of  his  own  good  luck.  There  was  no 
use  in  "  kicking  against  the  pricks,"  and  I  let  Marble  en- 
joy the  pleasure  of  believing  the  worst  of  his  captor ;  a 
sort  of  Anglo-Saxon  propensity  that  has  garnished  many 
a  page  in  English  and  American  history — to  say  nothing 
of  the  propensities  and  histories  of  others,  among  the  great 
family  of  nations. 

When  breakfast  was  over,  Monsieur  Le  Compte  led  me 
aside,  in  a  walk  under  the  trees,  to  explain  his  views  and 
intentions.  He  gave  me  to  understand  I  had  been  selected 
for  this  communication  on  account  of  his  observing  the 
state  of  mind  of  my  captain.  I  also  comprehended  a  lit- 
tle French,  which  was  quite  convenient  in  a  conversation 
with  one  who  interlarded  his  English  so  much  with  phrases 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  225 

taken  from  his  mother  tongue.  I  was  given  to  understand 
that  the  French  would  put  the  schooner  into  the  water  that 
very  evening,  and  that  we  should  find  her  masts,  rigging, 
and  sails  all  fitted  for  her.  With  activity,  she  could  be 
ready  to  quit  the  island  in  a  fortnight,  at  the  furthest  A 
portion  of  our  own  provisions  would  be  landed,  as  better 
suited  to  our  habits  than  those  taken  from  La  Pauline  r 
while  a  portion  of  the  last  would  be  transferred  to  the 
Crisis,  for  the  same  reason,  as  applied  to  the  French.  As 
for  water-casks,  etc.,  they  were  all  arranged  ;  everything  of 
the  sort  having  been  taken  from  the  wreck,  with  little  or 
no  difficulty,  immediately  after  the  loss  of  the  ship.  In  a 
word,  we  should  have  little  more  to  do  than  to  step  the 
masts,  rig  our  craft,  stow  her  hold,  and  proceed  at  once  to 
the  nearest  friendly  port. 

"  I  zink  you  shall  go  to  Canton,"  added  Monsieur  Le 
Compte.  "  Ze  distance  shall  not  be  much  more  than  to 
Sout  America  ;  and  zere  you  shall  find  plenty  of  your 
compatriotcs.  Of  course,  you  can  sleep  and  go  chez  vous — 
vat  you  call  '  home,'  with  toute  la  facilite.  Oui — cet  arrange- 
ment est  admirable." 

So  the  arrangement  might  appear  to  him,  though  I  con- 
fess to  a  decided  preference  to  remaining  in  the  "  blind 
Crisis,"  as  our  men  had  got  to  call  her,  after  her  blunder- 
ing through  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

"  Allons  !  "  exclaimed  the  French  captain,  suddenly.  "  We 
are  near  ze  tent  of  mademoiselle — we  shall  go  and  demand 
how  she  carry  herself  ce  beau  matin  !  " 

On  looking  up,  I  saw  two  small  tents  within  fifty  yards 
of  us.  They  were  beautifully  placed,  in  the  midst  of  a 
thicker  portion  of  the  grove  than  usual,  and  near  a  spring 
of  the  most  exquisitely  limpid  water  I  ever  beheld.  These 
tents  were  made  of  new  canvas,  and  had  been  fashioned 
with  care  and  skill.  I  could  see  that  the  one  we  first  ap- 
proached was  carpeted  over,  and  that  it  had  many  of  the 
appliances  of  a  comfortable  abode.  Monsieur  le  Compte, 
who  was  really  a  good-looking  fellow  under  forty,  put  on 
his  most  amiable  appearance  as  he  got  near  the  canvas 
door  ;  and  he  hemmed  once  or  twice,  as  respectfully  as  he 
could,  by  way  of  letting  his  presence  be  known.  In  an  in- 
stant, a  maid-servant  came  out  to  receive  him.  The  mo- 
ment I  laid  eyes  on  this  woman,  it  struck  me  her  face  was 
familiar,  though  I  could  not  recall  the  place,  or  time, 
where,  or  when,  we  had  before  met.  The  occurrence  was 
so  singular,  that  I  was  still  ruminating  on  it,  when  I  unex- 


226  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

pectedly  found  myself  standing  in  the  tent,  face  to  face 
with  Emily  Merton  and  her  father  ! 

We  recognized  each  other  at  a  glance,  and,  to  Monsieur 
Le  Compte's  amazement,  hearty  greetings  passed  between 
us,  as  old  acquaintances.  Old  acquaintances,  however,  we 
could  scarce  be  called  ;  but,  on  an  uninhabited  island  in 
the  South  Seas,  one  is  glad  to  meet  any  face  that  he  has 
ever  met  before.  Emily  looked  less  blooming  than  when 
we  had  parted,  near  a  twelvemonth  before,  in  London  ; 
but  she  was  still  pretty  and  pleasing.  Both  she  and  her 
father  were  in  mourning,  and,  the  mother  not  appearing, 
I  at  once  guessed  the  truth.  Mrs.  Merton  was  an  invalid 
when  I  knew  her,  though  I  had  not  anticipated  for  her 
so  speedy  a  death. 

I  thought  Captain  Le  Compte  appeared  vexed  at  my  re- 
ception. Still,  he  did  not  forget  his  good  manners  ;  and 
he  rose,  saying  he  would  leave  me  with  rny  friends  to  make 
mutual  explanations,  while  he  proceeded  to  overlook  the 
duty  pf  the  day.  On  taking  his  leave,  I  was  not  pleased  to 
see  him  approach  and  kiss  Emily's  hand.  The  act  was 
done  respectfully,  and  not  entirely  without  grace  ;  but  there 
were  a  feeling  and  manner  in  it  that  could  not  well  be  mis- 
taken. Emily  blushed^  as  she  wished  him  good  morning, 
and  turning  to  look  at  me,  in  spite  of  a  kind  of  dog-in-the- 
manger  sensation,  I  could  not  forbear  smiling. 

"  Never,  Mr.  Wallingford,  never !  "  Emily  said,  with 
emphasis,  the  instant  her  admirer  was  out  of  hearing. 
"  We  are  at  his  mercy,  and  must  keep  terms  with  him  ;  but 
I  can  never  marry  a  foreigner" 

"  That  is  poor  encouragement  for  Wallingford,  my  dear," 
said  her  father,  laughing,  "  should  he  happen  to  take  a 
fancy  to  you  himself." 

Emily  looked  confused,  but  what,  for  the  circumstances, 
was  better  still,  she  looked  concerned. 

"  I  am  sure,  dear  sir,"  she  answered,  with  a  quickness  I 
thought  charming,  "I  am  sure  Mr.  Wallingford  will  not 
suppose  I  meant  anything  so  rude.  Then,  he  is  no  im- 
portunate suitor  of  mine,  like  this  disagreeable  French- 
man, who  always  seems  to  me  more  like  a  Turkish  master, 
than  like  one  who  really  respects  a  woman.  Besides " 

"  Besides  what,  Miss  Merton  ? "  I  ventured  to  ask,  per- 
ceiving that  she  hesitated. 

"  Besides,  Americans  are  hardly  foreigners  to  us,"  added 
Emily,  smiling;  "for  we  have  even  American  relatives, 
you  know,  father." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  227 

"  Quite  true,  my  dear,  and  came  near  being  Americans 
ourselves.  Had  my  father  established  himself  where  he 
married,  as  had  been  his  first  intention,  such  would  have 
been  our  national  character.  But  Monsieur  Le  Compte  has 
given  us  a  moment  to  tell  our  stories  to  each  other,  and  I 
think  it  will  not  be  a  very  long  moment.  Let  one  of  us 
commence,  if  we  wish  the  offices  done  without  unpleasant 
listeners." 

Emily  urged  me  to  begin,  and  I  did  not  hesitate.  My 
story  was  soon  told.  Major  Merton  and  his  daughter 
understood  all  about  the  capture  of  the  ship  in  the  basin, 
though  they  were  ignorant  of  the  vessel's  name.  I  had 
only  to  relate  our  voyage  on  the  main,  and  the  death  of 
Captain  Williams,  therefore,  to  have  my  whole  story  told. 
I  made  it  all  the  shorter,  from  an  impatience  to  hear  the 
circumstance  which  had  thrown  my  friends  in  their  present 
extraordinary  position. 

"  It  seems  extraordinary  enough,  beyond  doubt,"  Major 
Merton  began,  the  moment  I  left  him  an  opening  by  my 
closing  remark,  "  but  it  is  all  very  simple  when  you  com- 
mence at  the  right  end  of  the  sad  story,  and  follow  events 
in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred. 

"When  you  left  us  in  London,  Wallingford,  I  supposed 
we  were  on  the  point  of  sailing  for  the  West  Indies,  but  a 
better  appointment  soon  after  offering  in  the  East,  my 
destination  was  changed  to  Bombay.  It  was  important 
that  I  should  reach  my  port  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible, 
and  no  regular  Indiaman  being  ready,  I  took  passage  in  a 
licensed  running  vessel,  a  ship  of  no  size  or  force. 
Nothing  occurred  until  we  had  got  within  three  or  four 
days'  sail  of  our  port,  when  we  fell  in  with  La  Pauline,  and 
were  captured.  At  first,  I  think  Captain  Le  Compte  would 
have  been  willing  to  let  me  go  on  parole,  but  no  oppor- 
tunity offered,  and  we  went  with  the  ship  to  Manilla.  While 
there  the  melancholy  loss  happened,  which,  no  doubt,  you 
have  comprehended  from  our  mourning  ;  and  I  was  strong- 
ly in  hopes  of  making  some  arrangements  that  would  still 
enable  me  to  save  my  situation.  But  by  this  time  Mon- 
sieur Le  Compte  had  become  an  open  admirer  of  Emily, 
and  I  suppose  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  any  liberation,  so 
long  as  he  can  invent  excuses  to  frustrate  it." 

"  I  trust  he  does  not  abuse  his  power  in  any  way,  and  annoy 
Miss  Merton  with  importunities  that  are  unpleasant  to  her." 

Emily  rewarded  me  for  the  warmth  with  which  I  spoke, 
with  a  sweet  smile  ana  a  slight  blush. 


js2o  AfiLUAl    AND   AS PfO RE. 

"  Of  that  I  cannot  accuse  him,  in  one  sense  at  least,"  re. 
sumed  Major  Merton.  "  Monsieur  Le  Compte  does  all 
for  us  that  his  sense  of  delicacy  can  suggest ;  and  it  was 
not  possible  for  passengers  to  be  more  comfortable  or  re- 
tired on  board  ship,  than  we  were  in  the  Pauline.  That 
vessel  had  a  poop,  and  its  cabin  was  given  up  entirely  to 
our  use.  At  Manilla  I  was  permitted  to  go  at  large  on  a 
mere  verbal  assurance  of  returning,  and  in  all  other  par- 
ticulars we  have  been  treated  as  well  as  circumstances 
would  very  well  allow.  Nevertheless,  Emily  is  too  young 
to  admire  a  suitor  of  forty,  too  English  to  admire  a  for- 
eigner, and  too  well-born  to  accept  one  who  is  merely  a 
merchant  sailor — I  mean  one  who  is  nothing,  and  has  noth- 
ing but  what  his  ship  makes  him  or  can  give  him." 

I  understood  Major  Merton's  distinction  ;  he  saw  a  dif- 
ference between  the  heir  of  Clawbonny,  pursuing  his  ad- 
ventures for  the  love  of  the  sea,  and  the  man  who  pursued 
the  sea  as  an  adventurer.  It  was  not  very  delicately  made, 
but  it  was  pretty  well,  as  coming  from  an  European  to  an 
American — the  latter  being  assumed  ex  gratia,  to  be  a 
being  of  an  inferior  order,  morally,  politically,  physically, 
socially,  and  in  every  other  sense  but  the  pecuniary.  Thank 
Heaven  !  the  American  dollar  is  admitted,  pennyweight  for 
pennyweight,  to  a  precedency  immediately  next  to  that  of 
th'j  metal  ^dollar  of  Europe.  It  even  goes  before  the  paper 
ifutler  of  Prussia. 

"  I  can  readily  imagine  Miss  Merton  would  look  higher 
than  Captain  Le  Compte,  for  various  reasons,"  I  answered, 
making  a  sort  of  acknowledgment  for  the  distinction  in 
my  favor  by  bowing  involuntarily,  "  and  I  should  hope 
that  gentleman  would  cease  to  be  importunate  as  soon  as 
convinced  he  cannot  succeed." 

"You  do  not  know  a  Frenchman,  Mr.  Wallingford,"  re- 
joined Emily.  "  He  is  the  hardest  creature  on  earth  to 
persuade  into  the  notion  that  he  is  not  adorable." 

"  I  can  hardly  believe  that  this  weakness  extends  as  far 
as  the  sailors,"  said  I,  laughing.  "  At  all  events,  you  will 
be  released  the  instant  you  reach  France." 

"Sooner  too,  I  trust,  Wallingford,"  resumed  the  father. 
"  These  Frenchmen  can  have  it  their  own  way  out  here  in 
the  solitude  of  the  Pacific,  but  once  in  the  Atlantic  I  shall 
expect  some  British  cruiser  to  pick  us  up,  long  ere  we  can 
reach  France." 

This  was  a  reasonable  expectation,  and  we  conversed 
about  it  for  some  time.  I  shall  not  repeat  all  that  passed, 


AFLOAT  AATD  ASHORE.  229 

but  the  reader  can  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  that 
Major  Merton  and  myself  communicated  to  each  other 
every  fact  that  was  likely  to  be  of  interest  to  men  in  our 
situation.  When  I  thought  it  prudent  to  take  my  leave  he 
walked  some  distance  with  me,  holding  his  way  to  a  point 
on  the  outer  side  of  the  island,  where  I  could  get  a  view  of 
the  wreck.  Here  he  left  me  for  the  moment,  while  I  pro- 
ceeded along  the  beach,  ruminating  on  all  that  had  passed. 

The  process  by  which  nature  uses  her  materials  to  found 
islands  in  the  midst  of  oceans  like  the  Pacific,  is  a  curious 
study.  The  insect  that  forms  the  coral  rock  must  be  an 
industrious  little  creature,  as  there  is  reason  to  think  that 
some  of  the  reefs  that  have  become  known  to  navigators 
within  the  last  sixty  or  seventy  years,  have  since  been  con- 
verted into  islands  bearing  trees,  by  their  labors.  Should 
the  work  go  on,  a  part  of  this  vast  sea  will  yet  be  con- 
verted into  a  continent ;  and  who  knows  but  a  railroad 
may  yet  run  across  that  portion  of  our  globe  connecting 
America  with  the  old  world  ?  I  see  that  Captain  Beechy, 
in  his  voyage,  speaks  of  a  wreck  that  occurred  in  1792,  on  a 
reef,  where  in  1826  he  found  an  island  near  three  leagues 
long,  bearing  tall  trees.  It  would  be  a  curious  calculation 
to  ascertain,  if  one  family  of  insects  can  make  an  island 
three  leagues  long  in  thirty-four  years,  how  many  families 
it  would  take  to  make  the  grading  of  the  railroad  I  have 
mentioned.  Ten  years  since,  I  would  not  have  ventured 
a  hint  of  this  nature,  for  it  might  have  set  speculation  in 
motion,  and  been  the  instrument  of  robbing  more  widows 
and  orphans  of  their  straitened  means  ;  but,  Heaven  be 
praised  !  we  have  at  length  reached  a  period  in  the  history 
of  the  country,  when  a  man  may  venture  on  a  speculation 
in  the  theory  of  geography  without  incurring  the  risk  of 
giving  birth  to  some  wild — if  not  unprincipled — specula- 
tion on  dollars  and  cents. 

As  I  drew  near  the  outer  shore  of  the  island,  opposite 
to  the  wreck,  I  came  unexpectedly  on  Marble.  The  poor 
fellow  was  seated  on  a  raised  projection  of  coral  rock,  with 
his  arms  folded,  and  was  in  so  thorough  a  brown  study, 
that  he  did  not  even  hear  my  footsteps  in  approaching, 
though  I  purposely  trod  heavily,  in  order  to  catch  his  ear. 
Unwilling  to  disturb  him,  I  stood  gazing  at  the  wreck 
myself,  for  some  little  time,  the  place  affording  a  much 
better  view  of  it  than  any  other  point  from  which  it  had 
met  my  eye.  The  French  had  made  far  greater  inroads 
upon  their  vessel,  than  the  elements.-  She  had  struck  to 


230  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

leeward  of  the  island,  and  lay  in  a  spot  where,  indeed,  it 
might  take  years  to  break  her  entirely  up,  in  that  placid 
sea.  Most  of  her  upper  works,  however,  were  gone  ;  and 
I  subsequently  discovered  that  her  own  carpenters  had 
managed  to  get  out  even  a  portion  of  her  floor-timbers, 
leaving  the  fabric  bound  together  by  those  they  left.  Her 
lower  masts  were  standing,  but  even  her  lower  yards  had 
been  worked  up,  in  order  to  make  something  useful  foi 
the  schooner.  The  beach,  at  no  great  distance,  was  still 
strewed  with  objects  brought  from  the  reef,  and  which  it 
had  not  yet  been  found  necessary  to  use. 

At  length  a  movement  of  mine  attracted  Marble's  atten- 
tion, and  he  turned  his  head  toward  me.  He  seemed  glad 
I  had  joined  him,  and  expressed  himself  happy,  also,  that 
he  saw  me  alone. 

"  I  have  been  generalizinga  little  on  our  condition,  Miles," 
he  said,  "  and  look  at  it  which  end  forward  I  may,  I  find  it 
bad  enough  ;  almost  enough  to  overcome  me.  I  loved  that 
ship,  Mr.  Wallingford,  as  much  as  some  folks  love  their 
parents — of  wife  or  children,  I  never  had  any — and  the 
thought  that  she  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  Frenchman 
is  too  much  for  my  natur'.  Had  it  been  Smudge,  I  could 
have  borne  up  against  it ;  but,  to  haul  down  one's  colors  to  a 
wrack,  and  a  bloody  French  wrack,  too,  it  is  superhuman  !  " 

"  You  must  remember  all  the  circumstances,  Captain 
Marble,  and  you  will  find  consolation.  The  ship  was  sur- 
prised, as  we  surprised  the  Lady  of  Nantes." 

"That's  just  it— put  that  on  a  general  principle,  now, 
arid  where  are  you  ?  Surprisers  mustn't  be  surprised. 
Had  we  set  a  quarter-watch,  sir,  it  never  could  have  hap- 
pened ;  and  nothing  less  than  a  quarter-watch  should  have 
been  set  in  a  strange  haven.  What  mattered  it,  that  it  was 
an  uninhabited  island,  and  that  the  ship  was  land-locked 
and  well  moored,  and  the  holding-ground  was  capital?  It 
is  all  of  no  account  when  you  come  to  look  at  the  affair  in 
the  way  of  duty.  Why,  old  Robbins,  with  his  rivers  in  the 
ocean,  would  never  have  been  caught  in  this  miserable 
manner." 

Then  Marble  fairly  gave  in,  placed  his  two  hard  hands 
on  his  face,  and  I  could  see  tears  trickling  from  beneath 
them,  as  if  water  were  squeezed  from  a  stone. 

"  The  chances  of  the  sea,  Captain  Marble,"  I  said,  great- 
ly shocked  at  such  an  exhibition,  coming  from  such  a 
quarter — "  the  chances  of  the  sea  are  sometimes  too  much 
for  the  best  sailors.  We  should  look  at  this  loss,  as  we 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  231 

look  at  the  losses  occasioned  by  a  gale — then  there  is  some 
hope  left,  after  all." 

"  I  should  like  to  know  what — to  me,  there  is  no  land 
ahead." 

"  Surprisers  may  not  only  be  surprised,  but  they  may 
carry  on  their  old  trade  again,  and  surprise  once  more,  in 
their  turn." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Miles?"  said  Marble,  look- 
ing up  eagerly,  and  speaking  as  quick  as  lightning  ;  "  are 
you  generalizing,  or  have  you  any  particular  project  in 
view  ? " 

"  Both,  sir.  Generalizing,  so  far  as  taking  the  chances 
of  war  are  concerned,  and  particularizing  as  to  a  certain 
notion  that  has  come  into  my  head." 

"  Out  with  the  last,  Miles— out  with  it,  boy ;  the  Lord 
made  you  for  something  uncommon." 

"  First,  let  me  know,  Captain  Marble,  whether  you  have 
had  any  further  conversation  with  Monsieur  Le  Compte  ? 
whether  he  has  said  any  more  on  the  subject  of  our  future 
proceedings  ? " 

"I  just  left  the  grinning  rascal — those  amiable  smiles  of 
his,  Miles,  are  only  so  many  grins  thrown  into  our  faces  to 
let  us  feel  his  good  luck  ;  but,  d — n  him,  if  I  ever  get 
home,  I'll  fit  out  a  privateer  and  be  after  him,  if  there's  a 
fast-going  schooner  to  be  had  in  all  America  for  love  or 
money.  I  think  I'd  turn  pirate  to  catch  the  villain  !" 

Alas !  poor  Marble.  Little  would  he,  who  never  got 
higher  than  a  mate,  unless  by  accident,  be  likely  to  per- 
suade your  cautious  ship-owners  to  intrust  him  with  a 
vessel  of  any  sort,  to  go  tilting  against  windmills  afloat  in 
that  fashion. 

"  But  why  go  to  America  for  a  schooner,  Captain  Marble, 
when  the  French  are  polite  enough  to  give  us  one  here, 
exactly  where  we  are  ? " 

"  I  begin  to  understand  you,  boy.  There  is  a  little  con- 
solation in  the  idea,  but  this  Frenchman  has  already  got 
my  commission,  and  without  the  document  we  should  be 
no  better  than  so  many  pirates." 

"  I  doubt  that,  sir,  even  were  a  ship  to  act  generally,  pro- 
vided she  actually  sailed  with  a  commission,  and  lost  it  by 
accident.  Commissions  are  all  registered,  and  proof  of  our 
character  could  be  found  at  home." 

"  Ay,  for  the  Crisis,  but  not  for  this  '  Pretty  Polly  ; '  "  for 
so  Marble  translated  Petite  Pauline.  "The  commission  is 
only  good  for  the  vessel  that  is  named  in  it." 


*32  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  I  don't  know  that,  Captain  Marble.  Suppose  our  ship 
had  been  sunk  in  an  action  in  which  we  took  our  enemy, 
could  we  not  continue  our  voyage  in  the  prize,  and  fight 
anything  that  came  in  our  way  afterward  ?" 

"  By  George,  that  does  look  reasonable.  Here  was  I  just 
threatening  to  go  out  as  a  pirate,  yet  hesitating  about  tak- 
ing my  own/' 

"  Do  not  the  crews  of  captured  vessels  often  rise  upon 
their  captors,  and  recapture  their  own  vessels  ?  and  were 
any  of  tnem  ever  called  pirates  ?  Besides,  nations  at  war 
authorize  almost  every  sort  of  hostile  act  against  their 
enemies." 

"  Miles,  I  have  been  mistaken — you  are  a  good  seaman, 
but  natur'  meant  you  for  a  lawyer !  Give  me  your  hand, 
boy ;  I  see  a  gleam  of  hope  ahead,  and  a  man  can  live  on 
less  hope  than  food." 

Marble  then  told  me  the  substance  of  the  conversation 
he  had  held  with  Captain  Le  Compte.  The  latter  had  ex- 
pressed a  sudden  and  violent  impatience  to  be  off.  I  under- 
stood the  cause  in  a  moment ;  he  wished  to  separate  Emily 
from  her  old  acquaintance  as  soon  as  possible,  intending 
to  put  the  schooner  into  the  water  for  us  that  very  after- 
noon, and  to  sail  himself  in  the  morning.  This  was  a  sud- 
den resolution,  and  the  French  wrere  moving  heaven  and 
earth  to  carry  it  into  effect.  I  confess  to  some  little  regret 
at  hearing  it,  for  it  was  pleasant  to  meet  the  Mertons  in 
that  unexpected  manner,  and  the  influence  of  woman  in 
such  a  solitude  is  usually  great.  I  now  told  Marble  of  my 
discovery,  and  when  he  had  got  through  with  his  expres- 
sions of  wronder,  I  carried  him  to  the  tents,  and  led  him 
into  the  presence  of  his  old  acquaintances.  In  consequence 
of  this  visit,  I  enjoyed  another  half-hour's  tete-a-tete  with 
Emily,  Marble  soon  taking  the  major  to  walk  with  him  be- 
neath the  trees. 

We  were  both  recalled  to  a  sense  of  our  real  situation  by 
the  reappearance  of  Monsieur  Le  Compte.  I  cannot  say 
that  our  conqueror  behaved  in  the  least  unhandsomely 
toward  us,  notwithstanding  his  evident  jealousy.  He  had 
the  tact  to  conceal  most  of  his  feelings,  and  owing  either 
to  liberality  or  to  art,  he  assumed  an  air  of  generous  con- 
fidence, that  would  be  much  more  likely  to  touch  the  feel- 
ings of  the  maid  he  sought  than  any  acts  of  seventy.  First 
asking  permission  of  Miss  Merton,  he  even  invited  us  and 
himself  to  dine  with  the  major,  and  on  the  whole  we  had 
an  agreeable  entertainment.  We  had  turtle  and  cham- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


233 


pagne,  and  both  of  a  quality  that  was  then  out  of  the  reach 
of  all  the  aldermen  of  London  or  New  York  ;  begging  par- 
don of  the  Sir  Peters  and  Sir  Johns  of  Guildhall,  for 
putting  them,  in  any  sense,  on  a  level  with  "  the  gentleman 
from  the  Fourth  Ward "  or  "  the  gentleman  from  the 
Eleventh  Ward  ;"  though,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  the 
last  very  often  eat  the  best  dinners,  and  drink,  out  of  all 
comparison,  the  best  wines.  Who  pays,  is  a  fact  buried  in 
the  arcana  of  aldermanic  legerdemain.  It  was  late  before 
we  left  the  table,  though  Monsieur  Le  Compte  quitted  us 
early. 

At  five  o'clock  precisely  we  were  summoned  to  witness 
the  launch.  Champagne  and  claret  had  brought  Marble 
into  good  humor,  nor  was  I  at  all  out  of  spirits  myself. 
Emily  put  on  her  hat,  and  took  her  parasol,  just  as  she 
would  have  done  at  home,  and  accepting  my  arm,  she 
walked  to  the  ship-yard,  like  all  the  rest  of  us.  Getting 
her  a  good  place  for  the  sight,  I  accompanied  Marble  to 
take  a  look  at  the  "  Pretty  Poll,"  which  had  not  as  yet 
attracted  as  much  of  our  attention  as  she  ought.  I  had 
suggested  to  him  the  probability  of  an  occasion  offering  to 
rise  upon  the  Frenchmen,  while  their  attention  was  taken 
up  with  the  schooner  ;  but  Monsieur  Le  Compte  warily 
kept  quite  half  his  men  in  the  ship,  and  this  put  the  at- 
tempt out  of  the  question,  since  the  guns  of  the  Crisis 
would  have  swept  any  part  of  the  island. 

The  French  mechanics  deserved  great  credit  for  the 
skill  they  had  manifested  in  the  construction  of  La  Petite 
Pauline.  She  was  not  only  a  safe  and  commodious  craft 
for  her  size,  but  what  was  of  great  importance  to  us,  her 
lines  promised  that  she  would  turn  out  to  be  a  fast  sailer. 
I  afterward  ascertained  that  Captain  Le  Compte  had  been 
her  draftsman,  possessing  not  only  much  taste  for,  but  a 
good  deal  of  practice  in,  the  art.  The  ship  in  which  the 
Mertons  had  taken  passage  to  Bombay  had  the  copper  for 
a  teak-built  frigate  and  sloop-of-war  in  her,  and  this  had 
been  transferred,  among  other  articles,  to  La  Pauline, 
before  the  prize  was  burned.  Availing  himself  of  this  cir- 
cumstance, Monsieur  Le  Compte  had  actually  coppered 
his  schooner,  and  otherwise  he  had  made  her  as  neat  and 
commodious  as  possible.  I  make  no  doubt  he  intended  to 
surprise  his  friends  at  Marseilles,  by  showing  what  clever 
mariners,  wrecked  on  an  island  of  the  Pacific,  could  do  in 
an  emergency.  Then,  doubtless,  he  found  it  pleasant  to 
linger  on  this  island,  eating  fresh  cocoanuts,  with  delicious 


234  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

turtle,  and  making  love  to  Emily  Merton.  Some  of  the 
charms  of  "  Pretty  Poll  "  were  fairly  to  be  attributed  to  the 
charms  of  the  young  lady. 

The  men  began  to  wedge  up  the  moment  we  were  all 
present,  and  this  portion  of  the  labor  was  soon  completed. 
Monsieur  Le  Compte  then  took  his  station  in  the  head  of 
the  schooner.  Making  a  profound  bow  to  Emily,  as  if  to  ask 
her  permission,  the  signal  was  given  ;  the  spur-shores  were 
knocked  away,  and  the  little  craft  slid  off  into  the  water 
so  easily,  making  so  little  ripple  as  she  shot  a  hundred 
fathoms  into  the  bay,  as  to  give  the  assurance  she  would 
prove  a  fast  vessel.  Just  as  she  was  water-borne,  Le 
Compte  dashed  a  bottle  against  the  tiller,  and  shouted  at 
the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Sitcces  a  la  belle  Emilie" 

I  turned  to  Emily,  and  saw  by  the  blush  that  she  under- 
stood French,  while  the  manner  in  which  she  pouted  her 
pretty  plump  lip  betrayed  the  humor  in  which  the  com- 
pliment had  been  received. 

In  a  few  minutes  Captain  Le  Compte  landed,  and,  in  a 
set  speech,  he  gave  up  the  schooner  to  our  possession. 
We  were  told  not  to  consider  ourselves  as  prisoners,  our 
captor  handsomely  admitting  that  he  had  gained  no  laurels 
by  his  victory. 

"  We  shall  go  away,  good  friend,"  he  concluded,  "  mats, 
suppose  we  shall  meet,  and  nos  deux  re'publiques  shall  not 
be  at  peace,  then  each  must  fight  for  son  pavilion." 

This  was  a  good  concluding  sentiment  for  such  a  scene. 
Immediately  after,  the  Mertons  and  their  domestics,  of 
whom  there  were  a  man  and  a  woman,  embarked.  I  took 
leave  of  them  on  the  beach,  and  either  my  observation  or 
my  vanity  induced  me  to  think  Emily  got  into  the  boat 
with  reluctance.  Many  good  wishes  were  exchanged,  and 
the  major  called  out  to  us,  "  We  shall  meet  again,  gentle- 
men— there  has  been  Providence  in  our  previous  inter- 
course. Adieu,  until  then." 

The  French  were  now  in  a  great  bustle.  Most  of  the 
articles  they  intended  to  carry  away  were  already  on  board 
the  ship,  and  by  the  time  it  was  dusk  they  had  closed  their 
communication  with  the  land.  When  Captain  Le  Compte 
took  his  leave  of  us  I  could  not  but  thank  him  for  his 
many  civilities.  He  had  certainly  dealt  generously  by  us, 
though  I  still  think  his  sudden  departure,  which  made  us 
fall  heirs  to  many  things  we  otherwise  might  not  have  so 
done,  was  owing  to  his  wish  to  remove  Emily  Merton,  as 
quickly  as  possible,  from  my  sight. 


AFLOAT  AND  AS  PI  ORE.  235 

At  daylight  next  morning,  Neb  came  to  the  officers' 
tents  to  say  the  ship  was  getting  her  anchors.  I  was  up 
and  dressed  in  a  moment.  The  distance  to  the  inlet  was 
about  a  mile,  and  I  reached  it  just  as  the  Crisis  was  cast. 
In  a  few  minutes  she  came  sweeping  into  the  narrow  pass, 
under  her  topsails,  and  I  saw  Emily  and  her  father  lean- 
ing over  the  hammock-cloths  of  the  quarter-deck.  The 
beautiful  girl  was  so  near  that  I  could  read  the  expression 
of  her  soft  eyes,  and  I  fancied  they  were  filled  with  gentle 
concern.  The  major  called  out,  "God  bless  you,  dear 
Wallingford  " — then  the  ship  swept  past,  and  was  soon  in 
the  outer  bay.  Half  an  hour  later,  or  before  I  left  the 
spot,  she  was  at  sea,  under  every  thing  that  would  draw 
from  her  trucks  down. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"  I  better  brook  the  loss  of  brittle  life, 
Than  those  proud  titles  thou  hast  won  of  me ; 
They  wound  my  thoughts,  worse  than  thy  sword  my  flesh. " 

— SHAKESPEARE. 

HALF-WAY  between  this  inlet  and  the  ship-yard  I  found 
Marble,  standing  with  his  arms  folded,  gazing  after  the 
receding  ship.  His  countenance  was  no  longer  saddened  ; 
but  it  was  fierce.  He  shook  his  hand  menacingly  at  the 
French  ensign,  which  was  flying  at  our  old  gaff,  and  said — 

«  Ay,  d — n  you,  flutter  away  ;  you  quiver  and  shake  now 
like  one  of  your  coxcombs  pigeon-winging  ;  but  where  will 
you  be  this  day  two  months  ?  Miles,  no  man  but  a  bloody 
Frenchman  would  cast  away  a  ship  there,  where  this  Mis- 
ter Count  has  left  the  bones  of  his  vessel  ;  though  here, 
where  we  came  so  nigh  going,  it's  a  miracle  any  man  could 
escape.  Hadn't  we  brought  the  Crisis  through  that  open- 
ing first,  he  never  would  have  dared  to  go  out  by  it." 

I  confess  I  saw  little  about  Monsieur  Le  Compte's  man- 
agement but  skill  and  good  seamanship  ;  but  nothing  is 
more  painful  to  most  men  than  to  admit  the  merit  of  those 
who  have  obtained  an  advantage  over  them.  Marble  could 
not  forget  his  own  defeat,  and  the  recollection  jaundiced 
his  eyes  and  biased  his  judgment. 

"  I  see  our  people  are  busy  already,  sir,"  I  remarked,  by 
way  of  drawing  the  captain's  attention  to  some  other  sub- 


236  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ject.  "  They  have  hauled  the  schooner  up  to  the  yard, 
and  seem  to  be  getting  along  spars  for  shores." 

"  Ay,  ay — Talcott  has  his  orders,  and  I  expect  you  will 
bestir  yourself.  I  shall  step  the  masts  myself,  and  you 
will  get  all  the  rigging  ready  to  be  put  into  its  place,  the 
moment  it  is  possible.  That  Frenchman  calculated,  he 
told  me  to  my  face,  that  we  might  get  to  sea  in  a  fortnight ; 
I  will  let  him  see  that  a  set  of  Yankees  can  rig  and  stow 
his  bloody  schooner  in  three  days,  and  then  leave  them- 
selves time  to  play." 

Marble  was  not  a  man  of  idle  vaunts.  He  soon  had 
everybody  at  work,  with  a  system,  order,  silence,  and  ac- 
tivity, that  proved  he  was  master  of  his  profession.  Nor 
was  the  language  which  might  sound  so  boastful  to  foreign 
ears,  altogether  without  its  justification.  Forty  Americans 
were  a  formidable  force  ;  and,  well  directed,  I  make  no 
doubt  they  would  accomplish  far  more  than  the  ordinary 
run  of  French  seamen,  as  they  were  governed  and  managed 
in  the  year  1800,  and  counting  them  man  for  man,  would 
have  accomplished  in  double  the  time.  Our  crew  had  now 
long  acted  together,  and  frequently  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances  ;  and  they  showed  their  training,  if  men 
ever  did,  on  the  present  occasion.  Everybody  was  busy  ; 
and  we  had  the  shears  up,  and  both  masts  stepped,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  hours.  By  the  time  the  mainmast  was  in, 
I  had  the  foremast  rigged,  the  jib-boom  in  its  place,  the 
sprit-sail  yard  crossed — everything  carried  a  spar  under 
its  bowsprit  then — and  the  lower  yard  up.  It  is  true,  the 
French  had  got  everything  ready  for  us  ;  and  when  we 
turned  the  hands  to,  after  dinner,  we  actually  began  to 
strike  in  cargo,  water,  provisions,  and  such  other  things  as 
it  was  intended  to  carry  away.  At  dusk,  when  we  knocked 
off  work,  the  Emily  looked  like  a  sea-going  craft,  and  there 
was  every  prospect  of  our  having  her  ready  for  sea  by  the 
following  evening.  But,  the  duty  had  been  carried  on  in 
silence.  Napoleon  said  there  had  been  more  noise  made 
in  the  little  schooner  which  carried  him  from  1'Orient  to 
Basque  Roads,  than  was  made  on  board  the  line-of-battle 
ship  that  conveyed  him  to  St.  Helena,  during  the  whole 
passage.  Since  that  memorable  day,  the  French  have 
learned  to  be  silent  on  board  ship,  and  the  fruits  remain 
to  be  seen. 

That  night,  Marble  and  myself  consulted  together  on 
the  aspect  of  things — or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "we  general- 
ized over  our  prospects."  Monsieur  Le  Compte  had  done 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  237 

one  thing  which  duty  required  of  him.  He  did  not  leave 
us  a  kernel  of  the  gunpowder  belonging  to  either  ship  ; 
nor  could  we  find  a  boarding-pike,  cutlass,  or  weapon  of 
any  sort,  except  the  officers'  pistols.  We  had  a  canister 
of  powder,  and  a  sufficiency  of  bullets  for  the  last,  which 
had  been  left  us,  out  of  an  esprit  de  corps,  or  the  feeling  of 
an  officer,  which  told  him  we  might  possibly  need  these 
means  to  keep  our  own  crew  in  order.  Such  was  not  the 
fact,  however,  with  the  particular  people  we  happened  to 
have  ;  a  more  orderly  and  reasonable  set  of  men  never 
sailing  together.  But  Monsieur  Le  Compte  knew  it  was 
his  duty  to  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  trouble  us,  so  far 
as  it  lay  in  his  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  while  he  left  us  the 
means  of  safety,  he  provided  against  our  doing  any  further 
injury  to  his  own  countrymen.  In  this  he  had  pretty  ef- 
fectually succeeded,  so  far  as  armament  was  concerned. 

The  next  morning  I  was  up  with  the  appearance  of  the 
dawn,  and,  having  suffered  much  from  the  heat  of  the 
preceding  day,  I  walked  to  a  suitable  spot,  threw  off  my 
clothes,  and  plunged  into  the  basin.  The  water  was  trans- 
parent almost  as  air  ;  and  I  happened  to  select  a  place 
where  the  coral  grew  within  a  few  yards  of  the  surface. 
As  I  dove,  my  eye  fell  on  a  considerable  cluster  of  large 
oysters  that  were  collected  on  the  rock,  and,  reaching 
them,  I  succeeded  in  bringing  up  half  a  dozen  that  clung 
to  each  other.  These  dives  I  repeated,  during  the  next 
quarter  of  an  hour,  until  I  had  all  the  oysters,  sixty  or 
eighty  in  number,  safe  on  the  shore.  That  they  were  the 
pearl  oysters,  I  knew  immediately  ;  and  beckoning  to  Neb, 
the  fellow  soon  had  them  snug  in  a  basket,  and  put  away 
in  a  place  of  security.  The  circumstance  was  mentioned 
to  Marble,  who,  finding  no  more  heavy  drags  to  be  made, 
ordered  the  Sandwich  Islanders  to  take  a  boat  and  pass  a 
few  hours  in  their  regular  occupation,  on  account  of  the 
owners — if,  indeed,  the  last  had  any  further  claim  on  our 
services.  These  men  met  with  tolerable  success,  though, 
relatively,  nothing  equal  to  mine.  What,  just  then,  was  of 
far  more  importance,  they  made  a  discovery  of  an  arm- 
chest  lying  on  the  bottom  of  the  basin,  at  the  anchorage 
of  the  Crisis,  and  which  had  doubtless  been  sunk  there  by 
the  French.  We  had  all  La  Pauline's  boats  but  the  cap- 
tain's gig.  I  went  in  one  of  them  with  a  gang  of  hands, 
and,  the  divers  securing  a  rope  to  the  handles  of  the  chest, 
we  soon  got  it  in.  It  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  arm- 
chests  of  the  Crisis,  which  the  French  had  found  in  their 


238  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

way  and  thrown  overboard,  evidently  preferring  to.  use 
weapons  to  which  they  were  accustomed.  They  had  done 
better  by  carrying  the  chest  out  to  sea,  and  disposing  of  it 
in  fifty  or  a  hundred  fathoms  of  water. 

The  prize  was  turned  over  to  the  gunner,  who  reported 
that  it  was  the  chest  in  which  we  kept  our  cutlasses  and 
pistols,  of  both  of  which  there  was  a  sufficient  supply  to 
give  every  man  one  of  each.  There  were  also  several 
horns  of  powder,  and  a  bag  of  bullets  ;  but  the  first  was 
ruined  by  the  water.  As  for  the  arms,  they  were  rubbed 
dry,  oiled,  and  put  away  again  in  the  chest,  after  the  last 
had  stood  a  whole  day  in  the  hot  sun  open.  Thus,  through 
the  agency  of  men  brought  for  a  very  different  purpose, 
we  were  put  in  possession  of  the  means  of  achieving  the 
exploit,  which  might  now  be  said  to  form  the  great  object 
of  our  lives. 

That  day  we  got  everything  on  board  the  schooner  that 
it  was  thought  desirable  to  take  with  us.  We  left  much 
behind  that  was  valuable,  it  is  true,  especially  the  copper ; 
but  Marble  wisely  determined  that  it  was  inexpedient  to 
put  the  vessel  deeper  than  good  ballast-trim,  lest  it  should 
hurt  her  sailing.  We  had  got  her  fairly  to  her  bearings, 
and  this  was  believed  to  be  as  low  as  was  expedient.  It  is 
true,  a  great  deal  remained  to  be  stowed  ;  the  deck  being 
littered,  and  the  hold,  the  ground  tier  excepted,  in  great 
confusion.  But  our  bread,  water,  beef,  pork,  and  other 
eatables,  were  all  there,  and  in  abundance  ;  and,  though 
not  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  they  were  still  to  be  had. 
The  sails  were  bent,  and  the  only  anchor,  La  Pauline's 
stream  with  her  two  largest  kedges,  was  on  our  bows. 
While  in  this  condition,  Marble  gave  the  unexpected  order 
for  all  hands  to  come  on  board,  and  for  the  shore-fasts  to  be 
cast  off. 

Of  course,  there  was  no  dissenting  to  so  positive  a  com- 
mand. We  had  signed  new  shipping  articles  for  the  schoon- 
er, extending  the  engagements  made  when  we  entered  on 
board  the  Crisis  to  this  new  vessel,  or  any  other  she  might 
capture.  The  wind  was  a  steady  trade,  and  when  we 
showed  our  mainsail  and  jib  to  it,  the  little  craft  glided 
athwart  the  basin  like  a  duck.  Shooting  through  the  pass, 
Marble  tacked  her  twice,  as  soon  as  he  had  an  offing  ;  and 
everybody  was  delighted  with  the  quickness  with  which 
she  was  worked.  There  was  barely  light  enough  to  en- 
able us  to  find  our  way  through  the  opening  in  the  reef ; 
and  just  thirty-eight  hours  after  the  Crisis  sailed,  we  were 


AFLOAT  AND  AS  PI  ORE.  239 

on  her  track.  We  had  only  conjecture  to  guide  us  as  to 
the  ship's  course,  with  the  exception  of  the  main  fact  of 
her  having  sailed  for  the  west  coast  of  South  America ; 
but  we  had  not  failed  to  notice  that  she  disappeared  in  the 
northeast  trades,  on  a  bowline.  We  put  the  schooner  as 
near  as  possible  on  the  same  course,  making  a  proper 
allowance  for  the  difference  in  the  rig  of  the  two  vessels. 

The  distance  run  that  night  satisfied  us  all  that  Monsieur 
Le  Compte  was  a  good  draftsman.  The  schooner  ran  106 
miles  in  twelve  hours,  against  a  very  respectable  sea,  which 
was  at  least  ten  or  fifteen  more  than  the  Crisis  could  have 
done  under  the  same  circumstances.  It  is  true,  that  what 
was  close-hauled  for  her,  was  not  close-hauled  for  us  ;  and, 
in  this  respect,  we  had  the  advantage  of  her.  Marble  was 
so  well  pleased  with  our  night's  work,  that  when  he  came 
on  deck  next  morning,  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to 
order  a  bottle  of  rum  to  be  brought  him,  and  then  all  hands 
were  to  be  called.  As  soon  as  the  people  were  up,  he 
went  forward,  got  into  the  head,  and  commanded  every- 
body to  muster  on  the  forecastle.  Marble  now  made  a 
speech. 

"  We  have  some  good,  and  some  bad  luck  this  v'y'ge, 
men,"  he  said  ;  "  and  when  we  generalize  on  the  subject, 
it  will  be  found  that  good  luck  has  usually  followed  the 
bad  luck.  Now  the  savages,  with  that  blackguard  Smudge, 
knocked  poor  Captain  Williams  in  the  head,  and  threw  him 
overboard,  and  got  the  ship  from  us  ;  then  came  the  good 
luck  of  getting  her  back  again.  After  this,  the  French  did 
us  that  unhandsome  thing  ;  nowhere  comes  the  good  luck 
of  their  leaving  us  a  craft  that  will  overhaul  the  ship,  when 
I  needn't  tellyvu  what  will  come  of  it."  Here  all  hands, 
as  in  duty  bound,  gave  three  cheers.  "  Now  I  neither  sail 
nor  fight  in  a  craft  that  carries  a  French  name.  Captain 
Count  christened  the  schooner  the — Mr.  Wallingford,  will 
you  tell  her  exact  name  ? " 

"La  Belle  Emilie"  said  I,  "or  the  Beautiful  Emily." 

"  None  of  your  belles  for  me,  nor  your  Beautiful  Em- 
ilys either,"  cried  Marble,  smashing  the  bottle  over  the 
schooner's  nose  ;  "  so  here  goes  three  cheers  again  for  the 
'  Pretty  Poll,'  which  was  the  name  the  craft  was  born  to, 
and  the  name  she  shall  bear,  as  long  as  Moses  Marble  sails 
her." 

From  that  moment  the  schooner  was  known  by  the 
name  of  the  "  Pretty  Poll."  I  met  with  portions  of  our 
crew  years  afterward,  and  they  always  spoke  of  her  by  thif 


240  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

appellation  ;  sometimes  familiarly  terming  her  the  "Poll" 
or  the  "  Polly." 

All  the  first  day  out,  we  were  busy  in  making  ourselves 
comfortable,  and  in  getting  the  Polly's  trim.  We  suc- 
ceeded so  well  in  this  last,  that,  according  to  our  calcula- 
tions, we  made  a  knot  an  hour  more  than  the  Crisis  could 
have  done  under  the  same  circumstances,  fast  as  the  ship 
was  known  to  be.  As  the  Crisis  had  about  thirty-eight 
hours  the  start  of  us,  and  ran,  on  an  average,  about  seven 
knots  the  hour  for  all  that  time,  it  would  require  about  ten 
clays  to  overtake  her.  Of  course  this  could  only  happen, 
according  to  our  own  calculations,  when  we  were  from 
eighteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  miles  from  the  island. 
For  my  own  part,  I  sincerely  hoped  it  would  not  occur  at 
all,  at  sea  ;  feeling  satisfied  our  only  chances  of  success 
depended  on  surprise.  By  following  the  vessel  into  some 
port,  it  might  be  possible  to  succeed  ;  but  for  an  unarmed 
schooner  to  attack  a  ship  like  the  Crisis,  with  even  a  large 
crew  on  board,  it  seemed  rashness  to  think  of  it.  Marble, 
however,  would  not  listen  to  my  remonstrances.  He  in- 
sisted we  had  more  than  powder  enough  to  load  all  our 
pistols  half  a  dozen  times  each,  and,  laying  the  ship  plump 
aboard,  the  pistols  would  do  the  rest.  I  was  silenced,  quite 
as  a  matter  of  course,  if  not  convinced. 

The  fifth  day  out,  Neb  came  to  me,  saying — "  Master 
Miles,  somet'ing  must  be  done  wid  'em  'ere  'ysters  !  Dey 
smell,  onaccountable  ;  and  the  people  swear  dey  will  t'row 
'em  overboard,  if  I  don't  eat  'em.  I  not  hungry  enough 
for  dat,  sir." 

These  were  the  pearl  oysters,  already*  mentioned,  which 
had  been  hastening  to  dissolution  and  decomposition,  by 
the  heat  of  the  hold.  As  the  captain  was  as  much  con- 
cerned in  this  portion  of  the  cargo  as  I  was  myself,  I  com- 
municated the  state  of  things  to  him,  and  he  ordered  the 
bags  and  barrels  on  deck  forthwith.  It  was  well  some- 
thing was  done,  or  I  doubt  not  a  disease  would  have  been 
the  consequence.  As  decomposition  was  the  usual  process 
by  which  to  come  at  the  treasures  of  these  animals,  how- 
ever, everything  was  exactly  in  the  state  we  wished. 

An  uninterested  observer  would  have  laughed  at  seeing 
the  employment  of  the  quarter-deck  for  the  next  four 
hours.  Marble,  and  the  two  mates,  attacked  a  barrel  be- 
longing to  the  captain,  while  Neb  and  I  had  our  own  share 
to  ourselves.  It  was  a  trying  occupation,  the  odor  far  ex- 
ceeding in  strength  that  of  the  Spice  Islands.  We  stood 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOKE.  241 

it,  however — for  what  will  not  man  endure  for  the  sake  of 
riches  ?  Marble  foresaw  the  difficulties,  and  had  once  an- 
nounced to  the  mates  that  they  then  would  "open  on 
shares."  This  had  a  solacing  influence,  and  amid  much 
mirth  and  sundry  grimaces  the  work  went  on  with  tolera- 
ble rapidity.  I  observed,  however,  that  Talcott  threw  one 
or  two  subjects,  that  doubtless  were  tougher  than  common, 
overboard,  after  very  superficial  examinations. 

The  first  seven  oysters  I  examined  contained  nothing 
but  seed  pearl,  and  not  many  of  these.  Neb  opened,  and 
I  examined  ;  and  the  latter  occupation  was  so  little  to  my 
taste,  that  I  was  just  on  the  point  of  ordering  the  whole 
lot  thrown  overboard,  when  Neb  handed  me  another.  This 
oyster  contained  nine  beautiful  pearls,  of  very  uniform 
dimensions,  and  each  about  as  large  as  a  good-sized  pea. 
I  dropped  them  into  a  bowl  of  fresh  water,  whence  they 
came  out  sweet,  pearly,  and  lustrous.  They  were  of  the 
sort  known  as  the  "white  water,"  which  is  the  kind  most, 
prized  among  Christian  nations,  doubtless  on  account  of 
their  harmonizing  so  well  with  the  skins  of  their  women. 
No  sooner  was  my  luck  known,  than  it  brought  all  the 
other  "  pearl  fishermen  "  around  me  ;  Marble,  with  his 
nostrils  plugged  with  oakum  and  a  quid  of  tobacco  in  his 
mouth,  that  was  as  large  as  a  small  potato. 

"  By  George,  Miles,  that  looks  like  business,"  the  captain 
exclaimed,  going  back  to  his  work,  with  renovated  zeal, 
"though  it  is  a  calling  fit  only  for  hogs  and  scavengers! 
Did  I  embark  in  it  largely,  I  would  keep  as  many  clerks  as 
a  bank.  What  do  you  suppose,  now,  these  nine  chaps  may 
be  worth  ? " 

"  Some  fifty  dollars,  or  thereabouts — you  see,  sir,  they 
are  quite  large — much  larger  than  it  is  usual  to  see  our 
women  wear." 

The  ninth  of  my  oysters  produced  eleven  pearls,  and  all 
about  the  size  and  quality  of  the  first.     In  a  few  minutes 
I  had  seventy-three  j,ust  such  pearls,  besides  a  quantity  oi 
seed  pearl.     Then  followed  a  succession  of  barren  shells 
a  dozen  not  giving  a  pearl.    The  three  that  succeeded  then 
gave   thirty-one  more  ;  and  another  yielded   four  pearls 
each  of  which  was  as  large  as  a  small  cherry.     After  tha 
I  got  one  that  was  almost  as  large  as  a  common  hickory 
nut,  and  six  more  of  the  size   of  the  cherry-sized   pearh 
In  addition  to  these,  I  got  in  all,  one  hundred  arid  eight) 
seven  of  the  size  of  peas,  besides  a  large   handful  of  thu 
seed  pearl.     I  afterward  ascertained  that  the  pearls  I  had 
16 


24?  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

thus  obtained  were  worth  in  the  market,  about  eighteen 
hundred  dollars ;  as  they  were  far  more  remarkable  for 
their  beauty  than  for  their  size. 

Notwithstanding  the  oakum  plugs,  and  the  tobacco,  and 
the  great  quantity  of  shells  his  divers  had  found,  for  they 
had  brought  up  something  like  two  hundred  and  fifty 
oysters  in  the  course  of  the  day,  the  party  of  the  captain 
found  in  all  but  thirty-six  pearls,  the  seed  excepted  ;  though 
they  obtained  some  beautiful  specimens  among  the  shells. 
From  that  moment  Marble  discontinued  the  trade,  and  I 
never  heard  him  say  anything  more  on  the  subject  of  pur- 
suing it.  My  own  beauties  were  put  carefully  away  in  re- 
serve for  the  time  when  I  might  delight  the  eyes  of  certain 
of  my  female  friends  with  them.  I  never  intended  to  sell 
one,  but  they  were  very  precious  to  me  on  other  accounts. 
As  for  the  crew,  glad  enough  were  they  to  be  rid  of  such 
uncomfortable  shipmates.  As  I  gazed  on  the  spotless  and 
lustrous  pearls,  and  compared  them  with  the  revolting  tene- 
ment from  which  they  had  just  been  redeemed,  I  likened 
them  to  the  souls  of  the  just  escaping  from  their  tenements 
of  clay,  to  enjoy  hereafter  an  endless  existence  of  purity. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Pretty  Poll  continued  to  find  her 
way  along  miles  and  miles  of  the  deserted  track  across 
the  Pacific.  Marble  had  once  belonged  to  a  Baltimore 
clipper,  and  he  sailed  our  craft  probably  much  better  than 
she  would  have  been  sailed  by  Monsieur  Le  Compte, 
though  that  officer,  as  I  afterward  learned,  had  distin- 
guished himself  in  command  of  a  lugger-privateer  in  the 
British  Channel.  Our  progress  was  generally  from  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours;  and  so  it  continued  to  be  for  the  first  ten  days,  or 
the  period,  when,  according  to  our  own  calculations,  we 
ought  to  be  near  the  Crisis,  had  that  vessel  steered  a  course 
resembling  our  own.  For  my  own  part,  I  neither  wished  nor 
expected  to  see  the  ship  until  we  reached  the  coast  of  South 
America,  when  we  might  ascertain  her  position  by  com- 
municating with  the  shore.  As  for  the  guarda-costas,  I  knew 
we  could  easily  elude  them,  and  there  might  be  a  small 
chance  of  regaining  the  vessel,  something  like  the  way 
in  which  we  had  lost  her.  But  Marble's  impatience,  and 
the  keenness  with  which  he  felt  our  disgrace,  would  not 
make  terms  even  with  the  elements  ;  and  I  do  believe  he 
would  have  run  alongside  of  the  Crisis  in  a  gale  of  wind, 
could  he  have  come  up  with  her.  The  chance  of  our  hav- 
ing sailed  so  far,  however,  on  a  line  so  nearly  resembling 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  243 

that  of  the  chase  as  to  bring  us  together,  was  so  very  small 
that  few  of  us  thought  it  worth  our  consideration. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eleventh  day,  the  lookout  we  had 
kept  on  the  fore-topsail-yard,  sung  out  "  Sail  ho  !  "  Mar- 
ble and  myself  were  soon  on  the  yard,  there  being  nothing 
visible  from  the  deck.  The  upper  sails,  top-gallant-sails, 
and  royals  of  the  ship  were  visible  on  our  weather  quarter, 
distant  from  fifteen  to  twenty  miles.  As  we  were  now  in 
the  track  of  whalers,  of  which  there  were  a  good  many  in 
that  part  of  the  Pacific,  I  thought  it  was  probable  this  was 
one  ;  but  Marble  laughed  at  the  notion,  asking  if  I  had 
ever  heard  of  a  whaler's  carrying  royals  on  her  cruising 
ground.  He  affirmed  it  was  the  Crisis,  heading  the  same 
way  we  were  ourselves,  and  which  had  only  got  to  wind- 
ward of  us  by  keeping  a  better  luff.  We  had  calculated 
too  much  on  the  schooner's  weatherly  qualities,  and  had 
allowed  her  to  fall  off  more  than  was  necessary,  in  the 
night-watches. 

The  Pretty  Poll  was  now  jammed  up  on  a  wind,  in  the  hope 
of  closing  with  the  chase  in  the  course  of  the  night.  But 
the  wind  had  been  growing  lighter  and  lighter  for  some 
hours,  and  by  noon,  though  we  had  neared  the  chase  so 
much  as  to  be  able  to  see  her  from  deck,  there  was  every 
prospect  of  its  falling  calm  ;  after  which,  in  the  trades,  it 
would  be  surprising  if  we  did  not  get  a  blow.  To  make 
the  most  of  our  time,  Marble  determined  to  tack,  when  we 
had  just  got  the  chase  a  point  off  our  weather-bow.  An 
hour  after  tacking,  an  object  was  seen  adrift  on  the  ocean, 
and  keeping  away  a  little  to  close  with  it,  it  was  ascertained 
to  be  a  whale-boat  adrift.  The  boat  was  American-built, 
had  a  breaker  of  water,  the  oars  and  all  the  usual  fittings 
in  it  ;  and  the  painter  being  loose,  it  had  probably  been 
lost,  when  towing  in  the  night,  in  consequence  of  having 
been  fastened  by  three  half-hitches. 

The  moment  Marble  ascertained  the  condition  of  this 
boat,  he  conceived  his  plan  of  operations.  The  four  Sand- 
wich Islanders  had  been  in  whalers,  and  he  ordered  them 
into  the  boat,  put  in  some  rum  and  some  food,  gave  me 
his  orders,  got  in  himself,  and  pulled  ahead,  going  off  at 
five  knots  the  hour,  leaving  the  schooner  to  follow  at  the 
rate  of  two.  This  was  about  an  hour  before  sunset,  and 
by  the  time  it  was  dark,  the  boat  had  become  a  mere  speck 
on  the  water,  nearly  half-way  between  us  and  the  ship, 
which  was  now  some  fifteen  miles  distant,  heading  always 
in  the  same  direction. 


244  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

My  orders  had  been  very  simple.  They  were,  to  stand 
on  the  same  course  until  I  saw  a  light  from  the  boat,  and 
then  tack  so  as  to  run  on  a  parallel  line  with  the  ship.  The 
signal  was  made  by  Marble  about  nine  o'clock.  It  was  im- 
mediately answered  from  the  schooner.  The  light  on  the 
boat  was  concealed  from  the  ship,  and.  our  own  was  shown 
only  for  a  few  seconds,  the  disappearance  of  Mr.  Marble's 
telling  us  in  that  brief  space  that  our  answer  was  noted.  I 
tacked  immediately,  arid  taking  in  the  foresail,  stood  on  the 
directed  course.  We  had  all  foreseen  a  change  in  the 
weather,  and  probably  a  thunder-squall.  So  far  from  its 
giving  Marble  any  uneasiness  he  anticipated  the  blow  with 
pleasure,  as  he  intended  to  lay  the  Crisis  aboard  in  its 
height.  He  fancied  that  success  would  then  be  the  most 
certain.  His  whole  concern  was  at  not  being  able  to  find 
the  ship  in  the  darkness,  and  it  was  to  obviate  this  diffi- 
culty that  he  undertook  to  pilot  us  up  to  her  in  the  manner 
I  have  just  mentioned. 

After  getting  round,  a  sharp  lookout  was  kept  foi  the 
light.  We  caught  another  view  of  it  directly  on  our 
weather-beam.  From  this  we  inferred  that  the  ship  had 
more  wind  than  we  felt,  inasmuch  as  she  had  materially 
altered  her  position,  while  we  had  not  moved  a  mile  since 
we  tacked.  This  was  on  the  supposition  that  Marble 
would  endeavor  to  follow  the  movements  of  the  ship.  At 
ten  the  tempest  broke  upon  us  with  tropical  violence,  and 
with  a  suddenness  that  took  everybody  by  surprise.  A 
squall  had  been  expected,  but  no  one  anticipated  its  ap- 
proach for  several  hours,  and  we  had  all  looked  for  the  re- 
turn of  the  whale-boat  ere  that  moment  should  come.  But 
come  it  did  when  least  expected,  the  first  puff  throwing 
our  little  schooner  down  in  a  way  to  convince  us  the  ele- 
ments were  in  earnest.  In  fifteen  minutes  after  the  first 
blast  was  felt  I  had  the  schooner  under  a  reefed  foresail, 
and  with  that  short  canvas  there  were  instants,  as  she  strug- 
gled up  to  the  summit  of  the  waves,  that  it  seemed  as  if 
she  were  about  to  fly  out  of  the  water.  My  great  concern, 
however,  was  for  the  boat,  of  which  "nothing  could  now  be 
seen.  The  orders  left  by  Marble  anticipated  no  such  oc- 
currence as  this  tempest,  and  the  concert  between  us  was 
interrupted.  It  was  naturally  inferred  among  us,  in  the 
schooner,  that  the  boat  would  endeavor  to  close  as  soon  as 
the  danger  was  foreseen  ;  and  as  this  would  probably  be 
done  by  running  on  a  converging  line,  all  our  efforts  were 
directed  to  keeping  the  schooner  astern  of  the  other  party, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  245 

in  order  that  they  might  first  reach  the  point  of  junction. 
In  this  manner  there  was  a  chance  of  Marble's  finding  the 
schooner,  while  there  was  little  of  our  finding  the  boat.  It 
is  true  we  carried  several  lights,  but  as  soon  as  it  began  to 
rain  even  a  bonfire  would  not  have  been  seen  at  a  hundred 
yards.  The  water  poured  down  upon  us,  as  if  it  fell  from 
spouts,  occasionally' ceasing  and  then  returning  in  streams. 

I  had  then  never  passed  so  miserable  a  night;  even  that 
in  which  Smudge  and  his  fellows  murdered  Captain  Will- 
iams and  seized  the  ship,  being  happiness  in  comparison. 
I  loved  Marble.  Hardy,  loose  in  some  respects,  and  un- 
nurtured as  he  was  in  others,  the  man  had  been  steadily 
my  friend.  He  was  a  capital  seaman,  a  sort  of  an  instinc- 
tive navigator,  true  as  a  needle  to  the  flag,  and  as  brave  as 
a  lion.  Then  I  knew  he  was  in  his  present  strait  on  account 
of  mortified- feeling,  and  the  rigid  notions  he  entertained 
of  his  duty  to  his  owners.  I  think  I  do  myself  no  more 
than  justice,  when  I  say  that  I  would  gladly  have  ex- 
changed places  with  him  any  time  that  night. 

We  held  a  consultation  on  the  quarter-deck,  and  it  was 
determined  that  our  only  chance  of  picking  up  the  boat 
was  by  remaining  as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  place  where 
her  crew  must  have  last  seen  the  schooner.  Marble  had 
a  right  to  expect  this,  and  we  did  all  that  lay  in  our  power 
to  effect  the  object,  wearing  often,  and  gaining  on  our 
tacks  what  we  lost  in  coming  round.  In  this  manner  we 
passed  a  painful  and  most  uncomfortable  night  ;  the  winds 
howling  about  us  a  sort  of  requiem  for  the  dead,  while  we 
hardly  knew  when  we  were  wallowing  in  the  seas  or  not, 
there  being  so  much  water  that  came  down  from  the 
clouds  as  nearly  to  drown  us  on  deck. 

At  last  the  light  returned,  and  soon  after  the  tempest 
broke,  appearing  to  have  expended  its  fury.  An  hour 
after  the  sun  had  risen,  we  got  the  trade-wind  again,  the 
sea  became  regular  once  more,  and  the  schooner  was 
under  all  her  canvas.  Of  course,  every  one  of  us  offi- 
cers was  aloft,  some  forward,  some  aft,  to  look  out  for  the 
boat  ;  but  we  did  not  see  her  again.  What  was  still  more 
extraordinary,  nothing  could  be  seen  of  the  ship  !  We  kept 
all  that  day  cruising  around  the  place,  expecting  to  find  at 
least  the  boat  ;  but  without  success. 

My  situation  was  now  altogether  novel  to  me.  I  had 
left  home  rather  more  than  a  twelvemonth  before,  the 
third  officer  of  the  Crisis.  From  this  station,  I  had  risen 
regularly  to  be  her  first  officer  ;  and  now,  by  a  dire  catas*- 


U46  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

trophe,  I  found  myself  in  the  Pacific,  solely  charged  with 
the  fortunes  of  my  owners,  and  those  of  some  forty  human 
beings.  And  this,  too,  before  I  was  quite  twenty  years 
old. 

Marble's  scheme  of  attacking  the  ship  had  always  seemed 
to  me  to  be  wild  and  impracticable.  This  was  while  it  was 
his  project,  not  my  own.  I  still  entertained  the  same 
opinion,  as  regards  the  assault  at  sea  ;  but  I  had,  from  the 
first,  regarded  an  attempt  on  the  coast  as  a  thing  much 
more  likely  to  succeed.  Then  Emily  and  her  father,  and 
the  honor  of  the  flag,  and  the  credit  I  might  personalty 
gain,  had  their  influence  ;  and  at  sunset,  all  hope  of  find- 
ing the  boat  being  gone,  I  ordered  sail  made  on  our 
course. 

The  loss  of  the  whale-boat  occurred  when  we  were  about 
two  thousand  miles  from  the  western  coast  of  South 
America.  We  had  a  long  road  before  us,  consequently; 
and,  as  I  had  doubted  whether  the  ship  we  had  seen  was 
the  Crisis,  it  was  necessary  to  be  in  motion,  if  anything 
was  to  be  effected  with  our  old  enemies.  The  reader  may 
feel  some  desire  to  know  in  what  manner  my  succession 
to  the  command  was  received  by  the  people.  No  man 
could  have  been  more  implicitly  obeyed.  I  was  now  six 
feet  and  an  inch  in  height,  of  a  powerful  and  active  frame, 
a  good  seaman,  and  had  the  habit  of  command,  through 
a  twelvemonth's  experience.  The  crew  knew  me,  having 
seen  me  tried,"  from  the  weather-earings  down  ;  and  it  is 
very  likely  I  possessed  more  of  their  confidence  than  I  de- 
served. At  all  events,  I  was  as  implicitly  obeyed  as  if  I 
had  sailed  from  New  York  at  their  head.  Everybody  re- 
gretted Marble  ;  more,  I  think,  than  we  regretted  Captain 
Williams,  though  it  must  have  been  on  account  of  the 
manner  we  saw  him  disappear,  as  it  might  be,  from  before 
our  eyes  ;  since,  of  the  two,  I  think,  the  last  was  the  most 
estimable  man.  Nevertheless,  Marble  had  his  strong 
points*  and  they  were  points  likely  to  take  with  seamen  ; 
and  they  had  particularly  taken  with  us.  As  for  the  four 
Sandwich  Islanders,  I  do  not  know  that  they  occupied  any 
of  our  minds  at  all.  We  had  been  accustomed  to  regard 
them  as  strange  beings,  who  came  from  that  ocean  to 
which  they  had  been  thus  suddenly  returned. 

Fifteen  days  after  the  loss  of  the  whale-boat,  we  made  the 
peaks  of  the  Andes,  a  very  few  degrees  to  the  southward 
of  the  equator.  From  some  casual  remarks  made  by  the 
French,  and  which  I  had  overheard,  I  had  been  led  to  be- 


AFLOA7   AND  ASHORE.  247 

lieve  they  intended  to  run  for  Guayaquil,  or  its  vicinity; 
and  I  aimed  at  reaching  the  coast  near  the  same  point. 
We  had  been  in,  ourselves,  at  several  bays  and  roadsteads, 
moreover,  on  this  part  of  the  shore,  on  our  way  north  ; 
and  I  felt  at  home  among  them.  We  had  acquaintances, 
too,  who  could  not  fail  to  be  of  use  to  us  ;  and  everything 
conspired  to  render  this  an  advantageous  landfall. 

On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-ninth  day  after  quitting 
the  island,  we  took  the  schooner  into  an  open  roadstead, 
where  we  had  carried  on  some  extensive  traffic  in  the  ship, 
about  eight  months  before,  and  where  I  fancied  we  should 
still  be  recognized.  As  was  expected,  we  had  scarcely  an- 
chored, before  a  Don  Pedro  Something,  a  fellow  with  a 
surprising  string  of  names,  came  off  to  us  in  a  boat,  in  or- 
der to  ascertain  who  we  were,  and  what  we  wanted.  Per- 
haps it  would  be  better  to  say,  that  we  had  that  he  wanted. 
I  knew  the  man  at  a  glance,  having  delivered  to  him,  my- 
self, three  boat-loads  of  goods,  and  received  a  small  bag  of 
doubloons  in  exchange.  A  very  few  words,  half  English, 
half  Spanish,  served  to  renew  our  acquaintance  ;  and  I 
gave  our  old  friend  to  understand  that  I  was  in  search  of 
the  ship,  from  which  I  had  been  separated  on  some  extra 
duty. 

After  beating  the  bush  to  discover  all  he  could  the  Don 
Pedro  gave  me  to  understand  that  a  ship  had  gone  in  be- 
hind an  island  that  was  only  ten  miles  to  the  southward  of 
us,  that  very  afternoon  ;  that  he  had  seen  her  himself,  and 
had  supposed  she  might  be  his  old  friend  the  Crisis,  until 
he  saw  the  French  ensign  at  her  gaff.  This  was  sufficient, 
and  I  made  inquiries  for  a  pilot.  A  man  qualified  to  carry 
us  to  the  place  was  found  in  one  of  the  boatmen.  As  I 
feared  the  news  of  the  arrival  of  a  schooner  might  be  car- 
ried to  the  ship,  much  as  we  had  got  our  intelligence,  no 
time  was  lost,  but  we  were  under  way  by  ten  o'clock.  At 
midnight  we  entered  the  pass  between  the  main  and  the 
island  ;  there  I  got  into  a  boat,  and  pulled  ahead,  in  order 
to  reconnoitre.  I  found  the  ship  lying  close  under  a  high 
bluff,  which  made  a  capital  lee,  and  with  every  sign  about 
her  of  tranquillity.  Still,  I  knew  a  vessel  that  was  always 
in  danger  from  the  guarda-costas,  and  which  relied  on  the 
celerity  of  its  movements  for  its  safety,  would  have  a  vigi- 
lant lookout.  Accordingly,  I  took  a  cool  and  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  ship's  position,  landing  and  ascending  the 
bluff,  in  order  to  do  this  at  my  ease.  About  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  I  returned  to  the  schooner. 


248  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

When  I  put  my  foot  on  the  Polly's  deck  again,  she  was 
quite  near  the  point,  or  bluff,  having  set  down  toward  it 
during  my  absence.  All  hands  were  on  deck,  armed,  and 
in  readiness.  Expectation  had  got  to  be  so  keen,  that  we 
had  a  little  difficulty  in  keeping  the  men  from  cheering  ; 
but  silence  was  preserved,  and  I  communicated  the  result 
of  my  observations  in  as  few  words  as  possible.  The  or- 
ders were  then  given,  and  the  schooner  was  brought  under 
short  sail,  for  the  attack.  We  were  so  near  our  side  of  the 
bluff,  while  the  ship  lay  so  near  the  other,  that  my  princi- 
pal apprehension  was  of  falling'  to  leeward,  which  might 
give  the  French  time  to  muster,  and  recollect  themselves. 
The  canvas,  accordingly,  was  reduced  to  the  foresail, 
though  the  jib,  mainsail,  and  topsail  were  all  loose,  in 
readiness  to  be  set,  if  wanted.  The  plan  was  to  run  the 
ship  aboard,  on  her  starboard  bow,  or  off-side,  as  respected 
the  island  ;  and  to  do  this  with  as  little  of  a  shock  as  possible. 

When  everything  was  ready,  I  went  aft,  stood  by  the 
man  at  the  helm,  and  ordered  him  to  bear  up.  Neb  placed 
himself  just  behind  me.  I  knew  it  was  useless  to  inter- 
fere, and  let  the  fellow  do  as  he  pleased.  The  pilot  had 
told  me  the  water  was  deep,  up  to  the  rocks  of  the  bluff  ; 
and  we  hugged  the  land  as  close  as  possible,  in  rounding 
the  point.  At  the  next  moment  the  ship  was  in  sight,  dis- 
tant less  than  a  hundred  fathoms.  I  saw  we  had  good  way, 
and,  three  minutes  later,  I  ordered  the  foresail  brailed.  At 
the  same  instant  I  walked  forward.  So  near  were  we,  that 
the  flapping  of  the  canvas  was  heard  in  the  ship,  and  we 
got  a  hail.  A  mystified  answer  followed,  and  then  crash 
came  our  bows  along  those  of  the  Crisis.  "  Hurrah  !  for  the 
old  craft !  "  shouted  our  men,  and  aboard  we  tumbled  in  a 
body.  Our  charge  was  like  the  plunge  of  a  pack  of  hounds 
as  they  leap  through  a  hedge. 

The  scene  that  followed  was  one  of  wild  tumult.  Some 
twenty  pistols  were  fired,  and  a  good  many  hard  blows 
w^ere  struck  ;  but  the  surprise  secured  us  the  victory.  In 
less  than  three  minutes,  Talcott  come  to  report  to  me  that 
our  lads  had  complete  possession  of  the  deck,  and  that  the 
French  asked  for  quarter.  At  first,  the  enemy  supposed 
they  had  been  seized  by  a.  guarda-costa,  for  the  impression 
had  been  general  among  them  that  we  intended  to  quit 
the  island  for  Canton.  Great  was  the  astonishment  among 
them  when  the  truth  came  to  be  known.  I  heard  a  great 
many  "  sacr-r-r-e s  !  "  and  certain  other  maledictions  in  lovy 
French,  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  repeat. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  249 

Harris,  one  of  the  Philadelphians,  and  the  man  who  had 
got  us  into  the  difficulty  by  falling  asleep  on  his  watch, 
was  killed  ;  and  no  less  than  nine  of  our  men,  myself  among 
the  number,  were  hurt  in  this  brisk  business.  All  the 
wounds,  however,  were  slight ;  only  three  of  the  injuries 
taking  the  parties  off  duty.  As  for  the  poor  fellow  who 
fell,  he  owed  his  death  to  risking  too  much  in  order  to  re- 
cover the  ground  he  had  lost. 

The  French  fared  much  worse  than  ourselves.  Of  those 
killed  outright,  and  those  who  died  before  morning,  there 
were  no  less  than  sixteen  ;  our  fellows  having  fired  a  volley 
into  a  group  that  was  rushing  on  deck,  besides  using  their 
cutlasses  with  great  severity  for  the  first  minute  or  two. 
This  was. on  the  principle  that  the  first  blow  was  half  the 
battle.  There  were  few  wounded  ;  most  of  those  who  fell 
being  cut  or  thrust  at  by  several  at  the  same  time — a 
species  of  attack  that  left  little  chance  for  escape.  Poor 
Monsieur  Le  Compte  was  found  stone-dead  at  the  cabin- 
doors,  having  been  shot  in  the  forehead,  just  as  he  put  his 
foot  on  the  deck.  I  heard  his  voice  once  in  the  fray,  and 
feared  it  boded  no  good  ;  but  the  silence  which  succeeded 
was  probably  caused  by  his  just  then  receiving  the  fatal 
bullet.  He  was  in  his  shirt. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

"  1st  Witch.  Hail! 

2d  Witch.  Hail  ! 

yl  Witch.  Hail  ! 

1st  Witch.  Lesser  than  Macbeth,  and  greater. 

id  Witch.  Not  so  happy,  yet  much  happier." — Macbeth. 

I  HOPE  I  shall  be  believed  in  saying,  if  Marble  had  been 
with  us  when  we  retook  the  ship,  I  should  have  been  per- 
fectly happy.  He  was  not,  however,  and  regret  was  left  to 
mingle  in  our  triumph.  I  had  a  hasty  interview  with  Major 
Merton  that  night,  and  communicated  all  that  was  neces- 
sary to  quiet  the  apprehensions  of  his  daughter.  Emily 
was  in  her  state-room,  and  had  been  alarmed,  as  a  matter 
of  course  ;  but  when  she  learned  that  all  was  over,  and  had 
terminated  successfully,  her  fears  yielded  to  reason.  Of 
course,  both  she  and  her  father  felt  it  to  be  a  great  relief 
that  they  were  no  longer  prisoners. 


250  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

We  were  no  sooner  fairly  in  command  of  our  old  ship 
again,  than  I  had  all  hands  called  to  get  the  anchor.  We 
hove  up,  and  passed  out  to  sea  without  delay,  it  being 
necessary  to  cover  our  movements  with  as  much  mystery  as 
possible,  in  order  to  prevent  certain  awkward  demands 
from  the  Spanisli  government,  on  the  subject  of  the  vio- 
lation of  neutral  territory.  A  hint  from  Major  Merton 
put  me  on  my  guard  as  respected  this  point,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  disappear  as  suddenly  as  we  had  arrived,  in  order 
to  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  being  traced.  By  day- 
light, therefore,  both  the  ship  and  schooner  were  four 
^leagues  from  the  land,  and  on  the  "  great  highway  of  na- 
"tions;"  a  road,  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  that  was  then 
greatly  infested  by  footpads  and  other  robbers. 

Just  as  the  sun  rose,  we  buried  the  dead.  This  was  done 
decently,  and  with  the  usual  ceremony,  the  triumph  of 
victory  giving  place  to  the  sad  reflections  that  are  so  apt 
to  succeed  to  the  excited  feeling  of  most  of  our  struggles. 
I  saw  poor  Le  Compte  disappear  from  sight  with  regret, 
and  remembered  his  recent  hopes,  his  generous  treatment,  • 
his  admiration  of  Emily,  and  all  that  he  had  so  lately 
thought  and  felt,  as  a  warning  of  the  fragile  nature  of  life, 
and  that  which  life  can  bestow.  Thus  terminated  an  ac- 
quaintance of  a  month  ;  but  a  month  that  had  been  preg- 
nant with  incidents  of  great  importance  to  myself. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  decide  on  our  future  course. 
I  had  the  ship,  just  as  the  French  got  her  from  us,  with 
the  addition  of  those  portions  of  their  own  cargo  with 
which  they  had  intended  to  trade  on  the  coast  of  South 
America.  These  consisted  of  silks  and  various  fancy  arti- 
cles, with  a  little  wine,  and  would  be  nearly  as  valuable  at 
home  as  they  were  in  Spanish  America.  I  was  strongly 
averse  to  smuggling,  and  the  ship  having  already  followed 
out  her  original  instructions  on  this  point,  I  saw  no  neces- 
sity for  pursuing  the  ungrateful  trade  any  further.  Could 
I  return  to  the  island,  and  get  the  articles  of  value  left  on 
it  by  the  French,  such  as  the  copper  they  had  not  used, 
and  divers  bales  received  from  the  Bombay  ship,  which 
had  been  abandoned  by  us  all  under  a  tent,  more  profit 
would  accrue  to  my  owners  than  by  any  illicit  commerce 
we  could  now  possibly  carry  into  effect  on  the  coast. 

While  Talcott,  and  the  new  chief  mate,  and  myself,  were 
discussing  these  points,  the  cry  of  "  Sail  ho  ! "  was  heard. 
A  large  ship  had  suddenly  hove  up  out  of  the  morning's 
mist,  within  a  mile  of  us,  and  I  thought  at  first  we  had  got 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  251 

under  the  guns  of  a  Spanish  man-of-war.  A  second  look 
at  her,  however,  satisfied  us  all  that,  though  heavy  and 
cirmed,  she  was  merely  one  of  those  clumsy  traders  that 
sailed  periodically  from  the  colonies  to  Spain.  We  went 
to  quarters,  and  cleared  ship,  but  made  no  effort  to  avoid 
the  stranger.  The  Spaniards,  of  the  two,  were  the  most 
uneasy,  I  believe,  their  country  being  then  at  war  with 
England  ;  but  we  spoke  each  other  without  coming  to 
blows.  As  soon  as  the  strangers  saw  the  American  ensign, 
they  expressed  a  wish  to  communicate  with  us  ;  and,  un- 
willing to  let  them  come  on  board  us,  I  volunteered  a  visit 
to  the  Spanish  captain.  He  received  me  with  formal 
politeness,  and,  after  some  preliminary  discourse,  he  put 
into  my  hands  some  American  newspapers,  which  con- 
tained a  copy  of  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  France.  On  looking  over  the  articles  of  this 
new  compact,  I  found  that  had  our  recapture  of  the  Crisis 
been  delayed  to  that  very  day,  at  noon,  it  would  have  been 
illegal.  The  two  nations,  in  fact,  were  at  peace  when  the 
French  seized  the  ship,  but  the  customary  provisions  as  to 
captures  in  distant  seas,  just  brought  us  within  the  saving 
clauses.  Such  is  war  and  its  concomitants. 

In  the  course  of  half  an  hour's  conversation,  I  discovered 
that  the  Spaniard  intended  to  touch  at  Valparaiso,  and 
called,  in  order  to  get  men,  his  own  having  suffered,  up  the 
coast,  with  the  smalx-pox.  His  ship  was  large,  carried  a 
considerable  armament,  and  he  should  not  deem  her  safe 
from  the  smarter  English  cruisers,  unless  he  doubled  the 
cape  much  stronger  handed  than  he  then  was.  I  caught 
at  the  idea,  and  inquired  what  he  thought  of  Frenchmen  ? 
They  would  answer  his  purpose,  for  France  and  Spain  had 
a  common  enemy,  and  nothing  would  be  easier  than  to 
send  the  French  from  Cadiz  to  Marseilles.  A  bargain  was 
conse'quently  struck  on  the  spot. 

When  I  got  back  on  board  the  Crisis,  I  had  all  the  pris- 
oners mustered  on  deck.  They  were  made  acquainted  with 
the  offers  of  the  Spanish  captain,  with  the  fact  that  peace 
now  existed  between  our  respective  countries,  and  with  the 
chance  that  presented  itself,  so  opportunely,  for  them  to 
return  home.  The  proposition  was  cheerfully  accepted, 
anything  being  better  than  captivity.  Before  parting,  I 
endeavored  to  impress  on  the  French  the  necessity  of  pru- 
dence on  the  subject  of  our  recapturing  the  Crisis  in  Span- 
ish waters,  inasmuch  as  the  circumstance  might  induce  an 
inquiry  as  to  what  took  the  ship  there  ;  it  being  well  un- 


252  AFLOAT  AND  AS  FT  ORE. 

derstood  that  the  mines  were  the  punishment  of  those  who 
were  taken  in  the  contraband  trade  in  that  quarter  of  the 
world.  The  French  promised  fairly.  Whether  they  kept 
their  words  I  never  knew,  but,  if  they  did  not,  no  conse- 
quences ever  followed  from  their  revelations.  In  such  a 
case,  indeed,  the  Spanish  government  would  be  very  apt 
to  consider  the  question  one  that  touched  the  interests  of 
smugglers  alike,  and  to  feel  great  indifference  between  the 
parties.  At  all  events,  no  complaints  were  ever  made  to 
the  American  government ;  or,  if  made,  they  never  reached 
my  ears,  or  those  of  my  owners.  It  is  most  probable  noth- 
ing was  ever  said  on  the  subject. 

About  noon  we  had  got  rid  of  our  prisoners.  They  were 
allowed  to  take  away  with  them  all  their  own  effects,  and. 
as  usually  happens  in  such  cases,  I  make  little  doubt  some 
that  belonged  to  other  persons.  The  ships  then  made  sail, 
each  on  her  own  course  ;  the  Spaniard  running  down  the 
coast,  while  we  spread  our  studding-sails  for  the  island. 
As  soon  as  this  was  done,  I  felt  relieved  from  a  great  bur- 
den, and  had  leisure  to  think  of  other  matters.  1  ought  to 
mention,  however,  that  I  put  the  second  mate,  or  him  who 
had  become  chief  mate  by  my  own  advancement,  in  com- 
mand of  the  "  Pretty  Poll,"  giving  him  two  experienced 
seamen  as  his  own  mates  and  six  men,  to  sail  her.  This 
made  Talcott  the  Crisis's  first  officer,  and  glad  was  I  to  see 
him  in  a  station  a  little  suited  to  his  attainments. 

That  evening,  just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  I  saw  Emily 
again,  for  the  first  time  since  she  had  stood  leaning  over 
the  rail  as  the  Crisis  shot  through  the  inlet  of  the  lagoon. 
The  poor  girl  was  pale,  and  it  was  evident,  while  she  could 
not  but  rejoice  at  her  liberation,  and  her  release  from  the 
solicitations  of  the  unfortunate  Le  Compte,  that  his  death 
had  cast  a  shade  of  sadness  over  her  pretty  features.  It 
could  not  well  be  otherwise,  the  female  breast  ever  Enter- 
taining its  sympathies  for  those  who  submit  to  the  influence 
of  its  owner's  charms.  Then,  poor  Le  Compte  had  some 
excellent  qualities,  and  he  treated  Emily,  as  she  admitted 
to  me  herself,  with  the  profoundest  respect  and  delicacy. 
His  admiration  could  scarce  be  an  offence  in  her  eyes, 
however  disagreeable  it  proved,  in  certain  points  of 
view. 

Our  meeting  partook  of  the  character  of  our  situation, 
being  a  mixture  of  melancholy  and  happiness.  I  rejoiced 
in  our  success,  while  I  regretted  Marble,  and  even  our  late 
enemies,  while  the  major  and  his  daughter  could  not  but 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  255 

remember  all  the  gloomy  particulars  of  their  late,  and,  in- 
deed, of  their  present  position. 

"  We  seem  to  be  kept  like  Mahomet's  coffin,  sir,"  Emily 
observed,  as  she  looked  affectionately  at  her  father,  "  sus- 
pended between  heaven  and  earth — the  Indies  and  America 
— not  knowing  on  which  we  are  to  alight.  The  Pacific  is 
our  air,  and  we  are  likely  to  breathe  it,  to  our  heart's 
content." 

"  True,  love — your  comparison  is  not  an  unhappy  one. 
But,  Wallingford,  what  has  become  of  Captain  Marble  in 
these  stirring  times  ?  You  have  not  left  him,  Sancho-Panza- 
like,  to  govern  Barritarib,  while  you  have  come  to  recover 
his  ship  ? " 

I  told  my  passengers  of  the  manner  in  which  our  old 
friend  had  disappeared,  and  inquired  if  anything  had  been 
seen  of  the  whale-boat,  or  the  schooner,  on  the  night  of  the 
tropical  tempest. 

"  Nothing,"  answered  the  major.  "  So  far  from  expecting 
to  lay  eyes  on  the  'Beautiful  Emily,'  again,  we  supposed 
you  would  be  off  for  Canton  by  the  end  of  the  fortnight 
that  succeeded  our  own  departure.  At  least,  that  was  poor 
Le  Compte's  version  of  the  matter.  I  am  certain,  however, 
that  no  sail  was  seen  from  this  ship,  during  the  whole  pas- 
sage ;  nor  had  we  any  storm  like  that  you  have  described. 
More  beautiful  weather,  I  never  met  at  sea." 

Upon  this,  I  sent  for  the  log-book,  and  ascertained,  by 
day  and  date,  that  the  Crisis  was  not  within  fifty  leagues  of 
the  spot  where  we  encountered  the  thunder-squall.  Of 
course  the  ship  we  saw  was  a  stranger  ;  most  probably  a 
whaler.  This  destroyed  any  little  hope  that  was  left  con- 
cerning Marble's  fate. 

But  it  is  time  that  I  should  mention  a  galanterie  of  poor 
Le  Compte's.  He  was  well  provided  with  shipwrights — 
better,  indeed,  than  with  seamen — as  was  apparent  by  the 
readiness  with  which  he  had  constructed  the  schooner. 
During  the  passage  from  Marble  Land,  he  had  set  these 
workmen  about  building  a  poop  on  the  Crisis's  quarter- 
deck, and  I  found  the  work  completed.  There  was  a  very 
pretty,  airy  cabin,  with  two  state-rooms  communicating 
with  light  quarter-galleries,  and  everything  that  is  cus- 
tomary with  such  accommodations.  Furniture  had  been 
made,  with  French  dexterity  and  taste,  and  the  paint  was 
just  dry  to  receive  it.  Ernily  and  her  father  were  to  take 
possession  of  these  new  accommodations  the  very  day  suc- 
ceeding that  in  which  the  ship  fell  again  into  our  hands. 


254  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

This  alteration  is  not  such  as  I  would  have  made,as  a  seaman; 
and  I  wonder  Monsieur  Le  Compte,  who  had  the  gauntlet 
to  run  through  the  most  formidable  navy  in  the  world, 
should  have  ventured  on  it,  since  it  sensibly  affected  the 
ship's  sailing  on  a  wind.  But,  now  it  was  peace,  I  cared 
little  about  it,  and  determined  to  let  it  remain,  so  long,  at 
least,  as  Miss  Merton  continued  on  board. 

That  very  night,  therefore,  the  major  occupied  one  of 
the  state-rooms,  and  his  daughter  the  other.  Imitating 
poor  Le  Compte's  gallantry,  I  gave  them  a  separate  table, 
though  I  took  quite  half  my  meals  with  them,  by  invita- 
tion. Emily  did  not  absolutely  dress  my  wound,  a  flesh 
injury  in  the  shoulder,  that  office  falling  to  her  father's 
share,  who  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  service,  and  w?s  fa- 
miliar with  the  general  treatment  of  hurts  of  this  nature  ; 
but  she  could,  and  did,  show  many  of  those  gentle  and  se- 
ductive attentions,  that  the  tenderness  of  her  sex  can 
alone  bestow  with  full  effect  on  man.  In  a  fortnight  my 
hurt  was  cured,  though  Emily  had  specifics  to  recommend 
and  advice  to  bestow^,  until  we  were  both  ashamed  to  al- 
lude to  the  subject  any  longer. 

As  for  the  passage,  it  was  just  such  a  one  as  might  be 
expected  to  occur,  in  the  trades  of  the  Pacific.  The  ship 
was  under  studding-sails  nearly  the  whole  time,  making, 
day  in  and  day  out,  from  a  hundred  and  twenty  to  two 
hundred  miles  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  The  mates  kept 
the  watches,  and  I  had  little  to  do,  but  to  sit  and  chat 
with  the  major  and  his  daughter  in  the  cool,  airy  cabin 
that  Le  Compte  had  provided  for  us  ;  listen  to  Emily's 
piano,  which  had  been  transferred  from  the  prize,  and 
subsequently  saved  from  the  wreck  ;  o*r  read  aloud  out  of 
some  of  the  two  or  three  hundred  beautifully-bound  and 
sweetly-scented  volumes  that  composed  her  library.  In  that 
day,  people  read  Pope  and  Young,  and  Milton,  and  Shake- 
speare, and  that  sort  of  writers  ;  a  little  relieved  by  Mrs. 
Radcliffe,  and  Miss  Burney,  and  Monk  Lewis,  perhaps. 
As  for  Fijlding  and  Smollett,  they  were  well  enough  in 
their  place,  which  was  not  a  young  lady's  library,  how- 
ever. There  were  still  more  useful  books,  and  I  believe  I 
read  everything  in  the  ship,  before  the  voyage  ended.  The 
leisure  of  a  sea  life,  in  a  tranquil,  well-ordered  vessel,  ad- 
mits of  much  study  ;  and  books  ought  to  be  a  leading  ob- 
ject in  the  fitting  out  that  portion  of  a  vessel's  equipment 
which  relates  chiefly  to  the  welfare  of  her  officers  and  crew. 

Time  passed  pleasantly  enough  with  a  young  fellow  who 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOKE.  255 

had  certainly  some  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  his  own  suc- 
cess thus  far  in  life,:arid  who  could  relieve  the  tedium  of 
ship's  duty  in  such  society.  I  cannot  say  I  was  in  love, 
though  I  often  thought  of  Emily  when  she  was  not  before 
my  eyes,  and  actually  dreamed  of  her  three  times  in  the 
first  fortnight  after  the  recapture  of  the  ship.  What  was 
a  little  remarkable,  as  I  conceive,  I  often  found  myself 
drawing  comparisons  between  her  and  Lucy,  though  I 
hardly  knew  why,  myself.  The  result  was  very  much  after" 
this  sort — Emily  had  vastly  the  advantage  in  all  that  related 
to  art,  instruction,  training — I  am  wrong,  Mr.  Hardinge 
had  given  his  daughter  a  store  of  precise,  useful  knowledge, 
that  Emily  did  not  possess  ;  and  then  I  could  not  but  see 
that  Lucy's  tact  in  moral  feeling  was  much  of  the  highest 
order  of  the  two.  But  in  purely  conventional  attainments, 
in  most  that  relates  to  the  world,  its  usages,  its  finesse  of 
feeling  and  manner,  I  could  see  that  Emily  was  the  supe- 
rior. Had  I  known  more  myself,  I  could  have  seen 
that  both  were  provincial — for  England,  in  1801,  was  but 
a  province  as  to  mere  manners,  though  on  a  larger  scale 
than  America  is  even  now — and  that  either  would  have 
been  remarked  for  peculiarities  in  the  more  sophisticated 
circles  of  the  continent  of  Europe.  I  dare  say  half  my  own 
countrymen  would  have  preferred  Lucy's  nature  to  the 
more  artificial  manner  of  Emily  ;  but  it  will  not  do  to  say 
that  even  female  deportment,  however  delicate  and  femi- 
nine nature  may  have  made  it,  cannot  be  improved  by  cer- 
tain general  rules  for  the  government  of  that  which  is  even 
purely  conventional.  On  the  whole,  I  wished  that  Lucy 
had  a  little  of  Emily's  art,  and  Emily  a  good  deal  more  of 
Lucy's  nature.  I  suppose  the  perfection  in  this  sort  of 
thing  is  to  possess  an  art  so  admirable  that  it  shall  appear 
to.  be  nature  in  all  things  immaterial,  while  it  leaves  the  lat- 
ter strictly  in  the  ascendant  in  all  that  is  material. 

In  person,  I  sometimes  fancied  Emily  was  the  superior, 
and  sometimes,  when  memory  carried  me  back  to  certain 
scenes  that  had  occurred  during  my  last  visit  to  Clawbonny, 
that  it  was  Lucy.  In  complexion,  and  perhaps  in  eyes, 
the  English  girl  beat  her  rival,  possibly,  also,  in  the  teeth 
— though  Lucy's  were  even  and  white  ;  but  in  the  smile, 
in  the  outline  of  the  face,  most  especially  in  the  mouth, 
and  in  the  hands,  feet,  and  person  generally,  I  think  nine 
judges  in  ten  would  have  preferred  the  American.  One 
peculiar  charm  was  common  to  both  ;  and  it  is  a  charm, 
though  the  strongest  instance  I  ever  saw  of  it  in  my  life 


256  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

was  in  Italy,  that  may  be  said  to  belong,  almost  ex- 
clusively, to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  ;  I  mean  that  expression 
of  the  countenance  which  so  eminently  betokens  feminine 
purity  and  feminine  tenderness  united  ;  the  look  which 
artists  love  to  impart  to  the  faces  of  angels.  Each  of  the 
girls  had  much  of  this,  and  I  suppose  it  was  principally 
owing  to  their  heavenly  blue  eyes.  I  doubt  if  any 
woman  with  black  or  hazel  eyes,  notwithstanding  all  the 
brilliancy  of  their  beauty,  ever  possessed  this  charm  in  the 
higher  degree.  It  belonged  to  Grace  even  more  than  to 
Lucy  or  Emily  ;  though  of  the  last  two  I  think  the  English 
girl  possessed  it  in  a  slight  degree  the  most,  so  fn.r  as  it  was 
connected  with  mere  shading  and  color,  while  the  Ameri- 
can exhibited  the  most  of  it  in  moments  of  feeling  and 
emotion.  Perhaps  this  last  advantage  was  owing  to  Lucy's 
submitting  most  to  nature  and  to  her  impulses.  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  I  had  not  seen  Lucy  now 
for  near  two  years,  and  two  of  the  most  important  years  of 
a  young  female's  life,  as  respected  her  personal  appearance. 

As  relates  to  character,  I  will  not  now  speak  as  plainly 
as  I  shall  be  called  on  to  do  hereafter.  A  youth  of  twenty 
is  not  the  best  judge  of  such  things,  and  I  shall  leave  events 
to  tell  their  own  story  in  this  particular. 

We  had  been  at  sea  a  fortnight,  when  happening  to  al- 
lude to  the  pearl  fishery,  I  bethought  me  of  my  own  prizes. 
A  ship  that  carries  a  numerous  crew,  is  a  sort  of  omnium 
gatherum  of  human  employments.  For  ordinarily  manned 
craft,  seamen  are  necessary  ;  but  ships-of-war,  privateers, 
and  letters-of-marque,  can  afford,  as  poor  Marble  would 
express  it,  to  generalize.  We  had  several  tradesmen  in 
the  Crisis — mechanics,  who  found  the  restraints  of  a  ship 
necessary  for  their  own  good — and,  among  others,  we  hap- 
pened to  have  a  goldsmith.  This  man  had  offered  to  per- 
forate my  pearls,  and  to  string  them  ;  an  operation  to 
which  I  consented.  The  fellow  had  performed  his  task  as 
well  as  could  be  desired,  and  supplying  from  his  own  stores 
a  pair  of  suitable  clasps,  had  formed  the  whole  into  a  sim- 
ple, but  as  beautiful  a  necklace,  as  I  ever  laid  eyes  on. 
He  had  put  the  largest  pearl  of  all  directly  in  the  centre, 
and  then  arranged  the  remainder,  by  placing  several  of 
the  smaller  together,  separated  by  one  of  the  second  size, 
until  the  whole  formed  a  row  that  would  much  more  than 
encircle  my  own  neck,  and  which,  of  course,  would  drop 
gracefully  round  that  of  a  female. 

When   I   produced  this  beautiful   ornament,  one  that  <» 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  257 

woman  of  rank  might  have  coveted,  Emily  did  not  en- 
deavor to  conceal  her  admiration.  Unaccustomed  herself, 
to  the  higher  associations  of  her  own  country,  she  had 
never  seen  a  necklace  of  the  same  value,  and  she  even 
fancied  it  fit  for  a  queen.  Doubtless,  queens  usually  pos- 
sess much  more  precious  pearls  than  those  of  mine,  and 
yet  it  was  to  be  supposed  they  would  not  disdain  to  wear 
even  such  as  they.  Major  Merton  examined  the  necklace 
carefully,  and  I  could  see  by  his  countenance,  he  was  sur- 
prised and  pleased. 

On  the  whole,  I  think  it  may  be  questioned,  if  any  other 
man  enjoys  as  many  physical  advantages,  with  the  same 
means,  as  the  American.  I  speak  more  of  his  habits, 
than  of  his  opportunities  ;  but  I  am  of  opinion,  after  see- 
ing a  good  deal  of  the  various  parts  of  the  world,  that  the 
American  of  moderate  fortune  has  more  physical  indul- 
gences than  any  other  man.  While  this  is  true,  however,  as 
a  whole,  there  are  certain  points  on  which  he  signally  fails. 
He  fails  often,  when  it  comes  to  the  mere  outward  exhibi- 
tion ;  and  it  is  probable  there  is  not  a  single  well-ordered 
household — meaning  for  the  purposes  of  comfort  and  rep- 
resentation united — in  the  whole  country.  The  particular 
deficiency,  if  deficiency  it  be,  applies  in  an  almost  exclu- 
sive degree  to  the  use  of  precious  stones,  jewelry,  and 
those  of  the  more  valuable  metals  in  general.  The  igno- 
rance of  the  value  of  precious  stones  is  so  great,  that  half 
the  men,  meaning  those  who  possess  more  or  less  of  fortune, 
do  not  even  know  the  names  of  those  of  the  commoner 
sorts.  I  doubt,  if  one  educated  American  in  twenty  could, 
even  at  this  moment,  tell  a  sapphire  from  an  amethyst,  or 
a  turquoise  from  a  garnet  ;  though  the  women  are  rather 
more  expert  as  lapidaries.  Now  I  was  a  true  American 
in  this  respect  ;  and  while  I  knew  I  possessed  a  very  beau- 
tiful ornament,  I  had  not  the  smallest  idea  of  its  value  as 
an  article  of  commerce.  With  the  major  it  was  different. 
Fie  had  studied  such  things,  and  he  had  a  taste  for  them. 
The  reader  will  judge  of  my  surprise,  therefore,  when  I 
heard  him  say  : 

"  That  necklace,  in  the  hands  of  Rundle  and  Bridges, 
would  bring  a  thousand  pounds,  in  London  !  " 

"  Father  !  "  exclaimed  Emily. 

"  I  do  think  it.  It  is  not  so  much  the  size  of  the  pearls, 
though  these  largest  are  not  common  even  in  that  particu- 
lar, but  it  is  their  extreme  beauty  ;  their  color  and  trans- 
parency— their  water,  as  it  is  called." 


258  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  I  thought  that  a  term  applied  only  to  diamonds,"  ob- 
served Emily,  with  an  interest  I  wished  she  had  not  mani- 
fested. 

"  It  is  also  applied  to  pearls— there  are  pearls  of  what  is 
called  the  '  white  water/  and  they  are  of  the  sort  most 
prized  in  Europe.  The  'yellow  water'  are  more  esteemed 
among  nations  of  darker  skins  ;  I  suppose  that  is  the 
secret.  Yes,  I  think  if  you  send  this  necklace  to  London, 
Wallingford,  you  will  get  six  or  eight  hundred  pounds 
for  it." 

"  I  shall  never  sell  it,  sir — at  least,  not  as  long  as  I  can 
avoid  it." 

I  saw  that  Emily  looked  at  me,  with  an  earnestness  for 
which  I  could  not  account. 

"  Not  sell  it  ! "  repeated  her  father.  "  Why,  what  in  the 
name  of  Neptune  can  yvu  do  with  such  an  ornament  ?  " 

"  Keep  it.  It  is  strictly  my  own.  I  brought  it  up  from 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  with  my  own  hands  ;  removed  the 
pearls  from  what  the  editors  wrould  call  their  *  native 
homes  '  myself,  and  I  feel  an  interest  in  them  that  I  never 
could  feel  in  any  ornament  that  was  purchased." 

"  Still,  this  will  prove  rather  an  expensive  taste.  Pray, 
what  in-terest  do  you  obtain  for  money,  in  your  part  of  the 
world,  Wallingford  ? " 

"  Six  per  cent.,  in  New  York,  sir,  perhaps  on  the  better 
sort  of  permanent  securities." 

"  And  how  much  is  sixty  pounds  sterling,  when  turned 
into  dollars  ? " 

"  We  usually  say  five  for  one,  though  it  is  not  quite  that ; 
from  two  hundred  and  eighty  to  two  hundred  and  ninety, 
all  things  considered — though  two  hundred  and  sixty-six, 
nominally,  or  thereabouts." 

'*  Well,  even  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars  a  year  is 
a  good  deal  for  a  young  man  like  you  to  pay  for  the 
pleasure  of  saying  he  owns  a  pearl  necklace  that  he  can- 
not use." 

"  But  it  costs  me  nothing,  sir,  and  of  course  I  can  lose 
nothing  by  it." 

"  I  rather  think  you  will  lose  what  I  tell  you,  if  the 
ornament  can  be  sold  for  that  sum.  When  a  man  has  prop- 
erty from  which  he  might  derive  an  income,  and  does  not, 
he  is,  in  one  sense,  and  that  the  most  important,  a  loser." 

"  I  have  a  sister,  Major  Merton  ;  I  may  possibly  give  it  to 
her — or,  should  I  marry,  I  would  certainly  give  it  to  my 
wife." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  259 

I  could  see  a  smile  struggling  about  the  mouth  of  the 
major,  which  I  was  then  too  young,  and  I  may  add,  too 
American,  to  understand.  The  incongruity  of  the  wife  of 
a  man  of  two  thousand,  or  five-and-twenty  hundred  dollars 
a  year  wearing  two  years'  income  round  her  neck,  or  of 
being  magnificent  in  only  one  item  of  her  dress,  household, 
or  manner  of  living,  never  occurred  to  my  mind.  We  can 
all  laugh  when  we  read  of  Indian  chiefs  wearing  uniform 
coats  and  cocked  hats,  without  any  other  articles  of  attire  ; 
but  we  cannot  imagine  inconsistencies  in  our  own  cases, 
that  are  almost  as  absurd  in  the  eyes  of  highly  sophisticated 
and  conventional  usages.  To  me,  at  that  age,  there  was 
nothing  in  the  least  out  of  the  way  in  Mrs.  Miles  Walling- 
ford's  wearing  the  necklace,  her  husband  being  unequiv- 
ocally its  owner.  As  for  Emily,  she  did  not  smile,  but  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  necklace  in  her  own  very  white,  plump 
hand,  the  pearls  making  the  hand  look  all  the  prettier, 
while  the  hand  assisted  to  increase  the  lustre  of  the  pearls 
I  ventured  to  ask  her  to  put  the  necklace  on  her  neck 
She  blushed  slightly,  but  she  complied. 

"  Upon  my  word,  Emily,"  exclaimed  the  gratified  father, 
"you  become  each  other  so  well,  that  I  am  losing  a  prej- 
udice, and  begin  to  believe  even  a  poor  man's  daughter 
may  be  justified  in  using  such  an  ornament." 

The  sight  was  certainly  sufficient  to  justify  anything  of 
the  sort.  The  dazzling  whiteness  of  Miss  Merton's  skin, 
the  admirable  outlines  of  her  throat  and  bust,  and  the  flush 
which  pleasure  gave  her  cheeks,  contributed  largely  to  the 
beauty  of  the  picture.  It  would  have  been  difficult  to  say 
whether  the  charms  of  the  woman  ornamented  the  pearls, 
or  those  of  the  pearls  ornamented  the  woman  !  I  remem- 
ber I  thought,  at  the  time,  my  eyes  had  never  dwelt  on  any 
object  more  pleasing  than  was  Miss  Merton  during  the 
novelty  of  that  spectacle.  Nor  did  the  pleasure  cease  on 
the  instant ;  for  I  begged  her  to  continue  to  wear  the  neck- 
lace during  the  remainder  of  the  day — a  request  with 
which  she  had  the  good  nature  to  comply.  Which  was 
most  gratified  by  this  exhibition,  the  young  lady  or  myself, 
it  might  be  difficult  to  say  ;  for  there  is  a  mutual  satisfac- 
tion in  admiring  and  in  being  admired. 

When  I  went  into  the  cabin  to  say  good-night,  I  found 
Emily  Merton,  with  the  necklace  in  her  hand,  gazing  at  it 
by  the  light  of  a  powerful  lamp,  with  eyes  as  liquid  and 
soft  as  the  pearls  themselves.  I  stood  still  to  admire  her  , 
lor  never  before  had  I  seen  her  so  bewitchingly  beautiful 


260          -;  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Her  countenance  was  usually  a  little  wanting  in  intellectual 
expression,  though  it  possessed  so  much  of  that  which  I  have 
described  as  angelic ;  but,  on  this  occasion,  it  seemed  to  me 
to  be  full  of  ideas.  Can  it  be  possible,  whispered  conceit 
— and  what  very  young  man  is  entirely  free  from  it  ?— can 
it  be  possible  she  is  now  thinking  how  happy  a  woman 
Mrs.  Miles  Wallingford  will  one  day  be?  Am  I  in  any 
manner  connected  with  that  meditating  brow,  that  reflect- 
ing air,  that  fixed  look,  that  pleased,  and  yet  doubting  ex- 
pression ? 

"  I  was  about  to  send  for  you,  Captain  Wallingford/' 
said  Emily,  the  instant  she  saw  me,  and  confirming  my 
conceited  conjectures,  by  blushing  deeper  than  I  had  seen 
her  before,  in  the  whole  of  that  blushing,  sensitive,  and  en- 
joyable day  ;  "  about  to  send  for  you,  to  take  charge  of 
your  treasure." 

"And  could  you  not  assume  that  much  responsibility  for 
a  single  night  ?  " 

"  'Twould  be  too  great — it  is  an  honor  reserved  for  Mrs. 
Wallingford,  you  know." 

This  was  smilingly  said,  I  fancied  sweetly  and  kindly, 
and  yet  it  was  said  not  altogether  without  something  that 
approached  to  an  equivoque ;  a  sort  of  manner  that  the  deep 
natural  feeling  of  Grace,  and  needle-like  truth  of  Lucy, 
had  rendered  unpleasant  to  me.  I  took  the  necklace, 
shook  the  young  lady's  hand  for  good-night — we  always 
did  that,  on  meeting  and  parting  for  the  day — paid  my 
compliments  to  the  father,  and  withdrew. 

I  was  dressing  next  morning,  when  Neb  came  bolting 
into  my  state-room,  with  his  Clawbonny  freedom  of  man- 
ner, his  eyes  looking  like  lobsters,  and  his  necklace  of 
pearl,  glittering  between  a  pair  of  lips  that  might  have 
furnished  a  cannibal  two  famous  steaks.  As  soon  as  fairly 
established  in  command,  I  had  brought  the  fellow  aft, 
berthing  him  in  the  steerage,  in  order  to  have  the  benefit 
of  more  of  his  personal  service  than  I  could  obtain  while 
he  was  exclusively  a  foremast  Jack.  Still,  he  kept  his 
watch  ;  for  it  would  have  been  cruel  to  deprive  him  of  that 
pleasure. 

"  Oh  !  Masser  Mile  !  "  exclaimed  the  black,  as  soon  as 
he  could  speak  ;  "  'e  boat — 'e  boat  !  " 

"  What  of  the  boat  ?     Is  any  one  overboard  ? " 

"  'E  whale-boat,  sir  ! — poor  Captain  Marble — 'e  whale- 
boat,  sir !  " 

"  I   understand  you,   Neb — go  on  deck,  and  desire  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  261 

officer  of  the  watch  to  heave-to  the  ship,  as  soon  as  it  is 
proper  ;  I  will  come  up,  the  instant  I  can." 

Here,  then,  I  thought,  Providence  has  brought  us  on  the 
track  of  the  unfortunate  whale-boat ;  and  we  shall  doubtless 
see  the  mutilated  remains  of  some  of  our  old  companions 
— poor  Marble,  doubtless,  from  what  Neb  said — well,  the 
will  of  God  be  done.  I  was  soon  dressed  ;  and,  as  I  went 
up  the  cabin  ladder,  the  movement  on  deck  denoted  the 
nature  of  the  excitement  that  now  prevailed  generally  in 
the  ship.  Just  as  I  reached  the  quarter-deck,  the  main- 
yard  swung  round,  and  the  sails  were  brought  aback.  The 
whole  crew  was  in  commotion,  and  it  was  some  little  time 
before  I  could  learn  the  cause. 

The  morning  was  misty,  and  the  view  round  the  ship, 
until  within  a  few  minutes,  had  been  confined  to  a  circle  of 
less  than  a  mile  in  diameter.  As  the  sun  rose,  however, 
the  mist  broke  away  gradually,  and  then  the  watch  caught 
a  view  of  the  whale-boat  mentioned  by  Neb.  Instead  of 
being  floating  about  on  the  ocean,  with  the  remains  of  its 
unfortunate  crew  lying  in  its  bottom,  as  I  had  expected  to 
see  it,  when  I  caught  the  first  glimpse  of  the  unlooked-for 
object  it  was  not  a  mile  distant,  pulling  briskly  for  us,  and 
containing  not  only  a  full  but  a  strong  and  an  animated 
crew. 

Just  at  that  instant,  some  one  cried  out  "  Sail  ho  !  "  and 
sure  enough,  a  ship  was  seen  some  four  or  five  miles  to 
leeward,  a  whaler  evidently,  turning  to  windward,  under 
easy  canvas,  in  order  to  rejoin  her  boat,  from  which  she 
had  lately  been  separated  by  the  night  and  the  fog.  This, 
then,  was  no  more  than  a  whaler  and  her  boat ;  and,  on 
sweeping  the  horizon  with  a  glass,  Talcott  soon  discovered, 
a  mile  to  windward  of  the  boat,  a  dead  whale,  with  another 
boat  lying  by  it,  in  waiting  for  the  approach  of  the  ship, 
which  promised  to  fetch  as  far  to  windward,  on  its  next 
tack. 

"  They  desire  to  speak  to  us,  I  suppose,  Mr.  Talcott,"  I 
remarked.  "  The  ship  is  probably  an  American  ;  it  is 
likely  the  captain  is  in  the  boat,  and  he  wishes  to  send  let- 
ters or  messages  home." 

A  shout  came  from  Talcott,  at  the  next  instant — then  he 
cried  out — 

"Three  cheers,  my  lads  ;  I  see  Captain  Marble  in  that 
boat,  as  plainly  as  I  see  the  boat  itself ! " 

The  cheers  that  followed,  were  a  spontaneous  burst  of 
joy.  They  reached  the  approaching  boat,  and  gave  its  in. 


262  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

mate  an  earnest  of  his  reception.  In  three  more  minutes, 
Marble  was  on  the  deck  of  his  old  ship.  For  myself,  I  was 
unable  to  speak  ;  nor  was  poor  Marble  much  better  off, 
though  more  prepared  for  the  interview. 

"  I  knew  you,  Miles  ;  I  knew  you  and  the  bloody  '  Pretty 
Poll,'  "  he  at  last  got  out,  the  tears  running  down  his  cheeks 
like  water,  "  the  moment  the  fog  lifted,  and  gave  me  a  fair 
glimpse.  They've  got  her — yes — d— n  her — God  bless  rier, 
I  mean — they've  got  her,  and  the  bloody  Frenchmen  will 
not  go  home  with  that  feather  in  their  caps.  Well,  it 
couldn't  have  happened  to  a  cleverer  fellow  ;  and  I'm  just 
as  happy  as  if  I  had  done  it  myself ! " 

There  he  stood,  sound,  safe,  and  sturdy  as  ever  ;  and  the 
four  Sandwich  Islanders  were  all  in  the  boat,  just  as  well 
as  if  they  had  never  quitted  the  ship.  Every  man  of  the 
crew  had  to  shake  hands  with  Marble,  congratulations 
were  to  be  exchanged,  and  a  turbulent  quarter  of  an  hour 
passed  before  it  was  possible  to  get  a  coherent  account 
from  the  man  of  what  had  befallen  him.  As  soon  as  prac- 
ticable, however,  he  motioned  for  silence,  and  told  his  own 
story  aloud  for  the  benefit  of  all  hands. 

"You  know  how  I  left  you,  men,"  Marble  commenced, 
swabbing  his  eyes  and  cheeks,  and  struggling  to  speak  with 
something  like  an  appearance  of  composure,  "  and  the 
errand  on  which  I  went.  The  last  I  saw  of  you  was  about 
half  an  hour  before  the  gust  broke.  At  that  time  I  was  so 
near  the  ship  as  to  make  out  she  was  a  whaler ;  and,  noth- 
ing doubting  of  being  in  sight  of  you  in  the  morning,  I 
thought  it  safer  to  pull  alongside  of  her,  than  to  try  to  hunt 
for  the  schooner  in  the  dark.  I  found  an  old  shipmate  in 
the  whaler's  captain,  who  was  looking  for  a  boat  that  had 
struck  adrift  the  night  before  ;  and  both  parties  were 
pleased.  There  was  not  much  time  for  compliments,  how- 
ever, as  you  all  know.  The  ship  bore  up  to  speak  you, 
and  then  she  bore  up,  again,  and  again,  on  account  of  the 
squalls.  While  Mr.  Wallingford  was  probably  hugging  the 
wind  in  order  to  fi.nd  ;//<?,  we  were  running  off  to  save  our 
spars  ;  and  next  morning  we  could  see  nothing  of  you. 
How  else  we  missed  each  other  is  more  than  I  can  say";  for 
I've  no  idee  you  went  off  and  left  me  out  here,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  ocean " 

"We  cruised  for  you,  within  five  miles  of  the  spot,  for  a 
whole  day  !  "  I  exclaimed,  eagerly. 

"No,  no,  Captain  Marble,"  the  men  put  in,  in  a  body 
"we  did  all  that  men  could  do,  to  find  you." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  263 

"I  know  it  !  I  could  swear  to  it,  without  a  word  from 
one  of  you.  Well,  that's  the  whole  story.  We  could  not 
find  you,  and  I  stuck  by  the  ship  as  a  matter  of  course,  as 
there  was  no  choice  between  that  and  jumping  overboard ; 
and  here  has  the  Lord  brought  us  together  again,  though 
we  are  every  inch  of  five  hundred  miles  from  the  place 
where  we  parted." 

I  then  took  Marble  below,  and  related  to  him  all  that 
had  occurred  since  the  separation.  He  listened  with  the 
deepest  interest,  manifesting  the  strongest  sympathy  in  our 
success.  Nothing  but  expressions  of  gratification  escaped 
him,  until  I  remarked,  as  I  concluded  my  account — 

"  And  here  is  the  old  ship  for  you,  sir,  just  as  we  lost 
her ;  and  glad  am  I  to  see  her  once  more  in  so  good  hands." 

"  Who  put  that  bloody  poop  on  her,  you  or  the  French- 
man, Miles  ? " 

"The  Frenchman.  Now  it  is  peace,  however,  it  is  no 
great  matter  ;  and  the  cabin  is  very  convenient  for  the 
major  and  his  daughter." 

"  It's  just  like  'em  !  Spoiling  the  neatest  quarter-deck 
on  the  ocean  with  a  bloody  supernumerary  cabin  !  " 

"  Well,  sir,  as  you  are  master  now,  you  can  have  it  all 
cut  away  again,  if  you  think  proper." 

"  I  !  I  cut  away  anything !  I  take  the  command  of 
this  ship  from  the  man  who  has  so  fairly  won  it !  If  I  do, 
may  I  be  d d  ! " 

*'  Captain  Marble  !  You  astonish  me  by  this  language, 
sir;  but  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  momentary  feeling,  of 
which  your  own  good  sense — nay,  even  your  duty  to  the 
owners — will  cause  you  to  get  rid." 

"You  never  were  more  mistaken  in  your  life,  Master 
Miles  Wallingford,"  answered  Marble,  solemnly.  "  I 
thought  of  all  this  the  moment  I  recognized  the  ship, 
and  that  was  as  soon  as  I  saw  her,  and  my  mind  was  made 
up  from  that  instant.  I  cannot  be  so  mean  as  to  come  in 
at  the  seventh  hour,  and  profit  by  your  courage  and  skill. 
Besides,  I  have  no  legal  right  to  command  here.  The  ship 
was  more  than  twenty-four  hours  in  the  enemy's  hands, 
and  she  comes  under  the  usual  laws  of  recapture  and 
salvage." 

4<  But  the  owners,  Captain  Marble — remember  there  is  a 
cargo  to  be  taken  in  at  Canton,  and  there  are  heavy  interests 
at  stake." 

44  By  George,  that  would  make  me  so  much  the  more  firm. 
From  the  first  I  have  thought  matters  would  be  better  in 


264  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

your  hands  than  mine  ;  you  have  an  edication,  and  that's  a 
wonderful  thing,  Miles.  As  to  sailing  a  ship,  or  stowing 
her,  or  taking  care  of  her  in  heavy  weather,  or  finding  my 
way  across  an  ocean,  I'll  turn  my  back  on  no  man  ;  but  it's 
a  different  thing  when  it  comes  to  figures  and  calculations." 

"^ou  disappoint  me  greatly  in  all  this,  sir  ;  we  have 
gone  through  so  much  together — 

"We  did  not  go  through  the  recapture  of  this  vessel  to- 
gether, boy." 

"  But  it  wsisyour  thought,  and  but  for  an  accident,  would 
have  been  your  deed." 

"  I  don't  know  that ;  I  have  reflected  coolly  in  the  matter, 
after  I  got  over  my  mortification  ;  and  I  think  we  should 
have  been  flogged,  had  we  attacked  the  French  at  sea. 
Your  own  plan  was  better,  and  capitally  carried  out.  Har- 
kee,  Miles,  this  much  will  I  do,  and  not  a  jot  more.  You 
are  bound  to  the  island,  I  take  it  for  granted,  to  pick  up 
odds  and  ends  ;  and  then  you  sail  for  Canton  ?" 

"  Precisely — I  am  glad  you  approve  of  it,  as  you  must  by 
seeing  into  it  so  readily." 

"Well,  at  the  island,  fill  up  the  schooner  with  such  ar- 
ticles as  will  be  of  no  use  at  Canton.  Let  her  take  in  the 
copper,  the  English  goods,  and  the  like  of  that,  and  I  will 
carry  her  home  ;  while  you -can  pursue  the  v'y'ge  in  the 
ship,  as  you  alone  have  a  right  to  do." 

No  arguments  of  mine  could  turn  Marble  from  his 
resolution.  I  fought  him  all  day  on  the  subject,  and  at 
night  he  was  put  in  command  of  the  •"  Pretty  Poll,"  with 
our  old  second  mate  for  his  first  officer. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

"Thou  shalt  seek  the  beach  of  sand, 

Where  the  water  bounds  the  elfin  land  ; 
•          Thou  shalt  watch  the  oozy  brine 

Till  the  sturgeon  leaps  in  the  light  moonshine." — DRAKE. 

THERE  is  but  a  word  to  say  of  the  whaler.  We  spoke 
her,  of  course,  and  parted,  leaving  her  her  boat.  She 
passed  half  an  hour  close  to  us,  and  then  \vent  after  her 
whale.  When  we  lost  sight  of  her,  she  was  cutting  in  the 
fish,  as  coolly  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  As  for  our- 
selves, we  made  the  best  of  our  way  for  the  island. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE,  265 

Nothing  worth  relating  occurred  during  the  remainder 
of  the  passage.  We  reached  our  place  of  destination  ten 
days  after  we  found  Marble,  and  carried  both  the  ship  and 
schooner  into  the  lagoon,  without  any  hesitation  or  diffi- 
culty. Everything  was  found  precisely  as  we  had  left  it  ; 
two  months  having  passed  as  quietly  as  an  hour.  The 
tents  were  standing,  the  different  objects  lay  where  they 
had  been  hastily  dropped  at  our  hurried  departure,  and 
everything  denoted  the  unchangeable  "character  of .  an 
unbroken  solitude!  Time  and  the  seasons  could  alone 
have  produced  any  sensible  alteration.  Even  the  wreck 
had  neither  shifted  her  bed,  nor  suffered  injury.  There 
she  lay,  seemingly  an  immovable  fixture  on  the  rocks,  and 
as  likely  to  last  as  any  other  of  the  durable  things  around 
her. 

It  is  always  a  relief  to  -escape  from  the  confinement  of 
a  ship,  even  if  it  be  only  to  stroll  along  the  vacant  sands 
of  some  naked  beach.  As  soon  as  the  vessels  were  secured, 
we  poured  ashore  in  a  body,  and  the  people  were  given  a 
holiday.  There  was  no  longer  an  enemy  to  apprehend, 
and  we  all  enjoyed  the  liberty  of  movement  and  the  free- 
dom from  care  that  accompanied  our  peculiar  situation. 
Some  prepared  lines  and  commenced  fishing ;  others 
hauled  the  seine  ;  while  the  less  industriously  disposed 
lounged  about,  selected  the  fruit  of  the  cocoa- nut  tree,  or 
hunted  for  shells — of  which  there  were  many,  and  those 
extremely  beautiful,  scattered  along  the  inner  and  outer 
beaches,  or  lying  visible  just  within  the  wash  of  the  water. 
I  ordered  two  or  three  of  the  hands  to  make  a  collection 
for  Clawbonny  ;  paying  them,  as  a  matter  of  course,  for 
their  extra  services.  Their  success  was  great,  and  I  still 
possess  the  fruits  of  their  search,  as  memorials  of  my 
youthful  adventures. 

Emily  and  her  maid  took  possession  of  their  old  tents, 
neither  of  which  had  been  disturbed  ;  and  I  directed  that 
the  necessary  articles  of  furniture  should  be  landed  for 
their  use.  As  we  intended  to  remain  eight  or  ten  days  at 
Marble  Land,  there  was  a  general  disposition  to  make  our- 
selves comfortable  ;  and  the  crew  were  permitted  to  bring 
such  things,  ashore  as  they  desired,  care  being  had  for  the 
necessary  duties  of  the  ships.  Since  quitting  London,  we 
had  been  prisoners,  with  the  short  interval  of  our  former 
visit  to  this  place,  and  it  was  now  deemed  wisest  to  give 
the  people  a  little  relaxation.  To  all  this,  I  was  advised 
by  Marble  ;  who,  though  a  severe,  and  so  often  seemingly 


266  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

an  obdurate  man,  was  in  the  main  disposed  to  grant  as 
much  indulgence,  at  suitable  moments,  as  any  officer  I 
ever  sailed  with.  There  was  an  ironical  severity,  at  times, 
about  the  man,  which  misled  superficial  observers.  I  have 
heard  of  a  waggish  boatswain  in  the  navy,  who,  when  dis- 
posed to  menace  the  crew  with  some  of  his  official  visita- 
tions, used  to  cry  out,  "Fellow-citizens,  I'm  coming  among 
you  ;"  and  the  anecdote  never  recurs  to  my  mind  without 
bringing  Marble  back  to  my  recollections.  When  in  spirits, 
he  had  much  of  this  bitter  irony  in  his  manner  ;  and  his 
own  early  experience  had  rendered  him  somewhat  insensi- 
ble to  professional  suffering ;  but,  on  the  who*le,  I  always 
thought  him  a  humane  man. 

We  went  into  the  lagoon,  before  the  sun  had  risen  ;  and 
before  the  breakfast  hour  of  those  who  lived  aft,  we  had 
everything  landed  that  was  necessary,  and  were  in  posses- 
sion of  our  tents.  I  had  ordered  Neb  to  attend  particu- 
larly to  the  wants  of  the  Mertons  ;  and,  precisely  as  the 
bell  of  the  ship  struck  eight,  which,  at  that  time  of  day, 
meant  eight  o'clock,  the  black  came  with  the  major's  com- 
pliments, inviting  "  Captain"  Wallingford  and  "  Captain" 
Marble  to  breakfast. 

11  So  it  goes,  Miles,"  added  my  companion,  after  prom- 
ising to  join  the  party  in  a  few  moments.  "  This  arrange- 
ment about  the  schooner  leaves  us  both  captains,  and  pre- 
vents anything  like  your  downhill  work,  which  is  always 
unpleasant  business.  Captain  Marble  and  Captain  Walling- 
ford sound  well  ;  and  I  hope  they  may  long  sail  in  com- 
pany. But  natur'  or  art  never  meant  me  for  a  captain." 

"  Well,  admitting  this,  where  there  are  two  captains,  one 
must  outrank  the  other,  and  the  senior  commands.  You 
should  be  called  Commodore  Marble." 

"  None  of  your  pleasantry,  Miles,"  returned  Marble,  with 
a  severe  look  and  shake  of  the  head  ;  "it  is  by  your  favor, 
and  I  hope  by  your  good  opinion,  that  I  am  master  of 
even  that  little,  half-blooded,  part  French,  part  Yankee, 
schooner.  It  is  my  second,  and  I  think  it  will  be  my  last 
command.  I  have  generalized  over  my  life,  upon  a  large 
scale,  within  the  last  ten  days,  and  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  Lord  created  me  to  be  your  mate,  and  not 
you  to  be  mine.  When  natur'  means  a  man  for  anything 
partic'lar,  she  doesn't  set  him  adrift  among  human  beings, 
as  I  was  set  adrift." 

"  I  do  not  understand  you,  sir — perhaps  you  will  give  me 
an  outline  of  your  history  ;  and  then  all  will  be  plain.1' 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  36] 

"  Miles,  oblige  me  in  one  particular — it  will  cost  you 
no  great  struggle,  and  will  considerably  relieve  my  mind." 

"  You  have  only  to  name  it,  sir,  to  be  certain  it  will  be 
done." 

"  Drop  that  bloody  sir,  then  ;  it's  unbecoming  now,  as 
between  you  and  me.  Call  me  Marble,  or  Moses  ;  as  I 
call  you  Miles." 

"Well,  be  it  so.  Now  for  this  history  of  yours,  which 
you  have  promised  to  give  me,  by  the  way,  any  time  these 
two  years." 

"  It  can  be  told  in  a  few  words  ;  and  I  hope  it  maybe  of 
service.  A  human  life,  properly  generalized  on,  is  at  any 
time  as  good  as  most  sermons.  It  is  full  of  what  I  call  the 
morality  of  idees.  I  suppose  you  know  to  what  I  owe  my 
names  ? " 

"  Not  I — to  your  sponsors  in  baptism,  like  all  the  rest 
of  us,  I  suppose." 

"  You're  nearer  the  truth  than  you  imagine,  this  time,  my 
boy.  I  was  found,  a  child  of  a  week  old  they  tell  me,  ly- 
ing in  a  basket,  one  pleasant  morning,  in  a  stonecutter's 
yard,  on  the  North  River  side  of  the  town,  placed  upon  a 
bit  of  stone  that  was  hewing  out  for  the  head  of  a  grave, 
in  order,  as  I  suppose,  that  the  workmen  would  be  sure  to 
find  me  when  they  mustered  at.  their  work.  Although  I 
have  passed  fgr  a  down-easter,  having  sailed  in  their  craft 
in  the  early  part  of  my  life,  I'm  in  truth  York  born." 

"  And  is  this  all  you  know  of  your  origin,  my  dear  Mar- 
ble?" 

"  All  I  want  to  know,  after  such  a  hint.  A  man  is  never 
anxious  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  parents  who  are 
afraid  to  own  him.  I  dare  say,  now,  Miles,  that  you  knew, 
and  loved,  and  respected  your  mother?  " 

"  Love  and  respect  her  !  I  worshipped  her,  Marble  ;  and 
she  deserved  it  all,  if  ever  human  being  did  !" 

"Yes,  yes;  I  can  understand  that"  returned  Marble, 
making  a  hole  in  the  sand  with  his  heel,  and  looking  both 
thoughtful  and  melancholy.  "It  must  be  a  great  comfort 
to  love  and  respect  a  mother  !  I've  seen  them,  particular- 
ly young  women,  that  I  thought  set  quite  as  much  store 
by  their  mothers  as  they  did  by  themselves.  Well,  no 
matter  ;  I  got  into  one  of  poo/  Captain  Robbins's  bloody 
currents  at  the  first  start,  and  have  been  drifting  about 
ever  since,  just  like  the  whale-boat  with  which  we  fell  in, 
pretty  much  as  the  wind  blew.  They  hadn't  the  decency 
to  pin  even  a  name — they  might  have  got  one  out  of  a 


268  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

novel  or  a  story-book,  you  know,  to  start  a  poor  fellow  in 
life  with — to  my  shirt  ;  no — they  just  set  me  afloat  on  that 
bit  of  a  tombstone,  and  cast  off  the  standing  part  of  what 
fastened  me  to  anything  human.  There  they  left  me,  to 
generalize  on  the  'arth  and  its  ways,  to  rny  heart's  con- 
tent." 

"And  you  were  found  next  morning,  by  the  stonecutter, 
when  he  came  again,  to  use  his  chisel." 

"  Prophecy  couldn't  have  better  foretold  what  happened 
There  I  was  found,  sure  enough  ;  and  there  I  made  my 
first  escape  from  destruction.  Seeing  the  basket,  which  it 
seems  was  one  in  which  he  had  brought  his  own  dinner, 
the  day  before,  and  forgotten  to  carry  away  with  him,  he 
gave  it  a  jerk  to  cast  away  the  leavings,  before  he  handed 
it  to  the  child  who  had  come  to  take  it  home,  in  order  that 
it  might  be  filled  again,  when  out  I  rolled  on  the  cold 
stone.  There  I  lay,  as  near  the  grave  as  a  tombstone,  when 
I  was  just  a  week,  old." 

"Poor  fellow — you  could  only  know  this  by  report,  how- 
ever. And  what  was  done  with  you  ?  " 

"I  suppose,  if  the  truth  were  known,  my  father  was 
somewhere  about  that  yard  ;  and  little  do  I  envy  the  old 
gentleman  his  feelings,  if  he  reflected  much  over  matters 
and  things.  I  was  sent  to  the  almshouse,  however  ;  stone- 
cutters being  nat'rally  hard-hearted,  I  suppose.  The  fact 
that  I  was  left  among  such  people  makes  me  think  so 
much  the  more  that  my  own  father  must  have  been  one  of 
them,  or  it  never  could  have  happened.  At  all  events,  I 
was  soon  rated  on  the  almshouse  books  ;  and  the  first  thing 
they  did  was  to  give  me  some  name.  I  was  No.  19  for 
about  a  week  ;  at  the  age  of  fourteen  days  I  became  Moses 
Marble." 

"  It  was  an  odd  selection  that  your  *  sponsors  in  bap- 
tism '  made  ? " 

"  Somewhat— Moses  cam'c  from  the  scriptur's,  they  tell 
me  ;  there  being  a  person  of  that  name,  as  I  understand, 
who  was  turned  adrift  pretty  much  as  I  was  myself." 

"  Why,  yes — so  far  as  the  basket  and  the  abandonment 
were  concerned;  but  he  was  put  afloat  fairly,  and  not 
clapped  on  a  tombstone,  as  if  to  threaten  him  with  the 
grave  at  the  very  outset." 

"Well,  Tombstone  came  very  near  being  my  name.  At 
first,  they  thought  of  giving  me  the  name  of  the  man  for 
whom  the  stone  was  intended  ;  but  that  being  Zollickoffer, 
they  thought  I  never  should  be  able  to  spell  it.  Thee 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  269 

came  Tombstone,  which  they  thought  melancholy,  and  so 
they  called  me  Marble,  consaiting,  I  suppose,  it  would 
make  me  tottgh" 

"  How  long  did  you  remain  in  the  almshouse,  and  at 
what  age  did  you  first  go  to  sea  ? " 

"  I  stayed  among  them  the  public  feeds,  until  I  was 
eight  years  old,  and  then  I  took  a  hazy  day  to  cut  adrift 
from  chanty.  At  that  time,  Miles,  our  country  belonged 
to  the  British— or  they  treated  it  as  if  it  did,  though  I've 
heard  wiser  men  than  myself  say,  it  was  always  our  own, 
the  King  of  England  only  happening  to  be  our  king — but 
I  was  born  a  British  subject,  and  being  now  just  forty, 
you  can  understand  I  went  to  sea  several  years  before  the 
Revolution." 

"  True — you  must  have  seen  service  in  that  war  on  one 
side  or  the  other  ?  " 

"  If  you  say  both  sides,  you'll  not  be  out  of  the  way.  In 
1775,  I  was  a  foretop-man  in  the  Romney  50,  where  I  re- 
mained until  I  was  transferred  to  the  Connecticut  74 — 

"The  what?"  said  I,  in  surprise.  "  Had  the  English  a 
jne-of-battle  ship  called  the  Connecticut  ?" 

4<  As  near  as  I  could  make  it  out ;  I  always  thought  it  a 
big  compliment  for  John  Bull  to  pay  the  Yankees." 

"Perhaps  the  name  of  your  ship  was  the  Carnatic  ? 
The  sounds  are  not  unlike." 

"  Blast  me,  if  I  don't  think  you've  hit  it,  Miles.  Well, 
I'm  glad  of  it,  for  I  run  from  the  ship,  and  I  shouldn't 
half  like  the  thought  of  serving  a  countryman  such  a 
trick.  Yes,  I  then  got  on  board  of  one  of  our  sloops,  and 
tried  my  hand  at  settling  the  account  with  my  old  masters. 
I  was  taken  prisoner  for  my  pains,  but  worried  through 
the  war  without  getting  my  neck  stretched.  They  wanted 
to  make  it  out,  on  board  the  old  Jarsey,-  that  I  was  an 
Englishman,  but  I  told  'em  just  to  prove  it.  Let  'em  only 
prove  where  I  was  born,  I  said,  and  I  would  give  it  up.  I 
was  ready  to  be  hanged  if  they  could  only  prove  where  I 
was  born.  D — e,  but  I  sometimes  thought  I  never  was 
born  at  all." 

"  You  are  surely  an  American,  Marble  ?  A  Manhat- 
tanese,  born  and  educated  ?" 

"  Why,  as  it  is  not  likely  any  person  would  import  a 
child  a  week  old,  to  plant  it  on  a  tombstone,  I  conclude  I 
am.  Yes,  I  must  be  that ;  and  I  have  sometimes  thought 
of  laying  claim  to^the  property  of  Trinity  Church,  on  the 
strength  of  my  birthright.  Well,  as  soon  as  the  war  was 


270  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

over,  and  I  got  out  of  prison,  and  that  was  shortly  after 
you  were  born,  Captain  Wallingford,  I  went  to  work  regu- 
larly, and  have  been  ever  since  sarving  as  dickey,  or  chief 
mate,  on  board  of  some  craft  or  other.  If  I  had  no  family 
bosom  to  go  into  as  a  resting-place,  I  had  my  bosom  to 
fill  with  solid  beef  and  pork,  and  that  is  not  to  be  done  by 
idleness." 

"  And  all  this  time,  my  good  friend,  you  have  been  liv- 
ing, as  it  might  be,  alone  in  the  world,  without  a  relative 
of  any  sort  ?  " 

"  As  sure  as  you  are  there.  Often  and  often  have  I 
walked  through  the  streets  of  New  York,  and  said  to  my- 
self, among  ail  these  people,  there  is  not  one  that  I  can 
call  a  relation.  My  blood  is  in  no  man's  veins  but  my  own." 

This  was  said  with  a  bitter  sadness  that  surprised  me. 
Obdurate,  and  insensible  to  suffering  as  Marble  had  ever 
appeared  to  me,  I  was  not  prepared  to  find  him  giving  such 
evidence  of  feeling.  I  was  then  young,  but  now  am  old  ; 
and  one  of  the  lessons  learned  in  the  years  that  have  inter- 
vened, is  not  to  judge  of  men  by  appearances.  So  much 
sensibility  is  hidden  beneath  assumed- indifference,  so  much 
suffering  really  exists  behind  smiling  countenances,  and  so 
little  does  the  exterior  tell  the  true  story  of  all  that  is  to 
be  found  within,  that  I  am  now  slow  to  yield  credence  to 
the  lying  surfaces  of  things.  Most  of  all  had  I  learned  to 
condemn  that  heartless  injustice  of  the  world,  that  renders 
it  so  prompt  to  decide,  on  rumors  and  conjectures,  consti- 
tuting itself  a  judge  from  which  there  shall  be  no  appeal, 
in  cases  which  it  has  not  taken  the  trouble  to  examine, 
and  in  which  it  had  not  even  the  power  to  examine  evi- 
dence. 

"  We  are  all  of  the  same  family,  my  friend,"  I  answered, 
with  a  good  design  at  least,  "  though  a  little  separated  by 
time  and  accidents." 

"  Family!  Yes,  I  belong  to  my  own  family.  I'm  a  more 
important  man  in  my  family  than  Bonaparte  is  in  his,  for 
I  am  all  in  all — ancestors,  present  time,  and  posterity!" 

"  It  is,  at  least,  your  own  fault  you  are  the  last ;  why  not 
marry  and  have  children  ?  " 

"  Because  my  parents  did  not  set  me  the  example,"  an. 
swered  Marble,  almost  fiercely.  Then  clapping  his  hand 
on  my  shoulder  in  a  friendly  way,  as  if  to  soothe  me  after 
so  sharp  a  rejoinder,  he  added  in  a  gentler  tone,  "  Come, 
Miles,  the  major  and  his  daughter  will  want  their  break- 
fasts,  and  we  had  better  join  them.  Talking  of  matrimony. 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  27! 

there's  the  girl  for  you,  my  boy,  thrown   into  your   arms 
almost  nat'rally,  as  one  might  say." 

"  I  am  far  from  being  so  sure  of  that,  Marble,"  I  answer- 
ed, as  both  began  to  walk  slowly  toward  the  tent.  "  Major 
Merton  might  not  think  it  an  honor,  in  the  first  place,  to 
let  his  daughter  marry  a  Yankee  sailor." 

"Not  such  a  one  as  myself,  perhaps  ;  but  why  not  one 
like  you  ?  How  many  generations  have  there  been  of  you, 
now,  at  the  place  you  call  Clawbonny?" 

"  Four,  from  father  to  son,  and  all  of  us  Miles  Walling- 
fords." 

"Well,  the  old  Spanish  proverb  says  'it  takes  three 
generations  to  make  a  gentleman  ; '  and  here  you  have 
four  to  start  upon.  In  my  family,  all  the  generations  have 
been  on  the  same  level,  and  I  count  myself  old  in  my 
sphere." 

"  It  is  odd  that  a  man  like  you  should  know  anything  of 
old  Spanish  proverbs  \  " 

"  What  ?  Of  such  a  proverb,  think  you,  Miles  ?  A  man 
without  even  a  father  or  mother — who  never  had  either, 
as  one  may  say — and  he  not  remember  such  a  proverb  I 
Boy,  boy,  I  never  forget  anything  that  so  plainly  recalls 
the  tombstone,  and  the  basket,  and  the  almshouse,  and 
Moses,  and  the  names  !  " 

"  But  Miss  Merton  might  object  to  the  present  genera- 
tion," I  resumed,  willing  to  draw  my  companion  from  his 
bitter  thoughts,  "  however  favorably  disposed  her  father 
might  prove  to  the  last." 

"  That  will  be  your  own  fault,  then.  Here  you  have  her, 
out  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  all  to  yourself ;  and  if  you  can- 
not tell  your  own  story,  and  that  in  a  way  to  make  her  be- 
lieve it,  you  are  not  the  lad  I  take  you  for." 

I  made  an  evasive  and  laughing  answer ;  but,  being 
quite  near  the  tent  by  this  time  it  was  necessary  to  change 
the  discourse.  The  reader  may  think  it  odd,  but  that  was 
the  very  first  time  the  possibility  of  my  marrying  Emily 
Merton  ever  crossed  my  mind.  In  London,  I  had  regarded 
her  as  an  agreeable  acquaintance,  with  just  as  much  of 
the  coloring  of  romance  and  of  the  sentimental  about  our 
intercourse,  as  is  common  with  youths  of  nineteen  and 
girls  a  little  younger  ;  but  as  nothing  more.  When  we 
met  on  the  island,  Emily  appeared  to  me  like  a  friend — a 
female  friend — and,  of  course,  one  to  be  viewed  with  pecu- 
liarly softened  feelings  ;  still,  as  only  a  friend.  During  the 
month  we  had  just  passed  in  the  same  ship,  this  tie  had  grad 


272  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ually  strengthened  ;  and  I  confess  to  a  perfect  conscious- 
ness of  there  being  on  board  a  pretty  girl  in  her  nineteenth 
year,  of  agreeable  manners,  delicate  sentiments,  and  one 
whose  presence  gave  the  Crisis  a  charm  she  certainly 
never  enjoyed  during  poor  Captain  Williams's  time.  Not- 
withstanding all  this,  there  was  something — though  what 
that  something  was,  I  did  not  then  know  myself — which 
prevented  me  from  absolutely  falling  in  love  with  my  fair 
guest.  Nevertheless,  Marble's  suggestion  was  not  unpleas- 
ant to  me  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  rather  conduced  to 
the  satisfaction  of  my  present  visit. 

We  were  kindly  received  by  our  hosts,  who  always 
seemed  to  remember  the  commencement  of  our  acquaint- 
ance, when  Marble  and  myself  visited  them  together.  The 
breakfast  had  a  little  of  the  land  about  it ;  for  Monsieur 
Le  Compte's  garden  still  produced  a  few  vegetables,  such 
as  lettuce,  pepper-grass,  radishes,  etc.  ;  most  of  which, 
however,  had  sown  themselves.  Three  or  four  fowls,  too, 
that  he  had  .left  on  the  island  in  the  hurry  of  his  depart- 
ure, had  begun  to  lay ;  and  Neb  having  found  a  nest,  we 
had  the  very  unusual  treat  of  fresh  eggs.  I  presume  no 
one  will  deny  that  they  were  sufficiently  "  country  laid." 

"  Emily  and  myself  consider  ourselves  as  old  residents 
here,"  the  major  observed,  as  he  gazed  around  him,  the 
table  being  set  in  the  open  air,  under  some  trees  ;  "and  £ 
could  almost  find  it  in  my  heart  to  remain  on  this  beautiful 
island  for  the  remainder  of  my  days — quite,  I  think,  were 
it  not  for  my  poor  girl,  who  might  find  the  society  of  her 
old  father  rather  dull  work  at  her  time  of  life." 

"Well,  major,"  said  Marble,  "you  have  only  to  let  your 
taste  be  known,  to  have  the  choice  among  all  our  young- 
sters to  be  her  companion.  There  is  Mr.  Talcott,  a  well- 
edicated  and  mannerly  lad  enough,  and  of  good  connec- 
tions, they  tell  me  ;  and  as  for  Captain  Wallingford  here, 
I  will  answer  for  him.  My  life  on  it,  he  would  give  up 
Clawbonny,  and  the  property  on  which  he  is  the  fourth  of 
his  name,  to  be  king,  or  Prince  of  Wales  of  this  island,, 
with  such  company  ! " 

Now,  it  was  Marble,  and  not  I,  who  made  this  speech  ; 
and  yet  I  heartily  wished  it  unsaid.  It  made  me  feel  fool- 
ish, and  I  dare  say  it  made  me  look  foolish  ;  and  I  know  it 
caused  Emily  to  blush.  Poor  girl !  she,  who  blushed  se 
easily,  and  was  so  sensitive,  and  so  delicately  situated — slit; 
was  entitled  to  have  more  respect  paid  to  her  feelings. 
The  major  and  Marble,  however,  took  it  all  very  coolly, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  273 

continuing  the  discourse  as  if  nothing  out  of  the  way  had 
been  said. 

"No  doubt — no  doubt,"  answered  the  first;  "romance 
always  finds  votaries  among  young  people,  and  this  place 
may  well  excite  romantic  feelings  in  those  who  are  older 
than  these  young  men.  Do  you  know,  gentlemen,  that 
ever  since  I  have  known  this  island,  I  have  had  a  strong 
desire  to  pass  the  remainder  of  my  days  on  it  ?  The  idea 
I  have  just  mentioned  to  you,  therefore,  is  by  no  means 
one  of  a  moment's  existence." 

"  I  am  glad,  at  least,  dear  sir,"  said  Emily,  laughing, 
"  that  the  desire  has  not  been  so  strong  as  to  induce  you 
to  make  formal  proposals  on  the  subject." 

"  You,  indeed,  are  the  great  obstacle  ;  for  what  could  I 
do  with  a  discontented  girl,  whose  mind-would  be  running 
on  balls,  theatres,  and  other  amusements  ?  We  should  not 
have  even  a  church." 

"  And,  Major  Merton,"  I  put  in,  "what  could  you,  or 
any  other  man,  do  with  himself,  in  a  place  like  this,  with- 
out companions,  books,  or  occupation  ?" 

"  If  a  conscientious  man,  Miles,  he  might  think  over  the 
past  ;  if  a  wise  one,  he  would  certainly  reflect  on  the  fut- 
ure. I  should  have  books,  since  EnnJy  and  I  could  mus- 
ter several  hundred  volumes  between  u«  ;  and,  with  books, 
I  should  have  companions.  What  coukd  I  do  ?  I  should 
have  everything  to  create,  as  it  might  be  and  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  everything  rising  up  under  my  o^n  hand.  There 
would  be  a  house  to  construct — the  materials  of  that 
wreck  to  collect — ropes,  canvas,  timber,  tar  sugar,  and  di- 
vers other  valuables  that  are  still  out  on  the  reef,  or  which 
lie  scattered  about  on  the  beach,  to  gather  together,  and 
save  against  a  rainy  day.  Then  I  would  hfr-ve  a  thought 
for  my  poultry  ;  and  possibly  you  might  be  Persuaded  to 
leave  me  one  or  two  of  these  pigs,  of  which  I  see  the  French 
forgot  half  a  dozen  in  their  haste  to  cheat  the  Spaniards. 
Oh  !  I  should  live  like  a  prince  and  be  a  prince  re^wit  in 
the  bargain." 

"  Yes,  sir,  you  would  be  captain  and  all  hands,  if  tbat 
would  be  any  gratification  ;  but  I  think  you  would  soon 
weary  of  your  government,  and  be  ready  to  abdicate." 

"  Perhaps  so,  Miles  ;  yet  the  thought  is  pleasant  to  me  ; 
but  for  this  dear  girl,  it  would  be  particularly  so.  I  have 
very  few  relatives  ;  the  nearest  I  have  being,  oddly  enough, 
your  own  country  people,  gentlemen.  My  mother  was  a 
native  of  Boston,  where  my  father,  a  merchant,  married 
18 


274  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

her;  and  I  came  very  near  being  a  Yankee  myself,  having 
been  born  but  a  week  after  my  parents  landed  in  England. 
On  my  father's  side,  I  have  not  five  recognized  relatives, 
and  they  are  rather  distant ;  while  those  on  my  mother's 
are  virtually  all  strangers.  Then  I  never  owned  a  foot  of 
this  earth  on  which  we  live,  in  my  life — 

"  Nor  I,"  interrupted  Marble,  with  emphasis. 

"  My  father  was  a  younger  son  ;  and  younger  sons  in 
England  are  generally  lack-lands.  My  life  has  been  such, 
and,  I  may  add,  my  means  such,  that  I  have  never  been 
in  the  way  of  purchasing  even  enough  earth  to  bury  me 
in  ;  and  here,  you  see,  is  an  estate  that  can  be  had  for  ask- 
ing. How  much  land  do  you  fancy  there  is  in  this  island, 
gentlemen  ?  I  mean,  apart  from  the  beach,  the  sands,  and 
rocks  ;  but  such  as  has  grass,  and  bears  trees — ground  that 
might  be  tilled,  and  rendered  productive,  without  much 
labor  ?" 

"  A  hundred  thousand  acres,"  exclaimed  Marble,  whose 
calculation  was  received  with  a  general  laugh. 

"It  seems  rather  larger  to  me,  sir,"  I  answered,  "than 
the  farm  at  Clawbonny.  Perhaps  there  may  be  six  or  eight 
hundred  acres  of  the  sort  of  land  you  mention  ;  though  the 
whole  island  must  contain  several  thousands — possibly  four 
or  five." 

"  Well,  four  or  five  thousand  acres  of  land  make  a  good 
estate — but,  as  I  see  Emily  is  getting  frightened,  and  is 
nervous  under  the  apprehension  of  falling  heir  to  such 
extensive  possessions,  I  will  say  no  more  about  them." 

No  more  was  said,  and  we  finished  our  breakfasts,  con- 
versing of  the  past,  rather  than  of  the  future.  The  major 
and  Marble  went  to  stroll  along  the  groves,  in  the  direction 
of  the  wreck  ;  while  I  persuaded  Emily  to  put  on  her  hat, 
and  stroll — the  other  way. 

"  This  is  a  singular  notion  of  my  father's,"  my  fair  com- 
panion remarked,  after  a  moment  of  musing  ;  "  nor  is  it 
the  first  time,  I  do  assure  you,  on  which  he  has  mentioned 
it.  While  we  were  here  before,  he  spoke  of  it  daily." 

"The  scheme  might  do  well  enough  for  two  ardent 
lovers,"  said  I,  laughing  ;  "  but  would  scarcely  be  wise  for 
an  elderly  gentleman  and 'his  daughter.  I  can  imagine 
that  two  young  people,  warmly  attached  to  each  other, 
might  get  along  in  such  a  place  for  a  year  or  two,  without 
hanging  themselves,  but  I  fancy  even  love  would  tire  out, 
after  a  while,  and  they  would  set  about  building  a  boat,  in 
which  to  be  off." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  275 

"You  are  not  very  romantic,  I  perceive,  Mr.  Walling- 
ford,"  Emily  answered,  and  I  thought  a  little  reproach- 
fully. "  Now,  I  own  that  to  my  taste,  I  could  be  happy 
anywhere — here,  as  well  as  in  London,  surrounded  by  my 
nearest  and  dearest  friends." 

"  Surrounded  !  Ay,  that  would  be  a  very  different  mat- 
ter. Let  me  have  your  father,  yourself,  honest  Marble, 
good  Mr.  Hardinge,  Rupert,  dear,  dear  Grace,  and  Lucy, 
with  Neb,  and  some  others  of  my  own  blacks,  and  I  should 
ask  no  better  home.  The  island  is  only  in  twenty,  has 
plenty  of  shade,  some  delicious  fruits,  and  would  be  easily 
filled — one  might  do  here,  I  acknowledge,  and  it  would 
be  pleasant  to  found  a  colony." 

"  And  who  are  these  people  you  love  so  .well,  Mr.  Wall- 
ingford,  that  their  presence  would  make  a  desert  island 
pleasant  ?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  Major  Merton  is  a  half-pay  officer  in 
the  British  service,  who  has  been  appointed  to  some  civil 
station  in  India,"  I  answered,  gallantly.  "  He  is  a  respect- 
able, agreeable,  well-informed  gentleman,  a  little  turned 
of  fifty,  who  might  act  as  judge  and  chancellor.  Then  he 
has  a  daughter — 

"  I  know  more  of  her  and  her  bad  qualities  than  you  do 
yourself,  sire  ;  but  who  are  Rupert,  and  Grace,  and  Lucy 
— dear,  dear  Grace,  especially  ?  " 

"  Dear,  dearest  Grace,  madam,  is  my  sister — my  only 
sister — all  the  sister  I  ever  can  have,  either  by  marriage, 
or  any  other  means,  and  sisters  are  usually  dear  to  young 
men,  I  believe." 

"Well — I  knew  you  had  a  sister,  and  a  dear  sister,  but 
I  also  knew  you  had  but  one.  Now  as  to  Rupert — 

"  He  is  not  another  sister,  you  may  be  well  assured.  I 
have  mentioned  to  you  a  friend  from  childhood,  who  went 
to  sea  with  me,  at  first,  but,  disliking  the  business,  has 
since  commenced  the  study  of  the  law." 

"  That,  then,  is  Rupert.  I  remember  some  such  touches 
of  his  character,  but  did  not  know  the  name.  Now,  pro- 
ceed on  to  the  next " 

"What,  Neb  !  You  know  him  almost  as  well  as  I  do  my- 
self. Fie  is  yonder  feeding  the  chickens,  and  will  save  his 
passage  money." 

"  But  you  spoke  of  another — that  is — was  there  not  a 
Mr. — Hardinge  was  the  name,  I  think  ?  " 

"  Oh  '  true — I  forgot  Mr.  Hardinge  and  Lucy,  though 
they  would  be  two  of  the  most  important  of  the  colonists 


276  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

Mr.  Hardinge  is  my  guardian,  and  will  continue  to  be  sn 
a  few  months  longer,  and  Lucy  is  his  daughter — Rupert's 
sister.  The  old  gentleman  is  a  clergyman,  and  would  help 
us  to  keep  Sunday  as  one  should,  and  might  perform  the 
marriage  ceremony,  should  it  ever  be  required." 

"  Not  much  danger  of  that,  I  fancy,  on  your  desert  island 
— your  Barrataria,"  observed  Miss  Merton,  quickly. 

I  cannot  explain  the  sensitiveness  of  certain  young  ladies 
on  such  points,  unless  it  be  through  their  consciousness. 
Now,  had  I  been  holding  this  idle  talk  with  Lucy,  the 
dear,  honest  creature  would  have  laughed,  blushed  ever  so 
little,  possibly,  and  nodded  her  head  in  frank  assent ;  er, 
perhaps,  she  would  have  said  "oh  !  certainly,"  in  a  way  to 
show  that  she  had  no  desire  to  affect  so  silly  a  thing  as  to 
wish  one  to  suppose  she  thought  young  people  would  not 
get  married  at  Marble  Land,  as  well  as  Clawbonny,  or 
New  York.  Miss  Merton,  however,  saw  fit  to  change  the 
discourse,  which  soon  turned  on  her  father's  health.  On 
this  subject  she  was  natural  and  full  of  strong  affection 
She  was  anxious  to  get  the  major  out  of  the  warm  latitudes. 
His  liver  had  been  touched  in  the  West  Indies,  but  he  had 
hoped  that  he  was  cured,  or  he  never  would  have  accepted 
the  Bombay  appointment.  Experience,  however,  was  giv- 
ing reason  to  suspect  the  contrary,  and  Emily  wished  him 
in  a  cold  climate  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  with  an 
earnestness  that  showed  she  regarded  all  that  had  been 
said  about  the  island  as  sheer  pleasantry.  We  continued 
the  conversation  for  an  hour,  when,  returning  to  the  tent, 
I  left  my  fair  companion  with  a  promise  to  be  as  active  as 
possible,  in  order  to  carry  the  ship  into  a  higher  latitude. 
Still  I  did  not  deem  the  island  a  particularly  dangerous 
place,  notwithstanding  its  position  ;  the  trades  and  sea 
breezes,  with  its  ample  shades,  rendering  the  spot  one  of 
the  most  delightful  tropical  abodes  I  had  ever  been  in. 

After  quitting  Emily,  I  went  to  join  Marble,  who  was 
alone,  pacing  a  spot  beneath  the  trees,  that  poor  Le  Compte 
had  worn  into  a  path,  and  which  he  had  himself  called  his 
"quarter-deck." 

*'  This  Major  Merton  is  a  sensible  man,  Miles,"  the  ex- 
mate  began,  as  soon  as  I  dropped  in  alongside  of  him,  and 
joined  in  his  semi-trot ;  "  a  downright,  sensible  sort  of  a 
philosopher-like  man,  accordin'  to  my  notion." 

"What  has  he  been  telling  you,  now,  that  has  seized 
your  fancy  so  much  stronger  than  common  ? " 

"  Why,  I  was  thinking  of  this  idee  of  his,  to  remain  on 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  277 

the  island,  and  pass  the  remainder  of  the  v'y'ge  here, 
without  slaving  day  and  night  to  get  up  two  or  three 
rounds  of  the  ladder  of  promotion,  only  to  fall  down 
again." 

"And  did  the  major  speak  of  such  things?  I  know  of 
no  disappointments  of  his,  to  sour  him  with  the  world." 

"  I  was  not  speaking  for  Major  Merton,  but  for  myself, 
Miles.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  boy,  this  idee  seems  just 
suited  to  me,  and  I  have  almost  made  up  my  mind  to  re- 
main behind  here  when  you  sail." 

I  looked  at  Marble  with  astonishment ;  the  subject  on 
which  the  major  had  spoken  in  pleasantry,  rather  than  with 
any  real  design  of  carrying  his  project  into  execution,  was 
one  that  my  old  messmate  regarded  seriously !  I  had 
noted  the  attention  with  which  he  listened  to  our  discourse 
during  breakfast,  and  the  strong  feeling  with  which  he 
spoke  at  the  time,  but  had  no  notion  of  the  cause  of  either. 
I  knew  the  man  too  well,  not  to  understand  at  once  that  he 
was  in  sober  earnest,  and  had  too  much  experience  of  his 
nature  not  to  foresee  the  greatest  difficulty  in  turning  him 
from  his  purpose.  I  understood  the  true  motive  to  be 
professional  mortification  at  all  that  occurred. since  he  had 
succeeded  Captain  Williams  in  command  ;  for  Marble  was 
much  too  honest  and  too  manly,  to  think  for  a  moment  of 
concealing  his  own  misfortunes  behind  the  mantle  offered 
by  my  success. 

"You  have  not  thought  of  this  matter  sufficiently,  my 
friend,"  I  answered,  evasively,  knowing  the  folly  of  at- 
tempting to  laugh  this  matter  off  ;  "  when  you  have  slept 
on  it  a  night,  you  will  see  things  differently." 

"  I  fancy  not,  Miles.  Here  is  all  I  want,  and  just  what 
I  want.  After  you  have  taken  away  everything  that  can 
be  required  for  the  vessels,  or  desirable  to  the  owners, 
there  will  be  enough  left  to  keep  me  a  dozen  lives." 

"  It  is  not  on  account  of  food  that  I  speak — the  island, 
alone,  in  its  fruits,  fish,  and  birds,  to  say  nothing  as  to  the 
seeds,  and  fowls,  and  pigs  we  could  leave  you,  would  be 
sufficient  to  keep  fifty  men  ;  but  think  of  the  solitude,  the 
living  without  object,  the  chances  of  sickness,  the  horrible 
death  that  would  follow  to  one  unable  to  rise  and  assist 
himself,  and  all  the  other  miseries  of  being  alone.  Depend 
on  it,  man  was  not  created  to  live  alone.  Society  is  indis- 
pensable to  him,  and " 

"  I  have  thought  of  it  all,  and  find  it  entirely  to  my  taste. 
I  tell  you,  Miles,  I  should  be  exactly  in  my  sphere  in  this 


278  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

island,  and  that  as  a  hermit.  I  do  not  say  I  should  not  like 
some  company,  if  it  could  be  yourself,  or  Talcott,  or  the 
major,  or  even  Neb  ;  but  no  company  is  better  than  bad  ; 
and  as  for  asking,  or  allowing  any  one  to  stay  with  me,  it  is 
out  of  the  question.  I  did,  at  first,  think  of  keeping  the 
Sandwich  Islanders  ;  but  it  would  be  bad  faith,  and  they 
would  not  be  likely  to  remain  quiet  after  the  ship  had 
sailed.  No,  I  will  remain  alone.  You  will  probably  report 
the  island  when  you  get  home,  and  that  will  induce  some 
vessel,  which  may  be  passing  near,  to  look  for  me,  so  I 
shall  hear  of  you  all  every  four  or  five  years." 

"  Gracious  Heaven  !  Marble,  you  cannot  be  serious  in  so 
mad  a  design  ?" 

"  Just  look  at  my  situation,  Miles,  and  decide  for  yourself. 
I  am  without  a  friend  on  earth — I  mean  nat'ral  friend — I 
know  what  sort  of  friend  you  are,  and  parting  with  you 
will  be  the  toughest  of  all — but  I  have  not  a  relation  on  the 
wide  earth — no  property,  no  home,  no  one  to  wish  to  see 
me  return,  not  even  a  cellar  to  lay  my  head  in.  To  me  all 
places  are  alike,  with  the  exception  of  this,  which,  having 
discovered,  I  look  upon  as  my  own." 

"You  have  a  country,  Marble,  and  that  is  the  next  thing 
to  family  and  home — overshadows  all." 

"  Ay,  and  I'll  have  a  country  here.  This  will  be  America, 
having  been  discovered  by  Americans,  and  in  their  pos- 
session. You  will  leave  rne  the  buntin',  and  I'll  show  the 
stars  and  stripes  of  a  4th  of  July,  just  as  you  will  show 'em 
in  some  other  part  of  the  world.  I  was  born  Yankee,  at 
least,  and  I'll  die  Yankee.  I've  sailed  under  that  flag,  boy, 
ever  since  the  year '77,  and  will  not  sail  under  another,  you 
may  depend  on  it." 

"  I  never  could  justify  myself  to  the  laws  for  leaving  a 
man  behind  me  in  such  a  place." 

"Then  I'll  run,  and  that  will  make  all  right.  But  you 
know  well  enough,  boy,  that  leaving  a  captain  is  one  thing, 
and  leaving  a  man  another." 

"  And  what  shall  I  tell  all  your  acquaintances,  those  who 
have  sailed  with  you  so  often  and  so  long,  has  become  of 
their  old  shipmate  ?" 

"  Tell  'em  that  the  man  who  was  once  found  is  now/w/," 
answered  Marble,  bitterly.  "  But  I'm  not  such  a  fool  as  to 
think  myself  of  so  much  importance  as  you  seem  to  imagine. 
The  only  persons  who  will  consider  the  transaction  of  any 
interest  will  be  the  newspaper  gentry,  and  they  will  receive 
it  only  as  »«ar,  and  thank  you  about  half  as  much  as  they 


A  FLO  A  7'  AND  ASHORE.  279 

would  for  a  murder  or  a  robbery,  or  the  poisoning  of  a 
mother  and  six  little  children." 

"  I  think,  after  all,  you  would  scarcely  find  the  means  of 
supporting  yourself,"  I  added,  looking  round  in  affected 
doubt  ;  for  I  felt  at  each  instant  how  likely  my  companion 
was  to  adhere  to  his  notion,  and  this  from  knowing  him  so 
well.  "  I  doubt  if  the  cocoa  is  healthy  all  the  year  round, 
and  there  must  be  seasons  when  the  trees  do  not  bear." 

4<  Have  no  fear  of  that  sort.  I  have  my  own  fowling- 
piece,  and  you  will  leave  me  a  musket  or  two,  with  some 
ammunition.  Transient  vessels,  now  the  island  is  known, 
will  keep  up  the  supply.  There  are  two  hens  setting  at 
this  moment,  and  a  third  has  actually  hatched.  Then  one 
of  the  men  tells  me  there  is  a  litter  of  pigs  near  the  mouth 
of  the  bay.  As  for  the  hogs  and  the  poultry,  the  shell-fish 
and  berries  will  keep  them  ;  but  there  are  fifteen  hogs- 
heads of  sugar  on  the  beach,  besides  thirty  or  forty  more 
in  the  wreck,  and  all  above  water.  There  are  casks  of 
beans  and  peas,  the  sea-stores  of  the  French,  besides  lots 
of  other  things.  I  can  plant,  and  fish,  and  shoot,  and 
make  a  fence  from  the  ropes  of  the  wreck,  and  have  a 
large  garden,  and  all  that  a  man  can  want.  Our  own 
poultry,  you  know,  has  long  been  out,  but  there  is  still  a 
bushel  of  Indian  corn  left  that  was  intended  for  their  feed. 
One  quart  of  that  will  make  me  a  rich  man  in  such  a 
climate  as  this,  and  with  soil  like  that  on  the  flat  between 
the  two  groves.  I  own  a  chest  of  tools,  and  am,  ship- 
fashion,  both  a  tolerable  carpenter  and  blacksmith  ;  and  I 
do  not  see  that  I  shall  want  for  anything.  You  must  leave 
half  the  things  that  are  scattered  about,  and  so  far  from 
being  a  man  to  be  pitied  I  shall  be  a  man  to  be  envied. 
Thousands  of  wretches  in  the  greatest  thoroughfares  of 
London  would  gladly  exchange  their  crowded  streets  and 
poverty  for  my  solitude  and  abundance.'1 

I  began  to  think  Marble  was  not  in  a  state  of  mind  to 
reason  with,  and  changed  the  subject.  The  day  passed  in 
recreation  as  had  been  intended,  and  next  morning  we  set 
about  filling  up  the  schooner.  We  struck  in  all  the  copper, 
all  the  English  goods,  and  such  portions  of  the  French- 
man's cargo  as  would  be  most  valuable  in  America.  Mar- 
ble, however,  fyad  announced  to  others  his  determination 
to  remain  behind,  to  abandon  the  seas,  and  to  turn  hermit. 
As  his  first  step,  he  gave  up  the  command  of  the  Pretty 
Poll,  and  I  was  obliged  to  restore  her,  again,  to  our  old 
third  mate,  who  was  every  way  competent  to  take  care  of 


280  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

her.  At  the  end  of  the  week  the  schooner  was  ready,  and 
despairing  of  getting  Marble  off  in  her,  I  ordered  her  to 
sail  for  home,  via  Cape  Horn,  giving  especial  instructions 
not  to  attempt  Magellan.  I  wrote  to  the  owners,  fur- 
nishing an  outline  of  all  that  had  occurred,  and  of  my 
future  plans,  simply  remarking  that  Mr.  Marble  had  de- 
clined acting,  out  of  motives  of  delicacy,  since  the  recapture 
of  the  ship,  and  that  in  future  their  interests  must  remain 
in  my  care.  With  these  despatches  the  schooner  sailed. 
Marble  and  I  watched  her  until  her  sails  became  a  white 
speck  on  the  ocean,  after  which  she  suddenly  disappeared. 
As  for  the  ship,  she  was  all  ready  ;  and  my  only  concern 
now  was  in  relation  to  Marble.  I  tried  the  influence  of 
Major  Merton  ;  but,  unfortunately,  that  gentleman  had 
already  said  too  much  in  favor  of  our. friend's  scheme,  in 
ignorance  of  its  effect,  to  gain  much  credit  when  he 
turned  round,  and  espoused  the  other  side.  The  argu- 
ments of  Emily  failed  also.  In  fact,  it  was  not  reason, 
but  feeling  that  governed  Marble  ;  and,  in  a  bitter  hour, 
he  had  determined  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days  where 
he  was.  Finding  all  persuasion  useless,  and  the  season 
approaching  when  the  winds  rendered  it  necessary  to  sail, 
I  was  compelled  to  yield,  or  resort  to  force.  The  last  I 
was  reluctant  to  think  of,  nor  was  I  certain  the  men  would 
have  obeyed  me  had  I  ordered  them  to  use  it.  Marble  had 
been  their  commander  so  long,  that  he  might,  at  any 
moment,  have  reassumed  the  charge  of  the  ship  ;  and  it  was 
not  probable  his  orders  would  have  been  braved  under  any 
circumstances  that  did  not  involve  illegality  or  guilt.  After 
a  consultation  with  the  major,  I  found  it  necessary  to  yield 
to  this  whim,  though  I  did  so  with  greater  reluctance  than 
I  ever  experienced  on  any  other  occasion. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"Pass  on,  relentless  world  !     I  grieve 

No  more  for  all  that  thou  hast  riven  ! 
Pass  on,  in  God's  name — only  leave 

The  things  thou  never  yet  hast  given." — LUNT. 

AFTER  every  means  had  been  uselessly  exhausted  to  per- 
suade Marble  from  his  design,  it  only  remained  to  do  all 
we  could  to  make  him  comfortable  and  secure.  Of  ene- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  281 

mies  there  was  no  danger,  and  care  was  not  necessary  for 
defence.  We  got  together,  however,  some  of  the  timber, 
planks,  and  other  materials  that  were  remaining  at  the 
ship-yard,  and  built  him  a  cabin,  that  offered  much  better 
shelter  against  the  tropical  storms  that  sometimes  prevailed, 
than  any  tent  could  yield.  We  made  this  cabin  as  wide  as 
a  plank  is  long,  or  twelve  feet,  and  some  five  or  six  feet 
longer.  It  was  well  sided  and  tightly  roofed,  having  three 
windows  and  a  door.  The  lights  of  the  wreck  supplied 
the  first,  and  her  cabin  door  the  last.  We  had  hinges,  and 
everything  that  was  necessary,  to  keep  things  in  their 
place.  There  was  no  chimney  required,  fire  being  un- 
necessary for  warmth  in  that  climate  ;  but  the  French  had 
brought  their  caboose  from  the  wreck,  and  this  we  placed 
under  a  proper  covering  at  a  short  distance  from  the  hut, 
the  strength  of  one  man  being  insufficient  to  move  it.  We 
also  inclosed,  by  means  of  .ropes,  and  posts  made  of  the 
ribs  of  the  wreck,  a  plot  of  ground  of  two  acres  in  extent, 
where  the  land  was  the  richest  and  unshaded,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  pigs  from  injuring  the  vegetables  ;  and,  poor 
Marble  knowing  little  of  gardening,  I  had  a  melancholy 
pleasure  in  seeing  the  whole  piece  dug,  or  rather  hoed  up, 
and  sown  and  planted  myself,  before  we  sailed.  We  put 
in  corn,  potatoes,  peas,  beans,  lettuce,  radishes,  and  several 
other  things,  of  which  we  found  the  seeds  in  the  French 
garden.  We  took  pains,  moreover,  to  transport  from  the 
wreck  many  articles  that  it  was  thought  might  prove  of 
use,  though  they  were  too  heavy  for  Marble  to  handle.  As 
there  were,  near  forty  of  us,  all  busy  in  this  way  for  three  or 
four  days,  we  effected  a  great  deal,  and  may  be  said  to 
have  got  the  island  in  order.  I  felt  the  same  interest  in 
the  duty,  that  I  should  in  bestowing  a  child  for  life. 

Marble,  himself,  was  not  much  among  us  all  this  time. 
lie  rather  complained  that  I  should  leave  him  nothing  to 
do,  though  I  could  see  he  was  touched  by  the  interest  we 
manifested  in  his  welfare.  The  French  launch  had  been 
used  as  the  means  of  conveyance  between  the  wreck  and 
the  beach,  and  we  found  it  where  it  had  been  left  by  its 
original  owners,  anchored  to  leeward  of  the  island,  and 
abreast  of  the  ship.  It  was  the  last  thing  I  meddled  with, 
and  it  was  my  care  to  put  it  in  such  a  state  that,  at  need, 
it  might  be  navigated  across  that  tranquil  sea,  to  some 
other  island,  should  Marble  feel  a  desire  to  abandon  his 
solitude.  The  disposition  I  made  of  the  boat  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 


282  AFLOAT  AND  ASH  OR  ft. 

The  launch  was  large  and  coppered,  and  it  carried  two 
lug-sails.  I  had  both  masts  stepped,  with  the  yards,  sails, 
sheets,  etc.,  prepared,  and  put  in  their  places  ;  a  stout  rope 
was  next  carried  round  the  entire  boat,  outside,  and  a  few 
inches  below  the  gunwale,  where  it  was  securely  nailed. 
From  this  rope  led  a  number  of  lanyards,  with  eyes  turned 
into  their  ends.  Through  these  eyes  I  rove  a  sort  of  ridge- 
rope,  leading  it  also  through  the  eyes  of  several  stanchions 
that  were  firmly  stepped  on  the  thwarts.  The  effect,  when 
the  ridge-rope  was  set  up,  was  to  give  the  boat  the  pro- 
tection of  this  waist-cloth,  which  inclined  in-board,  how- 
ever, sufficiently  to  leave  an  open  passage  between  the  two 
sides,  of  only  about  half  the  beam  of  the  boat.  To  the 
ridge-rope  and  lanyards  I  had  tarpaulins  firmly  attached, 
tacking  their  lower  edges  strongly  to  the  outer  sides  of  the 
boat.  By  this  arrangement,  when  all  was  in  its  place,  and 
properly  secured,  a  sea  might  break,  or  a  wave  slap  against 
the  boat,  without  her  taking  in  much  water.  It  doubled 
her  security  in  this  particular,  more  than  answering  the 
purposes  of  a  half -deck  and  wash-board.  It  is  true,  a  very 
heavy  wave  might  carry  all  away  ;  but  very  heavy  waves 
would  probably  fill  the  boat,  under  any  circumstances. 
Such  a  craft  could  only  find  safety  in  her  buoyancy  ;  and 
we  made  her  as  safe  as  an  undecked  vessel  very  well 
could  be. 

Marble  watched  me  while  I  was  superintending  these 
changes  in  the  boat,  with  a  good  deal  of  interest  ;  and  one 
evening — I  had  announced  an  intention  to  sail  next  morn- 
ing, the  major  and  Emily  having  actually  gone  on  board — • 
that  evening,  he  got  my  arm,  and  led  me  away  from  the 
spot,  like  a  man  who  has  urgent  business.  I  could  see 
that  he  was  much  affected,  and  had  strong  hopes  he  in- 
tended to  announce  a  change  of  purpose.  His  hand  actually 
trembled,  the  whole  time  he  grasped  my  arm. 

"  God  bless  you,  Miles  !  God  bless  you,  dear  boy  !  "  he 
said,  speaking  with  difficulty,  as  soon  as  we  were  out  of 
ear-shot  from  the  others.  "If  any  being  could  make  me 
pine  for  the  world,  it  would  be  such  a  friend  as  you.  I 
could  live  on  without  father  or  mother,  brother  or  sister, 
ship  or  confidence  of  my  owners,  good  name  even,  were  I 
sure  of  meeting  such  a  lad  as  yourself  in  only  every  thou- 
sandth man  I  fell  in  with.  But,  young  as  you  are,  you 
know  how  it  is  with  mankind  ;  and  no  more  need  be  said 
about  it.  All  I  ask  now  is,  that  you  will  knock  off  with 
this  'making  him  comfortable,'  as  you  call  it,  or  you'IJ 


AFLOAT    AXD   ASHORE.  283 

leave  me  nothing  to  do  for  myself.  I  can  fit  out.  that  boat 
as  well  as  e'er  a  man  in  the  Crisis,  I'd  have  you  to  know." 

"  I  am  well  aware  of  that,  my  friend  ;  but  I  am  not  so 
certain  that  you  would.  In  that  boat,  I  am  in  hopes  you 
will  follow  us  out  to  sea,  and  come  on  board  again,  and 
take  your  old  place  as  master." 

Marble  shook  his  head,  and  I  believe  he  saw  by  my 
manner  that  I  had  no  serious  expectations  of  the  sort  I 
named.  We  walked  some  distance  further,  in  silence,  bo« 
fore  he  again  spoke.  Then  he  said  suddenly,  and  in  a  way 
to  show  how  much  his  mind  was  troubled — 

"  Miles,  my  dear  boy,  you  must  let  me  hear  from  you  !  " 

"  Hear  from  me  !  By  what  means,  pray  ?  You  cannot 
expect  the  Postmaster  General  will  make  a  mail  route 
between  New  York  and  this  island  ? " 

"  Pooh !  I'm  getting  old,  and  losing  my  memory.  I 
was  generalizing  on  friendship,  and  the  like  of  that,  and 
the  idea  ran  away  with  me.  I  know,  of  course,  when  you 
are  out  of  sight,  that  I  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
world — probably  shall  never  see  a  human  face  again.  But 
what  of  that  ?  My  time  cannot  be  long  now,  and  I  shall 
have  the  fish,  fowls,  and  pigs  to  talk  to.  To  tell  you  the 
truth,  Miles,  Miss  Merton  gave  me  her  own  Bible  yesterday, 
and,  at  my  request,  she  pointed  out  that  part  which  gives 
an  account  about  Moses  in  the » bulrushes,  and  I've  just 
been  looking  it  over  ;  it  is  easy  enough,  now,  to  understand 
why  I  was  called  Moses." 

"But  Moses  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  go  and  live  in 
a  desert,  or  on  an  uninhabited  island,  merely  because  he 
was  found  in  those  bulrushes." 

"  That  Moses  had  no  occasion  to  be  ashamed  of  his 
parents.  It  was  fear,  not  shame,  that  sent  him  adrift. 
Nor  did  Moses  ever  let  a  set  of  lubberly  Frenchmen  seize 
a  fine,  stout  ship,  like  the  Crisis,  with  a  good,  able-bodied 
crew  of  forty  men  on  board  of  her." 

"Come,  Marble,  you  have  too  much  sense  to  talk  in  this 
manner.  It  is,  fortunately,  not  too  late  to  change  your 
mind  ;  and  I  will  let  it  be  understood  that  you  did  so  at 
my  persuasion." 

This  was  the  commencement  of  a  final  effort  on  my  part 
to  induce  my  friend  to  abandon  his  mad  project.  We  con- 
versed  quite  an  hour,  until  I  had  exhausted  my  breath,  as 
well  as  my  arguments,  indeed  ;  and  all  without  the  least 
success.  I%  pointed  out  to  him  the  miserable  plight  he 
must  be  in,  in  the  event  of  illness  ;  but  it  was  an  argument 


284  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

that  had  no  effect  on  a  man  who  had  never  had  even  a 
headache  in  his  life.  As  for  society,  he  cared  not  a  straw 
for  it  when  ashore,  he  often  boasted  ;  and  he  could  not  yet 
appreciate  the  effects  of  total  solitude.  Once  or  twice,  re- 
marks escaped  him  as  if  he  thought  it  possible  I  might  one 
day  return  ;  but  they  were  ventured  in  pleasantry,  rather 
than  with  any  appearance  of  seriousness.  I  could  see  that 
the  self-devoted  hermit  had  his  misgivings,  but  I  could  ob- 
tain no  verbal  concession  from  him  to  that  effect.  He  was 
reminded  that  the  ship  must  positively  sail  next  day,  since 
it  would  not  do  to  trifle  with  the  interests  of  the  owners 
any  longer. 

;'I  know  it,  Miles,"  Marble  answered,  "and  no  more 
need  be  said  on  the  subject.  Your 'people  are  through 
with  their  work,  and  here  comes  Neb  to  report  the  boat 
ready  to  go  off.  I  shall  try  my  hand  ashore  to-night,  alone  ; 
in  the  morning,  I  suppose  you  would  like  to  take  an  old 
shipmate  by  the  hand  for  the  last  time,  and  you  will 
nat'rally  look  for  me  at  the  water-side.  Good  night! 
Before  we  part,  however,  I  may  as  well  thank  you  for  the 
supply  of  clothes  I  see  you  have  put  in  my  hut.  It  was 
scarcely  wanted,  as  I  have  enough  rfeedles  and  thread  to 
supply  a  slop-shop  ;  and  the  old  duck  left  by  the  French 
will  keep  me  in  jackets  and  trousers  for  the  remainder  o, 
my  days.  Good  night,  my  dear  boy !  God  bless  you — 
God  bless  you  !  " 

It  was  nearly  dark,  but  I  could  see  that  Marble's  eyes 
Looked  moist,  and  feel  that  his  hand  again  trembled.  I 
left  'him,  not  without  the  hope  that  the  solitude  of  this 
night,  the  first  in  which  he  had  been  left  by  himself,  would 
have  the  effect  to  lessen  his  desire  to  be  a  hermit.  When 
I  turned  in,  it  was  understood  that  all  hands  were  to  be 
called  at  daylight,  and  the  ship  unmoored. 

Talcott  came  to  call  me,  at  the  indicated  moment.  I 
had  made  him  chief  mate,  and  taken  one  of  the  Philndel- 
piiians  for  second  officer ;  a  young  man  who  had  every  req- 
uisite for  the  station,  and  one  more  than  was  necessary, 
or  a  love  of  liquor.  But  drunkards  do  tolerably  well  on 
board  a  ship  in  which  reasonable  discipline  is  maintained. 
For  that  matter,  Neptune  ought  to  be  a  profound  moralist, 
as  youths  are  very  generally  sent  to  sea  to  cure  most  of 
the  ethical  ailings.  Talcott  was  directed  to  unmoor,  and 
heave  short.  As  for  myself,  I  got  into  a  boat  and  pulled 
ashore,  with  an  intention  of  making  a  last  and  strong  ap- 
peal to  Marble. 


AFLOAT  A.VD   ASHORE.  285 

No  one  was  visible  on  the  island  when  we  reached  it.  The 
pigs  and  fowls  were  already  in  motion,  however,  and  were 
gathering  near  the  door  of  the  hut,  where  Marble  was  ac- 
customed to  feed  them  about  that  hour  ;  the  fowls  on  sugar  t 
principally.  I  proceeded  to  the  door,  opened  it,  entered 
the  place,  and  found  it  empty  !  Its  late  inmate  was  then 
up,  and  abroad.  He  had  probably  passed  a  sleepless  night, 
and  sought  relief  in  the  fresh  air  of  the  morning.  I  looked 
for  him  in  the  adjacent  grove,  on  the  outer  beach,  and  in 
most  of  his  usual  haunts.  He  was  nowhere  visible.  A 
little  vexed  at  having  so  long  a  walk  before  me,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  we  were  •  so  much  pressed  for  time,  I  was 
about  to  follow  the  grove  to  a  distant  part  of  the  island, 
to  a  spot  that  I  knew  Marble  frequented  a  good  deal, 
when  moody ;  but  my  steps  were  arrested  by  an  ac- 
cidental glance  at  the  lagoon.  I  missed  the  Frenchman's 
launch,  or  the  boat  I  had  myself  caused  to  be  rigged  with 
so  much  care,  the  previous  day,  for  the  intended  hermit's 
especial  advantage.  This  was  a  large  boat  ;  one  that  had 
been  constructed  to  weigh  a  heavy  anchor,  and  I  had  left 
her  moored  between  a  grapnel  and  the  shore,  so  securely, 
as  to  forbid  the  idea  she  could  have  been  moved,  in  so 
quiet  a  time,  without  the  aid  of  hands.  Rushing  to  the 
water,  I  got  into  my  own  boat,  and  pulled  directly  on 
board. 

On  reaching  the  ship,  a  muster  of  all  hands  was  ordered. 
The  result  proved  that  everybody  was  present,  and  at  duty. 
It  followed  that  Marble,  alone,  had  carried  the  boat  out  of  the- 
lagoon.  The  men  who  had  had  the  anchor-watches  during 
the  past  night,  were  questioned  on  the  subject,  but  no  one 
had  seen  or  heard  anything  of  a  movement  in  the  launch. 
Mr.  Talcott  was  told  to  continue  his  duty,  while  I  went 
aloft  myself,  to  look  at  the  offing.  I  was  soon  in  the  main- 
topmast  cross-trees,  where  a  view  was  commanded  of  the 
whole  island,  a  few  covers  excepted,  of  all  the  water 
within  the  reef,  and  a  wide  range  without.  Nowhere  was 
the  boat  or  Marble  to  be  seen.  It  was  barely  possible 
that  he  had  concealed  himself  behind  the  wreck,  though 
I  did  not  see  how  ever  this  could  be  done,  unless  he  had 
taken  the  precaution  to  strike  the  launch's  masts. 

By  this  time,  our  last  anchor  was  aweigh,  and  the  ship 
was  clear  of  the  bottom.  The  topsails  had  been  hoisted 
before  I  went  aloft,  and  everything  was  now  ready  for 
filling  away.  Too  anxious  to  go  on  deck,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, and  a  lofty  position  being  the  best  for  ascer« 


286 

taining  the  presence  of  rocks,  I  determined  to  remain 
where  I  was,  and  con  the  ship  through  the  passes,  in  my 
own  person.  An  order  was  accordingly  given  to  set  the 
jib,  and  to  swing  the  head  yards,  and  to  get  the  spanker 
on  the  ship.  In  a  minute,  the  Crisis  \vas  again  in  motion, 
moving  steadily  toward  the  inlet.  As  the  lagoon  was  not 
entirely  free  from  danger,  coral  rocks  rising  in  places, 
quite  near  the  surface  of  the  water,  I  was  obliged  to  be  at- 
tentive to  the  pilot's  duty  until  we  got  into  the  outer  bay, 
when  this  particular  danger  in  a  great  measure  disap- 
peared. I  could  then  look  about  me  with  more  freedom. 
Though  we  so  far  changed  our  position,  as  respected  the 
wreck,  as  to  open  new  views  of  it,  no  launch  was  to  be  seen 
behind  it.  By  the  time  the  ship  reached  the  passage 
through  the  reef,  I  had  little  hope  of  finding  it  there. 

We  had  got  to  be  too  familiar  with  the  channels  to  have 
any  difficulty  in  taking  the  ship  through  them  ;  and  we 
were  soon  fairly  to  windward  of  the  reef.  Our  course, 
however,  lay  to  leeward  ;  and  we  passed  round  the  southern 
side  of  the  rocks,  under  the  same  easy  canvas,  until  we  got 
abreast,  and  within  half  a  cable's  length  of  the  wreck.  To  aid 
my  own  eyes,  I  had  called  up  Talcottand  Neb  ;  but  neither 
of  us  could  obtain  the  least  glimpse  of  the  launch.  Noth- 
ing Was  to  be  seen  about  the  wreck  ;  though  I  took  the 
precaution  to  send  a  boat  to  it.  All  was  useless.  Marble 
had  gone  out  to  sea,  quite  alone,  in  the  Frenchman's  launch  ; 
and,  though  twenty  pairs  of  eyes  were  now  aloft,  no  one 
could  fancy  that  he  saw  anything  in  the  offing  that  resem- 
bled a  boat. 

Talcott  and  myself  had  a  private  interview  on  the  sub- 
ject  of  Marble's  probable  course.  My  mate  was  of  opinion 
that  our  friend  had  made  the  best  of  his  way  for  some  of 
the  inhabited  islands,  unwilling  to  remain  here  when  it 
came  to  the  pinch,  and  yet  ashamed  to  rejoin  us.  I  could 
hardly  believe  this  ;  in  such  a  case,  I  thought  he  would 
have  waited  until  we  had  sailed  ;  when  he 'might  have  left 
the  island  also,  and  nobody  been  the  wiser.  To  this  Tal- 
cott answered  that  Marble  probably  feared  our  importuni- 
ties ;  possibly,  compulsion.  It  seemed  singular  to  me,  that 
a  man  who  regretted  his  hasty  decision,  should  adopt  such 
a  course  ;  and  yet  I  was  at  a  loss  to  explain  the  matter 
much  more  to  my  own  satisfaction.  Nevertheless,  then! 
was  no  remedy.  We  were  as  much  in  the  dark  as  it  was 
possible  to  be  with  a  knowledge  of  the  circumstance  that 
the  bird  had  flown. 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  287 

We  hovered  around  the  reef  for  several  hours,  most  of 
which  time  I  passed  in  the  cross-trees,  and  some  of  it  on 
the  royal  yard.  Once,  I  thought  I  saw  a  small  speck  on 
the  ocean,  dead  to  windward,  that  resembled  a  boat's  sail ; 
but  there  were  so  many  birds  flying  about,  and  glancing 
beneath  the  sun's  rays,  that  I  was  reluctantly  compelled  to 
admit  it  was  probably  one  of  them.  At  meridian,  there- 
fore; I  gave  the  order  to  square  away,  and  to  make  sail  on 
our  course.  This  was  done  with  the  greatest  reluctance, 
however,  and  not  without  a  good  deal  of  vacillation  of 
purpose.  The  ship  moved  away  from  the  land  rapidly, 
and  by  two  o'clock,  the  line  of  cocoanut  trees  that  fringed 
the  horizon  astern,  sunk  entirely  beneath  the  rolling  mar- 
gin of  our  view.  From  that  moment,  I  abandoned  the 
expectation  of  ever  seeing  Moses  Marble  again,  though 
the  occurrence  left  all  of  us  sad  for  several  days. 

Major  Merton  and  his  daughter  were  on  the  poop  nearly 
the  whole  of  this  morning.  Neither  interfered  in  the  least"; 
for  the  old  soldier  was  too  familiar  with  discipline  to  vent- 
ure an  opinion  concerning  the  management  of  the  ship. 
When  we  met  at  dinner,  however,  the  conversation  natu- 
rally turned  on  the  disappearance  of  our  old  friend. 

"  It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  pride  should  have  prevented 
Marble  from  acknowledging  his  mistake,"  observed  the 
major,  "and  thus  kept  him  from  getting  a  safe  passage  to 
Canton,  where  he  might  have  left  you,  and  joined  another 
ship,  had  he  thought  it  necessary." 

"Where  we  shall  do  the  same  thing,  I  suppose,  dear 
sir,"  added  Emily,  with  a  manner  that  I  thought  marked, 
"and  thus  relieve  Captain  Wallingford  from"  the  encum- 
brance of  our  presence." 

"  Me  ! — call  your  delightful  society  anything  but  an  en- 
cumbrance, I  beg  of  you,  Miss  Merton,"  I  rejoined  in 
haste.  "  Now,  that  Mr.  Le  Compte  has  furnished  this 
comfortable  cabin,  and  you  are  no  longer  at  any  incon- 
venience to  yourselves,  I  would  not  be  deprived  of  the  ad- 
vantage and  pleasure  of  this  association  for  more  than  I 
dare  mention." 

Emily  looked  gratified  ;  while  her  father  appeared  to 
me  to  be  thoughtful.  After  a  brief  pause,  however,  the 
major  resumed  the  discourse. 

"  I  should  certainly  feel  myself  bound  to  make  many 
apologies  for  the  trouble  we  are  giving,"  he  said,  "es- 
pecially, since  1  understand  from  Wallingford,  he  will  not 
accept,  either  for  himself  or  his  owners,  anything  like 


2SS  A FL OA 7'  AND   ASHORE. 

compensation  even  for  the  food  we  consume,  were  it  not  that 
we  are  here  by  constraint,  and  not  by  any  agency  of  our 
own.  As  soon  as  we  reach  Canton,  however,  I  shall  feel  it 
a  duty  to  get  on  board  the  first  English  ship  that  will  re- 
ceive us." 

I  stole  a  glance  at  Emily,  but  could  not  understand  the 
expression  of  her  countenance,  as  she  heard  this  announce- 
ment. Of  course,  I  made  an  earnest  protest  against  the 
major's  doing  anything  of  the  sort ;  and  yet  I  could  not 
well  find  any  sufficient  reason  for  urging  him  to  remain 
where  he  was,  beyond  my  own  gratification.  I  could  not 

fo  either  to  England  or  Bombay  ;  and  I  took  it  for  granted 
lajor  Merton  wished  to  proceed  at  once,  to  one,  if  not  to 
both  of  these  places.  We  conversed,  a  little  generally 
perhaps,  on  this  subject  for  some  time  longer  ;  and  when 
I  left  the  cabin,  it  struck  me,  Emily's  melancholy  had  in 
no  degree  lessened. 

It  is  a  long  road  to  traverse,  over  half  of  the  Pacific. 
Weeks  and  weeks  were  thus  occupied  ;  Talcott  and  my- 
self profiting  by  every  suitable  occasion,  to  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  association  chance  had  thus  thrown  in  our 
way.  I  make  no  .doubt  I  was  greatly  benefited  by  my 
constant  communications  with  the  Mertons  ;  the  major 
being  a  cultivated,  though  not  a  particularly  brilliant  man; 
while  I  conceive  it  to  be  utterly  impossible  for  two  young 
men,  of  our  time  of  life  and  profession,  to  be  daily,  almost 
hourly,  in  the  company  of  a  young  woman  like  Emily 
Merton,  without  losing  some  of  the  peculiar  roughness  of 
the  sea,  and  getting,  in  its  place,  some  small  portion  of  the 
gentler  qualities  of  the  saloon.  I  date  a  certain  a  plomb,  an 
absence  of  shyness  in  the  company  of  females,  from  this 
habitual  intercourse  with  one  of  the  sex  who  had,  herself, 
been  carefully  educated  in  the  conventionalities  of  respect- 
able, if  not  of  very  elegant  or  sophisticated  society. 

At  length  we  reached  the  China  seas,  and  falling  in  to 
windward,  we  made  a  quick  run  to  Canton.  It  now  be- 
came necessary  for  me  to  attend  to  the  ship  and  the  inter- 
ests of  my  owners  ;  suffering  my  passengers  to  land  at 
Whampoa,  with  the  understanding  that  we  were  to  meet 
before  either  party  sailed.  I  soon  disposed  of  the  sandal- 
wood  and  skins,  and  found  no  difficulty  in  procuring  teas, 
nankeens,  china-ware,  and  the  other  articles  pointed  out  in 
the  instructions  to  poor  Captain  Williams.  I  profited  by 
*he  occasion,  also,  to  make  certain  purchases  on  my  own 
account,  that  I  had  a  presentiment  would  be  particularly 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  289 

agreeable  to  the  future  mistress  of  Clawbonny,  let  that 
lady  turn  out  to  be  whomsoever  she  might.  The  dollars 
obtained  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America  enabled 
me  to  do  this  ;  my  instructions  giving  the  necessary  au- 
thority to  use  a  few  of  them  on  private  account.  My 
privilege  as  master  rendered  all  proper. 

In  a  word,  the  residence  of  six  or  eight  weeks  at  Canton, 
proved  a  very  advantageous  affair  for  those  whose  money 
was  embarked  in  the  Crisis.  Sandal  wood  and  sea-otter 
skins  brought  particularly  high  prices  ;  while  teas,  and 
the  manufactures  of  the  country,  happened  to  be  low.  I 
had  no  merit  in  this — not  a  particle  ;  and  yet  I  reaped  the 
advantage,  so  far  as  advantage  was  connected  with  the 
mere  reputation  of  the  voyage — success  being  of  nearly  as 
great  account  in  commerce  as  in  war.  It  is  true,  I  worked 
like  a  dog  ;  for  I  worked  under  an  entirely  novel  sense  of 
responsibility,  and  with  a  feeling  I  am  certain  that  could 
never  have  oppressed  me  in  the  care  of  my  own  property ; 
and  I  deserved  some  portion  of  the  credit  subsequently  ob- 
tained. At  all  events  I  was  heartily  rejoiced  when  the 
hatches  were  on,  and  the  ship  was  once  more  ready  for 
sea. 

It  now  became  a  duty,  as  well  as  a  pleasure,  to  seek 
Major  Merton,  whom  I  had  seen  but  once  or  twice  during 
the  last  two  months.  He  had  passed  that  time  at  Wham- 
poa,  while  I  had  been  either  at  the  factories  or  on  board. 
The  major  was  occupied  when  I  called,  and  Emily  received 
me  alone.  When  she  learned  that  I  was  ready  to  sail  for 
home,  and  had  come  to  take  my  leave,  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  she  was  uneasy  if  not  distressed.  I  felt  unhappy  at 
parting,  too,  and  perhaps  I  had  less  scruple  about  saying 
as  much. 

"  God  only  knows,  Miss  Merton,  whether  we  are  ever 
to  be  permitted  to  see  each  other  again,"  I  remarked,  after 
the  preliminary  explanations  had  been  made. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  I  am  now  an  old  man, 
and  that  vanity  no  longer  has  any  of  that  influence 
over  me  which  it  might  be  supposed  to  possess  over  one 
of  more  juvenile  hopes  and  feelings  ;  that  I  relate  facts, 
without  reference  to  their  effect  on  myself,  beyond  the 
general  salvo  of  some  lingering  weaknesses  of  humanity. 
I  trust,  therefore,  I  shall  be  understood  in  all  my  neces- 
sary allusions  to  the  estimation  in  which  I  was  apparently 
held  by  others.  Emily  fairly  started  when  I  made  this  re- 
mark concerning  the  probable  duration  of  the  approach' 


?9o  AFLOAT  AiVD  ASHORE. 

ing  separation,  and  the  color  left  her  cheek.  Her  pretty 
white  hand  shook,  so  that  she  had  difficulty  in  using  her 
needle ;  and  there  was  an  appearance  of  agitation  and  dis- 
tress about  the  charming  girl,  that  J  had  never  before  wit- 
nessed in  one  whose  manner  was  usually  so  self-possessed 
and  calm.  I  now  know  the  reason  why  I  did  not  throw  myself 
on  my  knees,  and  beg  the  charming  girl  to  consent  to  accom- 
pany me  to  America,  though  I  wondered  at  myself  afterward, 
when  I  came  to  reflect  coolly  on  all  that  had  passed,  for  my 
stoicism.  I  will  not  affirm  that  I  fancied  Emily's  agitation 
to  be  altogether  owing  to  myself,  but  I  confess  to  an  ina- 
bility to  account  for  it  in  any  other  manner  as  agreeable 
to  myself.  The  appearance  of  Major  Merton  at  that  in- 
stant, however,  prevented  everything  like  a  scene,  and 
probably  restored  us  both  to  a  consciousness  of  the  neces- 
sity of  seeming  calm.  As  for  the  major  himself,  he  \vas 
evidently  far  from  being  unconcerned,  something  having 
occurred  to  disturb  iiim.  So  very  apparent  was  this,  that 
I  commenced  the  discourse  by  asking  if  he  were  unwell. 

"Always /&?/,  I  fear,  Miles,"  lie  answered;  "my  physi- 
cian has  just  told  me  frankly,  unless  I  get  into  a  cold 
climate  as  soon  as  possible,  my  life  will  not  be  worth  six 
months'  purchase." 

"Then  sail  with  me,  sir,"  I  cried,  with  an  eagerness  and 
heartiness  that  must  have  proved  my  sincerity.  "Happily, 
I  am  not  too  late  to  make  the  offer ;  and,  as  for  getting 
away,  I  am  ready  to  sail  to-morrow." 

"I  am  forbidden  to  go  near  Bombay,"  continued  the 
major,  looking  anxiously  at  his  daughter;  "and  that  ap- 
pointment must  be  abandoned.  If  I  could  continue  to  hold 
it,  there  is  no  probability  of  a  chance  to  reach  my  station 
this  half  year." 

"  So  much  the  better  for  me,  sir.  In  four  or  five  months 
from  this  moment,  I  will  land  you  in  New  York,  where  you 
will  find  the  climate  cold  enough  for  any  disease.  I  ask 
you  as  friends,  as  guests,  not  as  passengers  ;  and  to  prove 
it,  the  table  in  the  upper  cabin,  in  future,  shall  be  mine. 
I  have  barely  left  room  in  the  Jower  cabin  to  sleep  or  dress 
in,  having  filled  it  with  my  own  private  venture,  as  is  my 
right." 

"You  are  as  generous  as  kind,  Miles;  but  what  wilC 
your  owners  think  of  such  an  arrangement?" 

"  They  have  no  right  to  complain.  The  cabin  and  pas- 
sengers, should  any  of  the  last  offer,  after  deducting- a  very 
small  allowance  for  the  ship's  portion  of  the  food  ancf 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  291 

water,  are  mine  by  agreement.  All  the  better  food  I  find 
at  my  own  charge  ;  and  should  you  insist  on  remunerating 
the  owners  for  the  coarser,  or  such  as  they  find,  you  can  do 
so — it  will  be  less  than  a  hundred  dollars  at  the  most." 

"  On  these  conditions,  then,  I  shall  thankfully  profit  by 
your  offer,  attaching,  however,  one  more  that  I  trust  you 
may  be  permitted  to  fulfil.  It  is  important  to  me  that  I 
reach  England— can  you  touch  at  St.  Helena?" 

"  Willingly,  if  it  be  your  wish.  The  health  of  the  crew, 
moreover,  may  render  it  desirable." 

"  There,  then,  I  will  quit  you,  if  an  opportunity  offer  to 
proceed  to  England.  Our  bargain  is  made,  dear  Miles  ; 
and  to-morrow  I  shall  be  ready  to  embark." 

I  think  Emily  never  looked  more  beautiful  than-she  did 
while  listening  to  this  arrangement.  It  doubtless  relieved 
her  mind  on  the  painful  subject  of  her  father's  health,  and 
I  fancied  it  relieved  it  also  on  the  subject  of  our  own  im- 
mediate separation.  Months  must,  elapse  before  we  could 
reach  St.  Helena;  and  who  could  foresee  what  those 
months  might  bring  forth  ?  As  I  had  a  good  deal  to  do  at 
such  a  moment,  I  took  my  leave,  with  my  feelings  light- 
ened, as  it  might  be,  of  a  burden.  The  reader  will  at  once 
infer  I  was  in  love.  But  he  will  be  mistaken.  I  was  not 
in  love,  though  my  imagination,  to  use  a  cant  phrase  of 
some  of  the  sects,  was  greatly  exercised.  Lucy,  even  then, 
had  a  hold  of  my  heart  in  a  way  of  which  I  was  ignorant 
myself  ;  but  it  was  not  in  nature  fora  youth,  just  approach- 
ing his  majority,  to  pass  months  and  months,  almost  alone, 
in  the  society  of  a  lovely  girl  who  was  a  year  or  two  his 
junior,  and  not  admit  some  degree  of  tenderness  toward 
her  in  his  feelings.  The  circumstances  were  sufficient  to 
try  the  constancy  of  the  most  faithful  swain  that  ever  lived. 
Then  it  must  be  remembered  that  I  had  never  professed 
to  love  Lucy — was  not  at  all  aware  that  she  entertained 
an  7  other  sentimejit  toward  me  than  that  she  entertained 
toward  Rupert  ;  whereas  Emily — but  I  will  not  prove  my- 
self a  coxcomb  on  paper,  whatever  I  might  have  been,  at 
the  moment,  in  my  own  imagination. 

Next  day,  at  the  appointed  hour,  I  had  the  happiness  to 
receive  my  old  passengers.  It  struck  me  that  Talcott  was 
as  much  gratified  as  I  was  myself,  for  he,  too,  had  both 
pleasure  and  improvement  in  Emily  Merton's  society.  It 
has  often  been  said  that  the  English  East-India  ships  are 
noted  for  quarrelling  and  making  love.  The  quarrels  may 
be  accounted  for  on  the  same  principle  as  the  love-making, 


292  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

viz.,  propinquity  ;  the  same  proximity  producing  hostility 
in  those  sterner  natures,  that  in  others  of  a  gentler  cast, 
produces  its  opposite  feeling. 

We  sailed,  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  tell  the  reader 
how  much  the  tedium  of  so  long  a  voyage,  and  the  mo- 
notony of  a  sea  voyage  was  relieved  by  the  graces  and 
gentle  intercourse  of  our  upper  cabin.  The  other  apart- 
ment being  so  crowded  and  hot,  I  passed  most  of  my  time 
in  the  poop,  which  was  both  light  and  airy.  Here  I  gen- 
erally found  the  father  and  daughter,  though  often  the  lat- 
ter alone.  I  played  reasonably  well  on  the  flute  and  vio- 
lin, and  had  learned  to  accompany  Emily  on  her  piano, 
which,  it  will  be  remembered,  Monsieur  Le  Compte  had 
caused-to  be  transferred  from  the  Bombay  ship  to  his  own 
vessel,  and  which  had  subsequently  been  saved  from  the 
wreck. 

Talcott  also  played  on.  the  flute,  far  better  than  I  did 
myself,  and  we  frequently  made  a  trio,  producing  very  re- 
spectable sea  music — better,  indeed,  than  Neptune  often 
got  for  his  smiles.  In  this  manner,  then,  we  travelled  our 
long  road,  sometimes  contending  with  headwinds  and  cross 
seas,  sometimes  becalmed,  and  sometimes  slipping  along 
at  a  rate  that  rendered  everybody  contented  and  happy. 

In  passing  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  I  related  to  Major  Mer- 
ton  and  Emily  the  incidents  of  the  John's  affair  with  the 
proas,  and  her  subsequent  loss  on  the  Island  of  Madagas- 
car ;  and  was  rewarded  by  the  interest  they  took  in  the 
tale.  We  all  spoke  of  Marble,  as  indeed  we  often  did,  and 
expressed  our  regrets  at  his  absence.  The  fate  of  my 
old  shipmate  was  frequently  discussed  among  us,  there 
being  a  grefct  diversity  of  opinion  on  the  subject.  As  for 
the  major,  he  thought  poor  Marble  must  be  lost  at  sea,  for 
lie  did  not  perceive  how  any  one  man  could  manage  a  boat 
all  alone  by  himself.  Talcott,  who  had  juster  notions  of 
what  a  seaman  could  do,  was  of  opinion  that  our  late 
commander  had  run  to  leeward,  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  inhabited  island,  preferring  the  association  of  even 
cannibals,  when  it  came  to  the  trying  moment,  to  total 
solitude.  I  thought  he  had  gone  to  windward,  the  boat 
being  so  well  equipped  for  that  service,  and  that  Marble 
was  in  the  expectation  of  falling  in  with  some  of  the  whal- 
ers, who  were  known  to  be  cruising  in  certain  latitudes.  I 
was  greatly  struck,  however,  by  a  remark  made  by  Emily, 
i>n  the  evening  of  the  very  day  when  we  passed  the  Straits 
s>f  Sunda. 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 


293 


"  Should  the  truth  be  ever  known,  gentlemen,"  she  said, 
"  I  am  of  opinion  it  will  be  found  that  poor  Mr.  Marble 
only  left  the  island  to  escape  from  your  importunities, 
and  returned  to  it  after  the  ship  disappeared  ;  and  that  he 
is  there  at  this  moment,  enjoying  all  the  happiness  of  a 
hermit." 

This  might  be  true,  and  from  that  hour  the  thought 
would  occasionally  recur  to  my  mind.  As  I  looked  forward 
to  passing  at  least  several  more  years  at  sea,  I  secretly 
determined  to  ascertain  the  fact  for  myself,  should  occasion 
ever  offer.  In  the  meantime,  the  Crisis  had  reached  a 
part  of  the  ocean  where,  in  those  days,  it  was  incumbent 
on  those  who  had  the  charge  of  a  ship  to  keep  a  vigilant 
lookout  for  enemies.  It  seems  we  were  not  fated  to  run 
the  gauntlet  of  these  pirates  entirely  unharmed. 

Early  on  the  following  morning,  I  was  awakened  by  Tal- 
cott's  giving  me  a  hearty  shake  of  the  shoulder. 

"  Turn  out  at  once,  Captain  Wallingford,"  cried  my 
mate  ;  "the  rascals  are  closing  around  us  like  crows  about 
a  carcass.  As  bad  luck  will  have  it,  we  have  neither  room 
nor  breeze  to  spare.  Everything  looks  like  a  busy  morn- 
ing for  us,  sir."  • 

In  just  three  minutes  from  that  moment,  I  was  on  deck, 
where  all  hands  wrere  soon  collected,  the  men  tumbling  up 
with  their  jackets  in  their  hands.  Major  Merton  was  already 
on  the  poop,  surveying  the  scene  with  a  glass  of  his  own  ; 
while  the  two  mates  were  clearing  away  the  guns,  and  get- 
ting the  ship  in  a  state  to  make  a  suitable  defence.  To  me, 
the  situation  was  altogether  novel.  I  had  been  six  times  in 
the  presence  of  enemies  before,  and  twice  as  commander  ; 
but  never  under  circumstances  that  called  so  imperiously 
for  seamanship  and  good  conduct.  The  ocean  seemed 
covered  with  enemies,  Major  Merton  declaring  that  he 
could  count  no  less  than  twenty-eight  proas,  all  full  of 
men,  and  some  of  them  armed  with  artillery.  These 
chaps  were  ahead,  astern,  to  windward,  and  to  leeward  ; 
and,  what  was  worse,  they  had  just  wrind  enough  to  suit 
their  purposes,  there  being  about  a  five-knot  breeze.  It 
was  evident  that  the  craft  acted  in  concert,  and  that  they 
were  desperately  bent  on  our  capture,  having  closed 
around  us  in  this  manner  in  the  night.  Nevertheless,  wre 
were  a  warm  ship  for  a  merchantman  ;  and  not  a  man  in 
the  Crisis  betrayed  any  feeling  that  indicated  any  othei 
desire  than  a  wish  to  resist  to  the  last.  As  for  Neb,  the 
fellow  was  in  a  broad  grin,  the  whole  time  ;  he  considered 


294  AFLOAT  AND    ASHORE. 

the  affair  as  a  bit  of  fun.  Yet  this  negro  was  afraid  to 
•visit  certain  places  about  the  farm  in  the  dark,  and  could 
not  have  been  induced  to  cross  a  churchyard  alone,  under 
a  bright  sun,  I  feel  well  persuaded.  He  was  the  oddest 
mixture  of  superstitious  dread  and  lion-hearted  courage  I 
ever  met  with  in  my  life. 

It  was  still  early,  when  the  proas  were  near  enough  to 
commence  serious  operations.  This  they  did,  by  a  nearly 
simultaneous  discharge  of  about  a  dozen  guns,  principally 
sixes,  that  they  carried  mounted  in  their  bows.  The  shot 
came  whistling  in  among  our  spars  and  rigging,  literally 
from  every  direction,  and  three  struck,  though'they  were 
not  of  a  size  to  do  any  serious  injury.  Our  people  were 
at  quarters,  having  managed  to  man  both  batteries,  though 
it  left  scarcely  any  one  to  look  after  tiie  braces  and  rig- 
ging, and  none  but  the  officers  with  small  arms. 

Mr.  Merton  must  have  felt  that  his  and  his  daughter's 
liberty,  if  not  their  lives,  were  in  the  keeping  of  a  very 
youthful  commander  ;  still,  his  military  habits  of  subordi- 
nation were  so  strong,  he  did  not  venture  even  a  sugges- 
tion. I  had  my  own  plan,  and  was  just  of  an  age  to  think 
it  derogatory  to  my  rank  to  ask  advice  of  anyone.  The 
proas  were  strongest  ahead  and  on  both  bows,  where  they 
were  collecting  to  the  number  of  near  twenty,  evidently 
with  the  intention  of  boarding,  should  an  opportunity 
offer  ;  while  astern,  and  on  our  quarter,  they  were  much 
fewer,  and  far  more  scattered.  The  reason  of  all  this  was 
apparent  by  our  course,  the  pirates  naturally  supposing 
we  should  continue  to  stand  on. 

Orders  were  given  to  haul  up  the  mainsail  and  to  man 
the  spanker  brails.  The  men  were  taken  from  the  star- 
board battery,  exclusively,  to  perform  this  work.  When 
all  was  ready,  the  helm  was  put  up,  and  the  ship  was 
brought  as  short  round  on  her  heel  as  possible,  hauling  up, 
on  an  easy  bowline,  on  the  other  tack.  In  coming  round, 
we  delivered  all  our  larboard  guns  among  the  crowd  of 
enemies,  well  crammed  with  grape  ;  and  the  distance  be- 
ing just  right  for  scattering,  this  broadside  was  not  without 
effect.  As  soon  as  braced  up,  on  the  other  tack,  we  opened 
starboard  and  larboard,  on  such  of  the  chaps  as  came  with- 
in range,  clearing  our  way  as  we  went.  The  headmost 
proas  all  came  round  in  chase  ;  but  being  from  half  a  mile 
to  a  mile  astern,  we  had  time  to  open  a  way  out  of  the  cir- 
cle, and  to  drive  all  the  proas  who  were  now  ahead  of  us, 
to  take  refuge  among  the  vcrowd  of  .  their  fellows.  The 


AFLOAT  A.VD   ASHORE.  295 

manoeuvre  was  handsomely  executed  ;  and  in  twenty  min- 
utes  we  ceased  firing,  having  all  our  enemies  to  the  west- 
ward of  us,  and  in  one  group  ;  this  was  an  immense  ad' 
vantage,  as  it  enabled  us  to  fight  with  a  single  broadside, 
prevented  our  being  raked,  and  rendered  our  own  fire 
more  destructive,  by  exposing  to  it  a  more  concentrated;, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  a  larger  object.  I  ought  to  have 
said  before  that  the  wind  was  at  the  southward. 

The  Crisis  now  tacked,  setting  the  courses  and  royals. 
The  ship  lay  up  well,  and  the  proas  having  collected  around 
their  admiral,  there  was  a  prospect  of  her  passing  to  wind- 
ward of  everything.  Six  of  the  fellows,  however,  seemed 
determined  to  prevent  this,  by  hauling  close  on  a  wind, 
and  attempting  to  cross  our  bows,  firing  as  they  did  so. 
The  ship  stood  on,  apparently  as  if  to  intercept  them  ; 
when,  finding  ourselves  near  enough,  we  kept  away  about 
three  points,  and  swept  directly  down  in  the  very  centre  of 
the  main  body  of  the  proas.  As  this  was  done,  the  enemy, 
taken  by  surprise,  cleared  a  way  for  us,  and  we  passed  the 
whole  of  them,  delivering  grape  and  canister  as  fast  as  we 
could  deal  it  out.  In  the  height  of  the  affair,  and  the 
thickest  of  the  smoke,  three  or  four  of  the  proas  were 
seen  quite  near  us,  attempting  to  close ;  but  I  did  not 
think  it  necessary  to  call  the  people  from  the  guns,  which 
were  worked  with  great  quickness,  and  did  heavy  execu- 
tion. I  fancy  the  pirates  found  it  hotter  than  they  liked, 
for  they  did  not  keep  on  with  us  ;  though  our  lofty  sails 
gave  us  an  advantage,  and  would  have  enabled  us  to  leave 
them,  had  they  pursued  a  different  course.  As  it  was,  wre 
were  clear  of  them  in  about  five  minutes  ;  and  the  smoke 
beginning  to  rise,  we  soon  got  a  view  of  what  had  been 
done  in  that  brief  space.  In  order  to  increase  our  dis- 
tance, however,  we  still  kept  away,  running  pretty  fast 
through  the  water. 

By  the  confusion  which  prevailed  among  the  pirates, 
the  rascals  had  been  well  peppered.  One  had  actually 
sunk,  and  five  or  six  were  round  the  spot  endeavoring  to 
pick  up  the  crew.  Three  more  had  suffered  in  their  spars, 
and  the  movements  indicated  that  all  had  enough.  As 
soon  as  satisfied  of  this,  I  hauled  the  ship  up  to  her  course, 
and  we  continued  to  leave  the  cluster  of  boats,  which  re- 
mained around  the  spot  where  their  consort  had  gone 
down.  Those  of  the  fellows  to  windward,  however,  did 
not  seem  disposer!  to  give  it  up,  but  followed  us  for  two 
hours,  by  which  time  the  rest  of  their  flotilla  were  hull 


296  AFLOAl^  AND   ASHORE. 

down.  Believing  there  was  now  plenty  of  room,  I  tacked 
to \vard  these  persevering  gentry,  when  they  went  about 
like  tops,  and  hauled  off  sharp  on  a  wind.  We  tacked 
uiice  more  to  our  course,  and  were  followed  no  further. 

The  captain  of  a  pepper  ship  afterward  told  me  that  oiu 
assailants  lost  forty-seven  men,  mostly  killed,  or  died  of 
their  hurts,  and  that  lie  had  understood  that  the  same 
officer  commanded  the  Crisis  that  had  commanded  the 
"John,"  in  her  affair,  near  the  same  spot.  We  had  some 
rigging  cut,  a  few  of  our  spars  slightly  injured,  and  two 
men  hurt,  one  of  whom  happened  to  be  Neb.  The  man 
most  hurt  died  before  we  reached  the  cape,'but  more  from 
the  want  of  surgical  assistance  than  from  the  original 
character  of  his  wound.  As  for  Neb,  he  went  to  duty 
before  we  reached  St.  Helena.  For  my  part,  I  was  sur- 
prised one  of  the  proas  did  not  get  down  his  throat,  his 
grin  being  wide  enough,  during  the  whole  affair,  to  admit 
of  the  passage  of  a  two-decker. 

We  went  into  the  island,  as  had  been  agreed,  but  no  ship 
offering,  and  none  being  expected  soon,  it  became  neces- 
sary for  my  passengers  to  continue  on  with  us  to  New 
York.  Emily  had  behaved  uncommonly  well  in  the  brush 
with  the  pirates,  and  everybody  was  glad  to  keep  her  in 
the  ship.  The  men  swore  she  brought  good  luck,  for- 
getting that  the  poor  girl  must  have  met  with  much  ill 
luck,  in  order  to  be  in  the  situation  in  which  she  was  ac- 
tually placed. 

Nothing  occurred  on  the  passage  from  St.  Helena  to 
New  York,  worthy  of  being  specially  recorded.  It  \vas 
rather  long,  but  I  cannot  say  it  was  unpleasant.  At  length 
our  reckoning  told  us  to  look  out  for  land.  The  major 
and  Emily  were  on  deck,  all  expectation,  and  ere  long  we 
heard  the  welcome  cry.  A  hazy  cloud  was  just  visible  on 
our  lee-bow.  It  grew  more  and  more  dense  and  distinct, 
until  it  showed  the  hues  and  furrows  of  a  mountain-side. 
The  low  point  of  the  Hook,  and  the  higher  land  beyond, 
then  came  in  view.  We  glided  past  the  land,  doubled  the 
Spit,  and  got  into  the  upper  bay,  just  an  hour  before  the 
sun  of  a  beautiful  day  in  June  was.  setting.  This  was  in 
the  year  of  pur  Lord  1802. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

"Drink  !  drink  !  to  whom  shall  we  drink  ? 
To  a  friend  or  a  mistress  ? — Come,  let  me  think  ! 
To  those  who  are  absent,  or  those  who  are  here  ? 
To  the  dead  that  we  loved,  or  the  living  still  dear  ? 
Alas  !  when  1  look  I  find  none  of  the  last ! 
The  present  is  barren — let's  drink  to  the  past." — PAULDING. 

THOUGH  strictly  a  Manhattanese  as  a  sailor,  T  shall  not 
run  into  rhapsody  on  the  subject  of  the  beauties  of  the 
inner  or  outer  bay  of  this  prosperous  place.  No  man  but 
one  besotted  with  provincial  conceit  could  ever  think  of 
comparing  the  harbor  of  New  York  with  the  Bay  of  Naples  ; 
nor  do  I  know  two  places,  that  have  the  same  great  ele- 
ments of  land  and  water,  that  ane  less  alike.  The  harbor 
of  New  York  is  barely  pretty — not  a  particle  more,  if  quite 
as  much  ,  while  the  Bay  of  Naples  is  almost  what  its  own- 
ers so  fondly  term  it,  "a  little  bit  of  heaven  fallen  upon 
earth."  On  the  other  hand,  however,  Naples,  as  a  haven, 
is  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  with  the  great 
American  mart,  which,  as  apart,  has  no  competitor  within 
the  circle  of  my  knowledge,  Constantinople  alone  excepted. 
I  wish  my  semi-townsmen,  the  Manhattanese,  could  be 
persuaded  of  these  facts,  as,  when  they  do  brag,  as  the 
wisest  of  mortals  sometimes  will,  they  might  brag  of  their 
strong,  and  not  of  their  weak  points,  as  is  now  too  often 
the  case. 

The  Major,  Emily,  and  myself,  stood  on  the  poop,  re- 
garding the  scene,  as  the  ship  glided  onward,  before  a  good 
southeast  breeze.  I  watched  the  countenance  of  my  com- 
panions with  interest,  for  I  had  the  nervousness  of  a  tyro 
and  a  provincial  on  the  subject  of  the  opinions  of  the 
people  of  other  lands  concerning  everything  that  affected 
my  own.  I  could  see  that  the  major  was  not  particularly 
struck  ;  and  I  was  disappointed,  then,  whatever  may  be  my 
opinion  now.  Emily  better  answered  my  hopes.  ^Vhether 
the  charming  girl  really  felt  the  vast  contrast  between  a 
view  of  the  unbroken  expanse  of  the  ocean,  and  the  scene 
before  her,  or  was  disposed  to  please  her  host,  she  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  delight.  I  let  her  understand  how 
much  I  was  gratified  ;  and  thus  our  long,  long  voyage,  and 
that,  so  far  as  degrees  of  longitude  were  concerned,  nearly 
embraced  the  circuit  of  the  earth,  may  be  said  to  have  ter- 
minated with  the  kindest  feeling. 


2gS  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

The  ship  was  off  Bedloe's,  and  the  pilot  had  begun  to 
shorten  sail,  when  a  schooner  crossed  our  fore-foot,  beating 
down.  I  had  been  too  much  occupied  with  %the  general 
movement  of  the  bay,  to  notice  one  small  craft  ;  but,  this 
vessel  happening  to  tack  quite  near  us,  I  could  not  but 
turn  my  eyes  in  her  direction.  At  that  instant  I  heard  a 
shout  from  Neb,  who -was  furling  one  of  the  royals.  It  was 
one  of  those  irrepressible  "nigger  gollies  "  that  often  escaped 
from  the  fellow  involuntarily. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  uproar,  on  the  mizzen-royal- 
yard,"  I  called  out  angrily — for  the  style  of  my  ship  had 
now  become  an  object  of  concern  with  me.  "  Keep  silence, 
sir,  or  I'll  find  a  way  to  instruct  you  in  the  art." 

"  Lord  !  masser  Mile  " — cried  the  negro,  pointing  eagerly 
toward  the  schooner — "there  go  Pretty  Poll." 

It  was  our  old  craft,  sure  enough,  and  I  hailed  her  in- 
continently. 

"Pretty  Polly,  ahoy!" 

"Halloo!" 

"  Where  are  you  bound,  sir  ;  and  when  did  that  schooner 
get  in  from  the  Pacific  ?" 

"We  are  bound  to  Martinique — the  Poll  got  home  from 
the  South  Seas  about  six  months  since.  This  is  her  third 
voyage  to  the  West  Indies  since." 

Here  then  was  the  certainty  that  the  cargo  sent  home, 
and  the  letter  with  it,  were  all  safe.  I  must  be  expected, 
and  the  owners  would  soon  hear  of  my  arrival.  We  were 
not  kept  long  in  doubt ;  for,  as  the  ship  entered  the  Hudson, 
a  boat  approached,  and  in  her  were  two  of  the  principal 
members  of  our  firm.  I  had  seen  them,  and  that  is  all  ; 
but  my  own  letters,  and  the  report  of  the  officer  who 
brought  home  the  schooner,  had  told  them  all  about  me. 
Could  Nelson,  after  his  victory  of  the  Nile,  have  walked 
into  the  King  of  England's  private  cabinet  with  the  news 
of  his  own  success,  his  reception  would  not  have  been  more 
flattering  than  that  I  now  received.  I  was  "  Captain 
Wallingforded  "  at  every  sentence  ;  and  commendations 
were  so  intermixed  with  inquiries  about  the  value  of  the 
cargo,  that  I  did  not  know  which  to  answer  first.  I  was 
invited  to  dine  the  very  next  clay  by  both  the  gentlemen  in 
the  same  breath  ;  and  when  I  raised  some  objections  con- 
nected  with  the  duty  of  the  ship,  the  invitations  were 
extended  from  day  to  day,  for  a  week.  So  very  welcome 
is  he  who  brings  us  gold  ! 

We  went  alongside  of  a  North  River  wharf,  and  had 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  299 

everything  secure  just  as  the  sun  was  setting.  The  people 
were  then  allowed  to  go  ashore  for  the  night.  Not  a  sou1 
of  them  asked  for  a  dollar,  but  the  men  walked  up  the 
wharf  attended  by  a  circle  of  admiring  landlords,  that  put 
them  all  above  want.  The  sailor  who  has  three  years'  pay 
under  his  lee,  is  a  sort  of  Rothschild  on  Jack's  Exchange. 
All  the  harpies  about  our  lads  knew  that  the  Crisis  and  her 
teas,  etc.,  were  hypothecated  to  meet  their  own  ten  and 
twenty  dollar  advances. 

I  dressed  myself  hurriedly,  and  ordered  Neb  to  imitate 
my  example.  One  of  the  owners  had  kindly  volunteered 
to  see  Major  Merton  and  Emily  to  a  suitable  residence, 
with  an  alacrity  that  surprised  me.  But  the  influence  of 
England  and  Englishmen,  in  all  America,  was  exceed- 
ingly great  forty  years  since.  This  was  still  more  true  in 
New  York  than'in  the  country  generally,  and  a  half-pay 
English  major  was  a  species  of  nobleman  among  the  bet- 
ter sort  of  Manhattanese  of  that  day.  How  many  of  these 
quasi  lords  have  I  seen,  whose  patents  of  nobility  were 
merely  the  commissions  of  captains  and  lieutenants  signed 
by  the  majesty  of  England  !  In  that  day — it  is  nonsense 
to  deny  it — the  man  who  had  served  against  the  country, 
provided  he  was  a  "  British  officer,"  was  a  better  man  than 
he  who  had  served  in  our  own  ranks.  This  was  true,  how 
ever,  only  as  regarded  society ;  the  ballot-boxes,  and  the 
people,  giving  very  different  indications  of  their  sentiments 
on  such  subjects.  Nor  is.  this  result,  so  far  as  New  York 
was  concerned,  as  surprising  as  at  first  sight  it  may  pos- 
sibly appear.  Viewed  as  a  class,  the  gentry  of  New  York 
took  sides  with  the  crown.  It  is  true,  that  the  portion  of 
this  gentry  which  might  almost  be  called  baronial — it  was 
strictly  manorial — was  pretty  equally  divided,  carrying 
with  them  their  collaterals  ;  but  the  larger  portion  of  this 
entire  class  of  the  ttite  of  society  took  sides  with  the  crown, 
and  the  peace  of  1783  found  no  small  part  of  them  in  pos- 
session of  their  old  social  stations,  the  confiscations  affect- 
ing few  beyond  the  most  important  and  the  richest  of  the 
delinquents.  I  can  give  an  instance  within  my  own  im- 
mediate knowledge  of  the  sort  of  justice  of  these  confisca- 
tions. 

The  head  of  one  of  the  most  important  of  all  the  colo- 
nial families  was  a  man  of  indolent  habits,  and  was  much 
indisposed  to  any  active  pursuits.  This  gentleman  was 
enormously  rich,  and  his  estates  were  confiscated  and  sold. 
Now  this  attainted  traitor  had  a  younger  brother  who  was 


300  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

actually  serving  in  the  British  army  in  America,  his  regi< 
ment  sharing  in  the  battles  of  Bunker  Hill,  Brandy  wine, 
Monmouth,  etc.  But  the  major  was  a  younger  son,  and 
in  virtue  of  that  republican  merit,  he  escaped  the  conse- 
quences of  his  adhesion  to  the  service  of  the  crown,  and 
after  the  Revolution  the  cadet  returned  to  his  native  coun- 
try, took  quiet  possession  of  a  property  of  no  inconsiderable 
amount ;  while  his  senior  passed  his  days  in  exile,  paying 
the  bitter  penalty  of  being  rich  in  a  revolution.  It  was  a 
consequence  of  the  peculiarities  first  mentioned,  that  the 
Manhattanese  society  set  so  high  a  value  on  English  con- 
nection. They  still  admired,  as  the  provincial  only  can 
admire,  and  they  worshipped,  as  the  provincials  worship  ; 
or,  at  a  safe  distance.  The  strange  medley  of  truth,  cant, 
selfishness,  sophistry,  and  good  faith,  that  founded  the 
political  hostility  to  the  movements  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, had  as  ardent  believers  in  this  country  as  it  had  in 
England  itself ;  and  this  contributed  to  sustain  the  sort  of 
feeling  I  have  described.  Of  the  fact  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  as  any  one  will  testify  who  knew  New  York  society 
forty  years  ago. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  Major  Merton  and  Emily  fared 
well  on  their  sudden  arrival  in  the  country.  Some  ro- 
mance, moreover,  was  attached  to  their  adventures  ;  and  I 
had  no  great  reason  to  give  myself  any  anxiety  on  their 
account.  There  was  little  doubt  of  their  soon  being  much 
more  at  home  than  I  could  hope  to  be,  though  in  my 
native  land. 

Neb  soon  reported  himself  ready  for  shore-duty,  and  I 
ordered  him  to  follow  me.  It  Vvas  my  intention  to  proceed 
to  the  counting-house  of  the  owners  to  receive  some  letters 
that  awaited  me,  and  after  writing  short  answers,  to  de- 
spatch the  black  at  once  to  Clawbonny  with  the  intelligence 
of  my  return.  In  1802,  the  Battery  was  the  court-end  of 
the  town,  and  it  was  a  good  deal  frequented  by  the  bettcr 
classes,  particularly  at  the  hour  at  which  I  was  now  about 
to  cross  it.  I  have  never  returned  from  a  voyage,  especially 
to  Europe,  without  being  particularly  struck  with  two 
things  in  the  great  Western  Emporium — since  the  common 
councils  and  the  editors  insist  on  the  word — viz.,  the  pro- 
vincial appearance  of  everything  that  meets  the  eye,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  younger  females  ;  meaning,  however,  by 
the  last,  the  true,  native  portion  of  the  population,  and  not 
the  throng  from  Ireland  and  Germany  who  now  crowd  the 
streets,  and  who,  certainly,  as  a  body,  are  not  in  the  lea^t 


AFLOAT  AND  ASH0KE.  301 

remarkable  for  personal  charms.  But  an  American  can 
tell  an  American  man  or  woman  as  soon  as  he  lays  eyes  on 
either  ;  and  there  were  few  besides  native  girls  on  the  Bat- 
tery at  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing.  As  there  were 
many  children  taking  their  evening  walk,  and  black  ser- 
vants were  far  more  common  than  now,  Neb  had  his  share 
of  delights,  too,  and  I  heard  him  exclaim  "  Golly ! "  twice, 
before  we  reached  the  centre  "of  the  Battery.  This  ex^ 
clamation  escaped  him  on  passing  as  many  sable  Venuses, 
each  of  whom  bridled  up  at  the  fellow's  admiration,  and, 
doubtless  was  as  much  offended  as  the  sex  is  apt  to  be  on 
such  occasions.  „ 

I  must  have  passed  twenty  young  women  that  evening, 
either  of  whom  would  induce  a  youth  to  turn  around  and 
look  again  ;  and,  for  the  moment,  I  forgot  my  errand. 
Neither  Neb  nor  I  was  in  any  hurry.  We  were  strolling 
along,  in  this  manner,  gazing  right  and  left,  when  a  party 
approached,  under  the  trees,  that  drew  all  my  attention  to 
itself.  In  front  walked  a  young  man  and  young  woman, 
who  were  dressed  simply,  but  with  a  taste  that  denoted 
persons  of  the  better  class.  The  former  was  remarkable 
for  nothing,  unless  it  might  be  a  rattling  vivacity,  of  which 
large  doses  were  administered  to  his  fair  companion,  who, 
seemingly,  swallowed  it  less  reluctantly  than  doses  of 
another  sort  are  so  often  received.  At  least,  I  thought  so 
while  the  two  were  at  a  distance,  by  the  beautiful  glistening 
teeth  that  were  shining  like  my  own  spotless  pearls,  be- 
tween lips  of  coral.  The  air>  beauty,  figure,  and,  indeed, 
all  connected  with  this  singularly  lovely  young  creature, 
struck  my  imagination  at  once.  It  was  not  so  much  her 
beauty,  though  that  was  decided  and  attractive,  as  the 
admixture  of  feminine  delicacy  with  blooming  health  ;  the 
walk,  so  natural,  and  yet  so  full  of  lightness  and  grace  ; 
the  laugh,  so  joyous,  and  still  so  quiet  and  suited  to  her 
sex  ;  and  the  entire  air  and  mrtnner,  which  denote'd  equally 
buoyant  health  and  happiness,  the  gracefulness  of  one  who 
thought  not  of  herself,  and  the  refinement  which  is  quite 
as  much  the  gift  of  native  sentiment  as  the  fruit  of  art  and 
association.  I  could  not  tell  what  her  companion  was 
saying  ;  but  as  they  approached,  I  fancied  them  acknowl- 
edged lovers,  on  whom  fortune,  friends,  and  circumstances 
smiled  alike.  A  glance  aside  told  me  that  even  Neb  was 
struck  by  the  being  before  him,  and  that  he  had  ceased 
looking  at  the  sable  Venuses,  to  gaze  at  this. 

I  could  not  keep  my  gaze  off  the  face  of  this  lovely  creat- 


302  AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE. 

ure,  who  did  not  let  me  get  a  good  look  of  her  dark-blue 
eyes,  however,  until  I  was  quite  near,  when  they  were  nat- 
urally turned  toward  the  form  that  approached.  For  a 
few  seconds,  while  in  the  very  act  of  passing,  we  looked 
intently  at  each  other,  and  the  charm  said  to  be  possessed  by 
certain  animals,  was  not  more  powerful  than  was  our  mutual 
gaze.  In  this  manner  we  had  actually  passed  each  other, 
and  I  was  still  in  a  sort  of  mystified  trance,  when  I  heard 
suddenly,  in  a  voice  and  tone  that  caused  every  nerve  to 
thrill  within  me,  the  single  word — 

"  Miles ! " 

Turning,  and  taking  anotherjook,  it  was  impossible  any 
longer  to  mistake.  Lucy  Hardinge  stood  before  me,  trem- 
bling, uncertain,  her  face  now  pale  as  death,  now  flushed 
to  scarlet,  her  hands  clasped,  her  look  doubting,  eager, 
shrinking,  equally  denoting  hope  and  fear,  and  all  so 
blended,  as  to  render  her  the  most  perfect  picture  of  fe- 
male truth,  feeling,  diffidence,  and  natural  modesty  I  had 
ever  beheld. 

"  Lucy,  is  it — can  it  be  possible  ?  It  is,  then,  jw,  I  thought 
so  gloriously  beautiful,  and  that  without  knowing  you,  too  ? " 

I  take  it  for  granted,  had  I  studied  a  week,  I  should  not 
have  composed  a  more  grateful  salutation  than  this,  which 
burst  forth  in  a  way  that  set  all  the  usual  restraints  of 
manners  at  defiance.  Of  course,  I  felt  bound  to  go  through 
with  the  matter  as  prosperously  as  I  had  commenced,  and 
in  spite  of  the  publicity  of  the  place,  in  spite  of  half  a 
dozen  persons,  who  heard  what  passed,  and  had  turned, 
smiling,  to  see  what  would  come  next ;  in  spite  of  the 
grave-looking  gentleman  who  had  so  lately  been  all  vivacity 
and  gayety,  I  advanced,  folded  the  dear  girl  to  my  heart, 
and  gave  her  such  a  kiss,  as  I'll  take  upon  myself  to  say, 
she  had  never  before  received.  Sailors,  usually,  do  not 
perform  such  things  by  halves,  and  I  never  was  more  in 
earnest  in  my  life.  Such  a  salutation,  from  a  young  fellow 
who  stood  rather  more  than  six  feet  in  his  stockings,  had 
a  pair  of  whiskers  that  had  come  all  the  wray  from  the 
Pacific  with  very  little  trimming,  and  who  possessed  a 
manliness  about  him  of  which  mere  walking  up  and  down 
Broadway  would  have  robbed  a  young  Hercules,  had  the 
effect  to  cover  poor  Lucy  with  blushes  and  confusion. 

"There — that  will  do,  Miles,"  she  said,  struggling  to  get 
free  ;  "  a  truce,  I  pray  you.  See,  yonder  are  Grace  and 
my  father,  and  Rupert." 

There  they  were,  sure  enough,  the  whole  family  having 


AFLOAT  AXD   ASHORE.  303 

come  out,  to  tak'e  a  walk,  in  company  with  a  certain  Mr. 
Andrew  Drewett,  a  young  gentleman  who  was  a  fellow- 
student  of  Rupert's,  and  who,  as  I  afterward  ascertained, 
was  a  pretty  open  admirer  of  Rupert's  sister.  There  was  a 
marked  difference  in  the  manner  in  which  I  was  received 
by  Grace  and  Lucy.  The  first  exclaimed  "  Miles  !  "  pre- 
cisely as  the  last  had  exclaimed  ;  her  color  heightened,  and 
tears  forced  themselves  into  her  eyes,  but  she  could  not  be 
said  to  blush.  Instead  of  first  manifesting  an  eagerness  to 
meet  my  salute,  and  then  shrinking  sensitively  from  it,  she 
flung  her  delicate  arms  round  my  neck,  without  the  slight- 
est reserve,  both  arms  too,  kissed  me  six  or  eight  times 
without  stopping,  and  then  began  to  sob,  as  if  her  heart 
would  break.  The  spectators,  who  saw  in  all  this  the 
plain,  honest,  natural,  undisguised  affection  of  a  sister,  had 
the  good  taste  to  walk  on,  though  I  could  see  that  their 
countenances  sympathized  with  so  happy  a  family  meeting. 
I  had  but  a  moment  to  press  Grace  to  my  heart,  before 
Mr.  Hardinge's  voice  drew  my  attention  to  him.  The  good 
old  man  forgot  that  I  was  two  inches  taller  than  he  was 
himself  ;  that  I  could,  with  ease,  have  lifted  him  from  the 
earth,  and  carried  him  in  my  arms,  as  if  he  were  an  infant ; 
that  I  was  bronzed  by  a  long  voyage,  and  had  Pacific 
Ocean  whiskers  ;  for  he  caressed  me  as  if  I  had  been  a 
child,  kissed  me  quite  as  often  as  Grace  had  done,  blessed" 
me  aloud,  and  then  gave  way  to  his  tears,  as  freely  as  both 
the  girls.  But  for  this  burst  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  a 
gray-headed  old  clergyman,  I  am  afraid  our  scene  would 
not  altogether  have  escaped  ridicule.  As  it  was,  however, 
this  saved  us.  Clergymen  were  far  more  respected  in  Amer- 
ica forty  years  ago,  than  they  are  to-day,  though  I  think 
they  have  still  as  much  consideration  here  as  in  most  other 
countries  ;  and  the  general  respect  felt  for  the  class  would 
have  insured  us  from  any  manifestations  of  the  sort,  with- 
out the  nature  and  emotion  which  came  in  its  aid.  As  for 
myself,  I  was  glad  to  take  refuge  in  Rupert's  hearty  but 
less  sentimental  shake  of  the  hand.  After  this,  we  all 
sought  a  seat,  in  a  less  public  spot,  and  were  soon  suf- 
ficiently composed  to  converse.  As  for  the  gentleman 
named  Drewett,  he  waited  long  enough  to  inquire  of 
Lucy  who  I  was,  and  then  he  had  sufficient  tact  to  wish 
us  all  good  evening.  I  overheard  .  the  little  dialogue 
which  produced  this  explanation. 

"  A  close  friend,  if  not  a  near  relation,  Miss  Hardinge  ?" 
he  observed,  inquiringly. 


304  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  answered  the  smiling,  weeping  girl,  with 
the  undisguised  truth  of  her  honest  nature,  "  both  friend 
and  relative." 

"  May  I  presume  to  ask  the  name  ? " 

"The  name,  Mr.  Drewett !  Why,  it  is  Miles — dear 
Miles — you  surely  have  heard  us  speak  of  Miles — but  I 
forget;  you  never  were  at  Clawbonny.  Is 'it  not  a  most 
joyful  surprise,  dearest,  dearest  Grace  ? " 

Mr.  Andrew  Drewett  waited,  I  thought,  with  most  com- 
mendable patience  for  Grace  to  squeeze  Lucy's  hand,  and 
to  murmur  her  own  "felicitations  when  he  ventured  to  add — 

"  You  were  about  to  say  something,  Miss  Hardinge  ?" 

"  Was  I — I  declare  I  have  forgotten  what  it  was.  Such 
a  surprise — such  a  joyful,  blessed  surprise — I  beg  pardon, 
Mr.  Drewett — ah  !  I  remember  now  ;  I  was  about  to  say 
that  this  is  Mr.  Miles  Wallingford,  of  Clawbonny,  the  gen- 
tleman who  is  my  father's  ward — Grace's  brother,  you 
know." 

''And  how  related  to  yourself,  Miss  Hardinge  ?"  the 
gentleman  continued,  a  little  perseveringly. 

"  To  me  !  Oh  !  very,  very  near — that  is — I  forget  so 
much  this  evening — why,  not  at  all." 

It  was  at  this  moment  Mr.  Drewett  saw  fit  to  make  his 
parting  salutations  with  studied  decorum,  and  to  take  his 
leave  in  a  manner  so  polite,  that,  though  tempted,  I  could 
not,  just  at  the  moment,  stop  the  current  of  my  feelings 
to  admire.  No  one  seemed  to  miss  him,  however,  and  we 
five,  who  remained,  were  soon  seated  in  the  spot  I  have 
mentioned,  and  as  much -abstracted  from  the  scene  around 
us,  as  if  we  had  been  on  the  rustic  bench,  under  the  old 
elm  on  the  lawn — if  I  dare  use  so  fine  a  word  for  so  un- 
pretending a  place — at  Clawbonny.  I  had  my  station  be- 
tween Mr.  Hardinge  and  Grace,  while  Lucy  sat  next  her 
father,  and  Rupert  next  to  my  sister.  My  friend  could  see 
me,  without  difficulty,  owing  to  his  "stature,  while  I  saw 
the  glistening  eyes  of  Lucy,  riveted  on  my  face,  as,  lean- 
ing on  her  -father's  knee,  she  bent  her  graceful  form  for- 
ward, in  absorbed  attention. 

"  We  expected  you  ;  we  have  not  been  taken  altogether  by 
surprise  ! "  exclaimed  good  Mr.  Hardinge,  clapping  his 
hand  on  my  shoulder,  as  if  to  say  he  could  now  begin  to 
treat  me  like  a  man.  "  I  consented  to  come  down,  just  at 
this  moment,  because  the  last  Canton  ship  that  arrived 
brought  the  intelligence  that  the  Crisis  was  to  sail  in  ten 
days." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  305 

"  And  you  may  judge  of  our  surprise,"  said  Rupert, 
"when  we  read  the  report  in  the  papers,  *  The  Crisis,  Cap- 
tain Walling  ford."  " 

"  I  suppose  my  letters  from  the  island  had  prepared  you 
for  this,"  I  observed. 

"  In  them,  you  spoke  of  Mr.  Marble,  and  I  naturally 
concluded,  when  it  came  to  the  pinch,  the  man  would  re- 
sume the  command,  and  bring  the  ship  home.  Duty  to 
the  owners  would  be  apt  to  induce  him." 

"  He  did  not,"  I  answered,  a  little  proudly  perhaps,  for- 
getting poor  Marble's  probable  situation  for  an  instant,  in 
my  own  vanity.  "Mr.  Marble  understood  well,  that  if  I 
knew  nothing  else,  I  knew  how  to  take  care  of  a  ship." 

"  So  it  seems,  my  dear  boy,  indeed,  so  it  doth  seem  !  " 
said  Mr.  Hardinge,  kindly.  "  I  hear  from  all  quarters, 
your  conduct  commended  ;  and  the  recovery  of  the  vessel 
from  the  French,  was  really  worthy  of  Truxtun  himself." 

At  that  day,  Truxtun  was  the  great  gun  of  American 
naval  idolatry,  and  had  as  much  local  reputation,  as  Nel- 
son himself  enjoyed  in  England.  The  allusion  was  a  sore 
assault  on  my  modesty ;  but  I  got  along  with  it,  as  well  as 
I  could. 

•"  I  endeavored  to  do  my  duty,  sir,"  I  answered,  trying 
not  to  look  at  Lucy,  and  seem  meek  ;  "and  it  would  have 
been  a  terrible  disgrace  to  have  come  home,  and  been 
obliged  to  say  the  French  got  the  ship  from  us  when  we 
were  all  asleep." 

"  But  you  took  a  ship  from  the  French,  in  that  manner, 
and  kept  her  too  !  "  said  a  soft  voice,  every  intonation  of 
which  was  music  to  me. 

I  looked  round  and  saw  the  speaking  eyes  of  Lucy, 
just  clear  of  the  gray  coat  of  her  father,  behind  which 
she  instinctively  shrank,  the  instant  she  caught  my 
glance. 

"Yes,"  I  answered,  "we  did  something  of  that  sort, 
and  were  a  little  more  fortunate  than  our  enemies.  But, 
you  will  recollect,  we  were  much  favored  by  the  complai- 
sance of  poor  Monsieur  Le  Compte,  in  leaving  us  a 
schooner  to  work  our  mischief  in." 

"  I  have  always  thought  that  part  of  your  story.  Miles,  a 
little  extraordinary,"  observed  Mr.  Hardinge  ;  u  though  I 
suppose  this  Frenchman's  liberality  was,  in  some  meas- 
ure, a  matter  of  necessity,  out  there,  in  the  middle  of  the 
Pacific." 

"  I  hardly  think  you  do  Captain  Le  Compte  justice,  sir. 

20 


306  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

He  was  a  chivalrous  fellow,  and  every  way  a  gallant  sea- 
man. It  is  possible,  he  was  rather  more  in  a  hurry  than 
he  might  have  been,  but  for  his  passengers — that  is  all — 
at  least,  I  have  always  suspected  that  the  wish  to  have 
Miss  Merton  all  to  himself,  induced  him  to  get  rid  of  us  as 
soon  as  possible.  He  evidently  admired  her,  and  could 
have  been  jealous  of  a  dead-eye." 

"  Miss  Merton  !"  exclaimed  Grace.     "  Jealous  !" 

"Miss  Merton!"  put  in  Rupert,  leaning  forward  curi- 
ously. 

"Miss  Merton  !  And  jealous  of  dead-eyes,  and  wishing 
to  get  rid  of  us!"  said  Mr.  Hardinge,  smiling.  "Pray 
who  is  Miss  Merton  ?  and  who  are  the  us  ?  and  what  are 
the  dead-eyes  ?" 

Lucy  was  silent. 

"  Why,  sir,  I  thought  I  wrote  you  all  about  the  Mertons. 
How  we  met  them  in  London,  and  then  found  them  pris- 
oners to  Monsieur  Le  Compte,  and  that  I  intended  to  carry 
them  to  Canton  in  the  Crisis  ?" 

"  You  told  us  some  of  this,  .certainly  ;  but  though  you 
may  have  written  *  all  about '  a  Major  Merton,  you  forgot 
to  tell  us  '  about  air  the  Mertons.  This  is  the  first  syllable 
I  have  ever  had  about  a  Miss  Merton.  How  is  1t,  girls — 
did  Miles  speak  of  any  one  but  the  major  in  his  letters?" 

"  Not  a  syllable  to  me,  sir,  of  any  young  lady,  I  can  as- 
sure you,"  replied  Grace,  laughing.  "  How  was  it  to  you, 
Lucy  ? " 

"Of  course  he  would  not  tell  me  that  which  he  thought 
fit  to  conceal  from  his  own  sister,"  said  Lucy,  in  a  low 
voice. 

"It  is  odd  I  should  have  forgotten  to  mention  her."  I 
cried,  endeavoring  to  laugh  it  off.  "  Young  men  do  not 
often  forget  to  write  about  young  ladies." 

"  This  Miss  Merton  is  young,  then,  brother  ?  " 

"  About  your  own  age,  Grace." 

"  And  handsome — and  agreeable — and  accomplished  ? " 

"  Something  like  yourself,  my  dear." 

"But  handsome,  I  take  it  for  granted,  Miles,"  observed 
Mr.  Hardinge,  "  by  the  manner  in  which  you  have  omitted 
to  speak  of  her  charms,  in  your  letters  !  " 

"  Why,  sir,  I  think  most  persons,  that  is  the  world  in 
general,  I  mean  such  as  are  not  overfastidious,  would  con- 
sider Miss  Merton  particularly  handsome  ;  agreeable  in. 
person  and  features,  I  would  be  understood  to  say." 

"  Oh  !  you  are   sufficiently  explicit  ;  everybody  can   un- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASH  OR  A.  307 

derstand  you,"  added  my  laughing  guardian,  who  had  no 
more  thought  of  getting  me  married  to  his  own  daughter 
than  to  a  German  princess  of  a  hundred  and  forty-five 
quarterings,  if  there  are  any  such  things;  "some  other 
time  we  will  have  th£  particulars  of  her  eyes,  hair,  teeth, 
etc.,  etc." 

"  Oh  !  sir,  you  may  save  me  the  trouble  by  looking  at 
her  yourself,  to-morrow,  since  she  and  her  father  are  both 
here." 

"  Here  !  "  exclaimed  all  four  in  a  breath  ;  Lucy's  extreme 
surprise  extorting  the  monosyllable  from  her  reserve  even 
a  little  louder  than  from  the  rest. 

"  Certainly,  here  ;  father,  daughter,  and  servants.  I  dare 
say  I  omitted  to  speak  of  the  servants  in  my  letters,  too, 
but  a  poor  fellow  who  has  a  great  deal  to  do  cannot  think 
of  everything  in  a  minute.  Major  Merton  has  a  touch  of 
the  liver-complaint,  and  it  would  not  do  to  leave  him  in  a 
warm  climate.  So,  no  other  chance  offering,  he  is  pro- 
ceeding to  England,  by  the  way  of  America." 

"  And  how  long  had  you  these  people  on  board  your 
ship,  Miles  ?  "  Grace  asked,  a  little  gravely. 

"Actually  on  board  with  myself,  about  nine  months,  I 
should  think  ;  but  including  the  time  in  London,  at  Canton, 
and  on  the  island,  I  should  call  our  acquaintance  one  of 
rather  more  than  a  year's  standing." 

"  Long  enough,  certainly,  to  make  a  young  lady  suffi- 
ciently obvious  to  a  young  gentleman's  memory,  not  to  be 
forgotten  in  his  letters." 

After  this  pointed  speech  there  was  a  silence,  which  Mr. 
Ilardinge  broke  by  some  questions  about  the  passage  home 
from  Canton.  As  it  was  getting  cool  on  the  Battery,  how- 
ever, we  all  moved  away,  proceeding  to  Mrs.  Bradfort's. 
This  lady,  as  I  afterward  discovered,  was  much  attached 
to  Lucy,  and  had  insisted  on  giving  her  these  opportunities 
of  seeing  the  world.  She  was  quite  at  her  ease  in  her  cir 
cumstances,  and  belonged  to  a  circle  a  good  deal  superior 
to  that  into  which  Grace  and  myself  could  have  claimed 
admission  in  right  of  our  own  social  position.  Lucy  had 
been  well  received  as  her  relative,  and  as  a  clergyman's 
daughter,  _and  Grace  on  her  own  account,  as  I  afterward 
learned.  It  would  be  attaching  too  much  credit  to  Claw- 
bonny  to  say  that  either  of  the  girls  had  not  improved  by 
this  association,  though  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  make 
Grace  more  feminine  and  lady-like  than  she  had  been  made 
by  nature.  The  effect  on  Lucy  was  simply  to  put  a  little 


.  3o8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

reserve  on  her  native  frankness  and  sturdy  honesty ; 
though  candor  compels  me  to  say,  that  mingling  with  the 
world,  and  especially  the  world  to  which  they  had  been  in- 
troduced by  Mrs.  Bradfort,  had  certainly  increased  the  na- 
tive charm  of  manner  that  each  possessed.  I  began  to 
think  Emily  Merton,  so  far  from  possessing  any  advantage 
over  the  two  girls,  might  now  improve  a  little  herself  by 
associating  with  them. 

At  the  house,  I  had  to  tell  my  whole  story,  and  to  answer 
a  multitude  of  questions.  Not  a  syllable  more  was  said 
about  Miss  Merton  ;  and  even  Lucy  had  smiles  to  bestow 
and  remarks  to  make,  as  before.  When  we  got  to  the 
lights  where  the  girls  could  remove  their  shawls  and  hats, 
I  made  each  of  them  stand  before  me,  in  order  to  ascertain 
how  much  time  had  altered  them.  Grace  was  now  nine- 
teen ;  and  Lucy  was  only  six  months  her  junior.  The 
greatest  change  was  in  the  latter.  Her  form  had  ripened 
into  something  as  near  as  possible  to  girlish  perfection. 
In  this  respect  she  had  the  advantage  of  Grace,  who  was  a 
little  too  slight  and  delicate  ;  whereas  Lucy,  without  any 
of  the  heaviness  that  so  often  accompanies  a  truly  rounded 
person,  and  which  was  perhaps  a  slight  defect  in  Emily 
Merton's  figure,  was  without  an  angle  of  any  sort,  in  her 
entire  outline.  Grace,  always  so  handsome,  and  so  intel- 
lectual in  the  expression  of  her  countenance,  had  improved 
less  in  this  respect  than  Lucy,  whose  eyes  had  obtained  a 
tenderness  and  feeling-  that  rendered  them,  to  me,  even 
more  attractive  than  those  of  my  own  dear  sister.  In  a 
word,  any  man  might  have  been  proud,  at  finding  two  such 
admirable  creatures  interested  in  him,  as  interested,  every 
look,  smile,  syllable,  and  gesture  of  these  girls,  denoted 
they  were  in  me. 

All  this  time,  Neb  had  been  overlooked.  He  had  fol- 
lowed us  to  the  house,  however,  and  was  already  engaged 
in  a  dark-colored  flirtation  with  a  certain  Miss  Chloe  Claw- 
bonny,  his  own  second  cousin,  in  the  kitchen  ;  a  lady  who 
had  attracted  a  portion  of  his  admiration,  before  we  sailed, 
and  who  had  accompanied  her  young  mistress  to  town. 
As  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  the  fellow  was  below,  Lucy, 
who  was  quite  at  home  in  her  kinswoman's  house,  insisted 
on  his  being  introduced.  I  saw  by  the  indulgent  smile  of 
Mrs.  Bradfort,  that  Lucy  was  not  exceeding  her  conceded 
privileges,  and  Neb  was  ordered  up,  forthwith.  Never 
was  there  a  happier  fellow  than  this  "  nigger"  appeared  to 
be,  on  that  occasion.  He  kept  rolling  his  tarpaulin  be- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHOXE. 


309 


tween  his  fingers,  shifting  his  weight  from  leg  to  leg,  and 
otherwise  betraying  the  confusion  of  one  questioned  by  his 
betters  ;  for,  in  that  day,  a  negro  was  ready  enough  to  allow 
he  had  his  betters,  and  did' not  feel  he  was  injured  in  so 
doing.  At  the  present  time,  I  am  well  aware  that  the  word 
is  proscribed  even  in  the  State's  Prisons  ;  everybody  being 
just  as  good  as  everybody  else  ;  though  some  have  the 
misfortune  to  be  sentenced  to  hard  labor,  while  others  are 
permitted  to  go  at  large.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  se- 
lections made  through  the  ballot-boxes,  only  go  to  prove 
that  "one  man  is  as  good  as  another." 

Our  party  did  not  separate  until  quite  late.  Suppers 
were  eaten  in  1802  ;  and  I  was  invited  to  sit  down  with  the 
rest  of  the  family,  and  a  gay  set  we  were.  It  was  then  the 
fashion  to  drink  toasts  ;  gentlemen  giving  ladies,  and  ladies 
gentlemen.  The  usage  was  singular,  but  very  general  ; 
more  especially  in  the  better  sort  of  houses.  We  men 
drank  our  wine,  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  while  the  ladies 
sipped  theirs,  in  that  pretty  manner  in  which  females 
moisten  their  lips,  on  such  occasions.  After  a  time,  Mrs. 
Bradfort,  who  was  very  particular  in  the  observance  of 
forms,  gayly  called  on  Mr.  Hardinge  for  his  toast. 

"  My  dear  Mrs,  Bradfort,"  said  the  divine,  good-humor- 
edly,  "if  it  were  not  in  your  own  house,  and  contrary  to 
all  rule  to  give  a  person  who  is  present,  I  certainly  should 
drink  to  yourself.  Bless  me,  bless  me,  whom  shall  I  give  ? 
I  suppose  I  shall  not  be  permitted  to  give  our  new  bishop, 
Dr.  Moore  ? " 

The  cry  of  "  No  bishop  ! "  was  even  more  unanimous 
than  it  is  at  this  moment,  among  those  who,  having  all 
their  lives  dissented  from  episcopal  authority,  fancy  it  an 
evidence  of  an  increasing  influence  to  join  in  a  clamor 
made  by.  their  own  voices  ;  and  this,  moreover,  on  a  subject 
that  not  one  in  a  hundred  among  them  has  given  himself 
the  trouble  even  to  skim.  Our  opposition — in  which  Mr?. 
Bradfort  joined,  by  the  way — was  of  a  very  different  niK- 
ure,  however  ;  proceeding  from  a  desire  to  learn  what  lady 
Mr.  Hardinge  could  possibly  select,  at  such  a  moment. 
I  never  saw  the  old  gentleman  so  confused  before.  He 
laughed,  tried  to  dodge  the  appeal,  fidgeted,  and  at  last 
fairly  blushed.  All  this  proceeded,  not  from  any  prefer- 
ence for  any  particular  individual  of  the  sex,  but  from 
natural  diffidence,  the  perfect  simplicity  and  nature  of  his 
character,  which  caused  him  to  be  abashed  at  even  appear- 
ing to  select  a  female  for  a  toast.  It  was  a  beautiful  pict- 


310  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

ure  of  masculine  truth  and  purity  !  Still,  we  would  not 
be  put  off  ;  and  the  old  gentleman,  composing  his  counte- 
nance five  or  six  times  in  vain  efforts  to  reflect,  then  look- 
ing as  grave  as  if  about  to  proceed  to  prayer,  raised  his 
glass,  and  said — 

"  Peggy  Perott  !  " 

A  general  laugh  succeeded  this  announcement,  Peggy 
Perott  being  an  old  maid  who  went  about  tending  the  sick 
for  hire,  in  the  vicinity  of  Clawbonny,  and  known  to  us  all 
as  the  ugliest  woman  in  the  country. 

"  Why  do  you  first  insist  on  my  giving  a  toast,  and  then 
laugh  at  it  when  given  ?  "  cried  Mr.  Hardinge,  half  amused, 
half  serious  in  his  expostulations.  "  Peggy  is  an  excellent 
woman,  and  one  of  the  most  useful  I  know." 

"  I  wonder,  my  dear  sir,  you  did  not  think  of  adding  a 
sentiment  !  "  cried  I,  a  little  pertly. 

"  And  if  I  had,  it  would  have  been  such  a  one  as  no 
woman  need  be  ashamed  to  hear  attached  to  her  name. 
But  enough  of  this  ;  I  have  given  Peggy  Perott,  and  you 
are  bound  to  drink  her," — that  we  had  done  already,  "  and 
now,  cousin,  as  I  have  passed  through  the  fiery  furnace — " 

"Unscathed?"  demanded  Lucy,  laughing  ready  to  kill 
herself. 

"Yes,  unscathed,  miss:  and  now,  cousin,  I  ask  of  you  to 
honor  us  with  a  toast." 

Mrs.  Bradfort  had  been  a  widow  many  years,  and  was 
fortified  with  the  panoply  of  her  state.  Accustomed  to 
such  appeals,  which,  when  she  was  young  and  handsome, 
had  been  of  much  more  frequent  occurrence  than  of  late, 
she  held  her  glass  for  the  wine  with  perfect  self-possession, 
and  gave  her  toast  with  the  conscious  dignity  of  one  who 
had  often  been  solicited  in  vain  "  to  change  her  condition." 

"I  will  give  you,"  she  said,  raising  her  person  and  her 
voice,  as  if  to  invite  scrutiny,  "  my  dear  old  friend,  good 
Dr.  Wilson." 

It  was  incumbent  on  a  single  person  to  give  another 
who  was  also  single  ;  and  the  widow  had  been  true  to  the 
usage  ;  but  "good  Dr.  Wilson  "  was  a  half  superannuated 
clergyman,  whom  no  one  could  suspect  of  inspiring  any- 
thing beyond  friendship. 

"Dear  me — dear  me!"  cried  Mr.  Hardinge,  earnestly; 
"how  much  more  thoughtful,  Mrs.  Bradfort,  you  are  than 
myself  !  Had  I  thought  a  moment,  7  might  have  given 
the  Doctor ;  for  I  studied  with  him,  and  honor  him  vastly." 

This  touch  of  simplicity  produced  another  laugh — how 


A  FLO  A  7*  AND  ASHORE.  311 

easily  we  all  laughed  that  night ! — and  it  caused  a  little 
more  confusion  in  the  excellent  divine.  Mrs.  Bradfort 
then  called  on  me,  as  was  her  right  ;  but  I  begged  that 
Rupert  might  precede  me,  he  knowing  more  persons,  and 
being  now  a  sort  of  man  of  the  world. 

"  I  will  give  the  charming  Miss  Winthrop,"  said  Rupert, 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,  tossing  off  his  glass  with 
an  air  that  said,  "how  do  you  like  that?" 

As  Winthrop  was  a  highly  respectable  name,  it  denoted 
the  set  in  which  Rupert  moved  ;•  and  as  for  the  young  lady, 
I  dare  say  she  merited  his  eulogium,  though  I  never  hap- 
pened to  see  her.  It  was  something,  however,  in  1802,  for 
a  youngster  to  dare  to  toast  a  Winthrop,  or  a  Morris,  or  a 
Livingston,  or  a  De  Lancey,  or  a  Stuyvesant,  or  a  Beek- 
man,  or  a  Van  Renssellaer,  or  a  Schuyler,  or  a  Rutherford, 
or  a  Bayard,  or  a  Watts,  or  a  Van  Cortlandt,  or  a  Ver- 
planck,  or  a  Jones,  or  a  Walton,  or  any  of  that  set.  They, 
and  twenty  similar  families,  composed  the  remnant  of  the 
colonial  aristocracy,  and  still  made  head,  within  the  limits 
of  Manhattan,  against  the  inroads  of  the  Van — something 
elses.  Alas !  alas  !  how  changed  is  all  this,  though  I  am 
obliged  to  believe  it  is  all  for  the  best. 

"  Do  you  know  Miss  Winthrop  ? "  I  asked  of  Grace,  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Not  at  all  ;  I  am  not  much  in  that  set,"  she  answered, 
quietly.  "  Rupert  and  Lucy  have  been  noticed  by  many 
persons  whom  I  do  not  know." 

This  was  the  first  intimation  I  got,  that  my  sister  did  not 
possess  all  the  advantages  in  society  that  were  enjoyed  by 
her  friend.  As  is  always  the  case  where  it  is  believed  to 
be  our  loss,  I  felt  indignant  at  first  ;  had  it  been  the  reverse, 
I  dare  say  I  should  have  fancied  it  all  very  right.  Conse- 
quences grew  out  of  these  distinctions  which  I  could  not 
then  foresee,  but  which  will  be  related  in  their  place. 
Rupert  now  called  on  Grace  lor  her  toast,  a  lady  com- 
monly succeeding  a  gentleman.  My  sister  did  not  seem  in 
the  least  disconcerted  :  but,  after  a  moment's  hesitation, 
she  said — 

"  Mr.  Edward  Marston." 

This  was  a  strange  name  to  me,  but  I  afterward  ascer- 
tained it  belonged  to  a  respectable  young  man  who  visited 
Mrs.  Bradfort's,  and  who  stood  very  well  with  all  his  ac- 
quaintances. I  looked  at  Rupert,  to  note  the  effect  ;  but 
Rupert  was  as  calm  as  Grace  herself  had  been  when  he 
gave  Miss  Winthrop. 


3i2  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

"I  believe  I  have  no  one  to  call  upon  but  you,  Miles,"  • 
said  Grace,  smiling. 

"  Me  !  Why,  you  all  know  I  am  not  acquainted  with  a 
soul.  Our  Ulster  County  girls  have  almost  gone  out  of 
my  recollection  ;  besides,  no  one  would  know  them  here, 
should  I  mention  twenty." 

"  You  strangely  forget,  brother,  that  most  of  us  are 
Ulster  County  folk.  Try  if  you  can  recall  no  young  lady — 

"  Oh  !  easily  enough,  for  that  matter  ;  a  young  fellow 
can  hardly  have  lived  nine  months  in  the  same  cabin  with 
Emily,  and  not  think  of  her  when  hard  pushed;  I  will 
give  you  Miss  Emily  Merton." 

The  toast  was  drunk,  and  I  thought  Mr.  Hardinge  looked 
thoughtful,  like  one  who  had  a  guardian's  cares,  and  that 
Grace  was  even  grave.  1  did  not  dare  look  at  Lucy,  though 
I  could  have  toasted  her  all  night,  had  it  been  in  rule  to 
drink  a  person  who  was  present.  We  began  to  chat  again, 
and  I  had  answered  some  eight  or  ten  questions,  when 
Mrs.  Bradfort,  much  too  precise  to  make  any  omissions, 
reminded  us  that  we  had  not  yet  been  honored  with  Miss 
Lucy  Hardinge's  toast.  Lucy  had  enjoyed  plenty  of  time 
to  reflect  ;  and  she  bowed,  paused  a  moment  as  if  to  sum- 
mon resolution,  and  then  mentioned — 

"  Mr.  Andrew  Drewett." 

So,  then,  Lucy  Hardinge  toasted  this  Mr.  Drewett — the 
very  youth  with  Whom  she  had  been  in  such  animated  dis- 
course when  I  first  met  the  party  !  Had  I  been  more  fa- 
miliar with  the  world,  I  should  have  thought  nothing  of  a 
thing  that  was  so  common  ;  or,  did  I  understand  human 
nature  better,  I  might  have  known  that  no  sensitive  and 
delicate  woman  would  betray  a  secret  that  was  dear  to  her, 
under  so  idle  a  form.  But  I  was  young,  and  ready  myself 
to  toast  the  girl  I  preferred  before  the  universe  ;  and  I 
could  not  make  suitable  allowances  for  difference  of  sex 
and  temperament.  Lucy's  toast  made  me  very  uncomfort- 
able for  the  rest  of  the  evening  ;  and  I  was  not  sorry  when 
Rupert  reminded  me  that  it  was  eleven,  and  that  he  would 
go  with  me  to  a  tavern,  in  order  to  look  for  a  room. 

The  next  morning  was  passed  in  transacting  the  business 
of  the  ship.  I  found  myself  much  noticed  among  the  mer- 
chants and  ship-masters  ;  and  one  of  my  owners  took  me 
on  'Change,  that  I  might  see  and  be  seen.  As  the  papers 
had  spoken  of  the  recapture  of  the  Crisis,  on  the  arrival  of 
the  Pretty  Poll,  and  had  now  each  an  article  on  the  arrival 
of  the  ship,  I  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my  re» 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  313 

ception.  There  are  men  so  strong  in  principle,  as  well  as 
intellect,  I  do  suppose,  that  they  can  be  content  with  the 
approbation  of  their  own  consciences,  and  who  can  smile 
at  the  praises  or  censure  of  the  world  alike  ;  but  I  confess 
to  a  strong  sympathy  with  the  commendation  of  my  fellow- 
creatures,  and  as  strong  a  distaste  for  their  disapprobation. 
I  know  this  is  not  the  way  to  make  a  very  great  man  ;  for 
he  who  cannot  judge,  feel,  and  act  for  himself,  will  always 
be  in  danger  of  making  undue  sacrifices  to  the  wishes  of 
others  ;  but  you  can  have  no  more  of  a  cat  than  the  skin  ; 
and  I  was  sufficiently  proud  at  finding  myself  a  miniature 
hero,  about  the  lower  end  of  Wall  Street,  and  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  newspapers.  As  for  these  last,  no  one  can 
complain  of  their  zeal  in  extolling  everything'  national. 
To  believe  them,  the  country  never  was  wrong,  or  defeat- 
ed, or  in  a  condition  to  be  defeated,  except  when  a  political 
opponent  could  be  made  to  suffer  by  an  opposite  theory; 
and  then  nothing  was  ever  right.  As  to  fame,  I  have  since 
discovered  they  consider  that  of  each  individual  to  be  pub- 
lic property,  in  which  each  American  has  a  part  and  parcel, 
the  editors,  themselves,  more  than  the  man  who  has  thrown 
the  article  into  the  common  lot.  But  I  was  young  in  1802, 
and  even  a  paragraph  in  my  praise  in  a  newspaper  had  a 
certain  charm  for  me,  that  I  will  not  deny.  Then  I  had. 
done  well,  as  even  my  enemies,  if  I  had  any,  must  have 
admitted. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

"Ships  are  but  boards,  sailors  but  men  ;  there  be  land-rats  and  water- 
rats,  water-thieves  and  land-thieves — I  mean  pirates  ;  and  then  there  is  the 
peril  of  waters,  winds,  and  rocks  ;  the  man  is,  notwithstanding,  sufficient ; 
— three  thousand  ducats  ; — I  think  I  may  take  his  bond." — Shy  lock. 

I  SAW  Grace,  and  Lucy,  and  Rupert,  and  good  Mr.  Har- 
dinge,  every  day,  but  I  could  not  find  time  to  call  on  the 
Mertons  until  near  the  close  of  a  week.  I  then  paid  them 
a  visit,  and  found  them  glad  to  see  me,  but  not  at  all  in 
want  of  my  attentions  to  make  them  comfortable.  The 
major  had  exhibited  his  claims  to  the  British  consul,  who 
happened  to  be  a  native  Manhattanese,  and  was  well-con- 
nected, a  circumstance  that  then  gave  him  an  influence  in 
society  that  his  commission  alone  would  not  have  conferred. 
Colonel  Barclay,  for  so  was  this  gentleman  called,  had 
taken  the  Mertons  by  the  hand  as  a  matter  of  course,  and 


3  H  AFLOAT  A  XI)   ASIIORK. 

his  example  being  followed  by  others,  I  found  that  they 
were  already  in  the  best  circle  of  the  place.  Emily  men- 
tioned to  me  the  names  of  several  of  those  with  whom  she 
had  exchanged  visits,  and  I  knew  at  once,  through  Lucy's 
and  Grace's  conversation,  and  from  my  own  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  traditions  of  the  colony  and  State,  that  they 
were  among  the  leading  people  of  the  land,  socially  if  not 
politically  ;  a  class  altogether  above  any  with  whom  I  had 
myself  ever  associated.  Now  I  knew  that  the  master  of  a 
merchantman,  whatever  might  be  his  standing  with  his 
owner  or  consignee,  or  the  credit  he  had  gained  among  his 
fellows,  was  not  likely  to  get  admission  into  this  set ;  and 
there  was  the  comfortable  prospect  before  me  of  having 
my  own  sister  and  the  two  other  girls  I  admired  most  and 
loved  best  inthewrorld — next  to  Grace,  of  course — visiting 
round  in  houses  of  which  the  doors  were  shut  against  my- 
self. This  is  always  unpleasant,  but  in  my  case  it  turned 
out  to  be  more. 

When  I  told  Emily  that  Grace  and  Lucy  were  in  town, 
and  intended  coming  to  see  her  that  very  morning,  I 
thought  she  manifested  less  curiosity  than  would  have 
been  the  case  a  month  before. 

"  Is  Miss  Hardinge  a  relative  of  Mr.  Rupert  Hardinge, 
the  gentleman  to  whom  I  was  introduced  at  dinner,  yes- 
terday?" she  demanded,  after  expressing  the  pleasure  it 
would  give  her  to  see  the  ladies. 

I  knew  that  Rupert  had  dined  out  the  day  before,  and 
there  being  no  one  else  of  the  same  name,  I  answered  in 
the  affirmative. 

"  He  is  the  son  of  a  respectable  clergyman,  and  of  very 
good  connections,  I  hear." 

"The  Hardinges  are  so  considered  among  us;  both 
Rupert's  father  and  grandfather  were  clergymen,  and  his 
great-grandfather  was  a  seaman — I  trust  you  will  think 
none  the  worse  of  him  for  that." 

"A  sailor!  I  had  supposed,  from  what  some  of  those 
present  said — that  is,  I  did  not  know  it." 

"  Perhaps  they  told  you  that  his  great-grandfather  was  a 
British  officer ?"' 

Emily  colored,  and  then  she  laughed  faintly,  admitting, 
however,  that  I  had  guessed  right. 

"  Well,  all  this  was  true,"  I  added,  "  though  he  was  a 
sailor.  Old  Captain  Hardinge — or  Commodore  Hardinge, 
as  he  used  to  be  called,  for  he  once  commanded  a  soua^ron 
• — was  in  the  English  navy." 


AFLOAT  A. YD   ASIfORK.  315 

"Oh!  that  sort  of  a  sailor !"  cried  Emily,  quickly.  "I 
did  not  know  that  it  was  usual  to  call  gentlemen  in  the 
navy  seamen." 

"They  would  make  a  poor  figure  if  they  were  not,  Miss 
Merton  ;  you  might  as  well  say  that  a  judge  is  no  lawyer." 

This  was  enough,  however,  to  satisfy  me  that  Miss  Mer- 
ton no  longer  considered  the  master  of  the  Crisis  the  first 
man  in  the  world. 

A  ring  announced  the  arrival  of  the  two  girls.  They 
were  shown  up,  and  I  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
these  three  charming  young  women  together.  Emily  re- 
ceived her  two  guests  very  courteously,  and  was  frank,  nay 
warm,  in  the  expression  of  her  gratitude  for  all  that  I 
had  done  for  herself  and  her  father.  She  even  went  back 
so  far  as  to  speak  of  the  occurrence  in  the  park,  at  Lon- 
don, and  was  gracious  enough  to  declare  that  she  and  her 
parents  owed  their  lives  to  my  interference.  All  this  gave 
her  listeners  great  pleasure,  for  I  believe  neither  ever  tired 
of  hearing  my  praises.  After  this  opening,  the  conversa- 
tion turned  on  New  York,  its  gayeties,  and  the  different 
persons  known  to  them  mutually.  I  saw  that  the  two  girls 
were  struck  with  the  set  Miss  Merton  was  in,  which  was 
a  shade  superior  even  to  that  of  Mrs.  Bradford's,  though 
the  fusion  which  usually  accompanies  that  sort  of  thing 
brought  portions  of  each  circle  within  the  knowledge  of 
the  other.  As  the  persons  named  were  utter  strangers  to 
me,  I  had  nothing  to  say,  and  sat  listening  in  silence. 
The  opportunity  was  improved  by  comparing  the  girls 
with  each  other. 

In  delicacy  of  appearance,  Grace  and  Lucy  each  had  the 
advantage  of  the  English  beauty.  Their  hands  and  feet 
were  smaller,  their  waists  finer,  and  their  tournures,  gener- 
ally, I  thought  the  most  pleasing.  Emily  had  the  advan- 
tage in  complexion,  though  her  color  had  less  fineness  and 
delicacy.  Perhaps  her  teeth  were  the  most  brilliant ; 
though  Grace  and  Lucy,  particularly  the  latter,  had  very 
fine  teeth.  The  English  girl's  shoulders  and  bust,  gener- 
ally, would  have  been  more  admired  than  those  of  most 
American — particularly  than  most  New  York — girls  ;  but 
it  was  not  possible  to  surpass  those  of  Lucy.  As  a 
whole,  Emily's  countenance  had  the  most  spirit,  Lucy's 
the  most  fineness  and  feeling.  I  make  no  comparison  with 
the  expression  of  Grace's  countenance,  which  was  alto- 
gether too  remarkable  for  its  intellectual  character  to  be 
included  in  anything  like  a  national  classification.  I  re- 


3i6  AFLOAT  AND   ASH  OK  P.. 

member  I  thought,  as  they  sat  there  in  a  row  conversing 
frankly  and  cheerfully  together,  Lucy  the  handsomest  in 
her  pretty  neat  morning  dress  ;  while  I  had  my  doubts 
whether  Emily  would  not  have  extorted  the  most  applause 
in  a  ball  room.  This  distinction  is  mentioned,  because  I 
believe  it  national. 

The  visit  lasted  an  hour  ;  for  I  had  expressed  a  wish  to 
all  parties  that  they  would  become  acquainted,  and  the 
girls  seemed  mutually  pleased.  As  they  chatted,  I  listened 
to  the  tones  of  their  voices,  and  fancied,  on  the  whole,  that 
Emily  had  slightly  the  advantage  in  intonation  and  accent ; 
though  it  was  scarcely  perceptible,  and  it  was  an  advantage 
that  was  attended  by  a  slight  sacrifice  of  the  charm  of  nat- 
ural utterance.  She  was  a  little  more  artificial  in  this  re- 
spect than  her  companions,  and  insomuch  less  pleasing  ; 
though,  had  the  comparison  been  made  with  the  Manhat- 
tan style  of  the  present  day,  the  odds  would  have  been  im- 
mensely in  her  favor.  In  1802,  however,  some  attention 
was  still  paid  to  the  utterance,  tones  of  voice,  and  manner 
of  speaking  of  young  ladies.  The  want  of  it  all,  just  now, 
is  the  besetting  vice  of  the  whole  of  our  later  instruction  of 
the  sex  ;  it  being  almost  as  rare  a  thing  nowadays,  to  find 
a  young  American  girl  who  speaks  her  own  language 
gracefully,  as  it  is  to  find  one  who  is  not  of  pleasing  person. 

When  the  young  ladies  parted,  it  was  with  an  under- 
standing that  they  were  soon  to  meet  again.  I  shook 
hands  with  Emily,  English  fashion,  and  took  my  leave  at 
the  same  time. 

"Well,  Miles,"  said  Grace,  as  soon  as  we  were  in  the 
street,  "  you  have  certainly  been  of  service  to  a  very  charm- 
ing young  woman — I  like  her,  excessively." 

"  And  yon,  Lucy — I  hope  you  agree  with  Grace,  in  think- 
ing my  friend,  Emily  Merton,  a  charming  young  woman." 

Lucy  did  not  speak  as  frankly,  or  as  decidedly  as  Grace, 
so  far  as  manner  was  concerned  ;  though  she  coincided  in 
words. 

"  I  am  of  the  same  opinion,"  she  said,  in  a  tone  that  was 
far  less  cheerful  than  her  usually  very  cheerful  manner. 
"  She  is  one  of  the  loveliest  creatures  I  ever  saw, — and  it  is 
no  wonder — 

"  What  is  no  wonder,  dear  ? "  asked  Grace,  observing 
that  her  friend  hesitated  to  proceed. 

"  Oh  !  I  was  about  to  say  something  silly,  and  had  better 
not  finish  the  speech.  But  what  a  finished  manner  Miss 
Merton  possesses  ;  do  you  not  think  so,,  Grace  ? " 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  317 

"  I  wish  she  had  a  little  less  of  it,  dear ;  that  is  precisely 
what  I  should  find  fault  with  in  her  deportment.  It  is 
manner,  and,  though  we  all  must  have  some,  it  strikes  me 
it  ought  not  to  be  seen.  I  think  all  the  Europeans  we  saw 
in  town,  last  winter,  Lucy,  had  more  or  less  of  this  man- 
ner." 

"I  dare  say  it  would  seem  so  to  us;  notwithstanding,  it 
may  be  very  agreeable  to  those  who  are  used  to  it — a  thing 
to  miss,  when  one  gets  much  accustomed  to  it." 

As  Lucy  made  this  remark,  I  detected  a  furtive  and  timid 
glance  at  myself.  I  was  mystified  at  the  time,  and  was 
actually  so  silly  as  to  think  the  dear  girl  was  talking  at 
me,  and  to  feel  a  little  resentment.  I  fancied  she  washed 
to  say,  "There,  Master  Miles,  you  have  been  in  London, 
and  on  a  desert  island  in  the  South  Seas— the  very  extremes 
of  human  habits — and  have  got  to  be  so  sophisticated,  so 
very  un-Clawbonnyish,  as  to  feel  the  necessity  of  a  manner, 
in  the  young  ladies  with  whom  you  associate."  The  notion 
nettled  me  to  a  degree  that  induced  me  to  pretend  duty, 
and  to  hurry  down  to  the  ship.  Whom  should  I  meet,  in 
Rector  Street,  but  Mr.  Hardinge,  who  had  been  across  to 
the  Hudson  in  search  of  me. 

"Come  hither,  Miles,"  said  the  excellent  old  man,  "I 
wish  to  converse  with  you  seriously." 

As  Lucy  was  uppermost  in  my  thoughts  at  the  moment, 
I  said  to  myself — "What  can  the  dear  old  gentleman  have 
to  say,  now  ?  " 

"  I  hear  from  all  quarters  the  best  accounts  of  you,  my 
dear  boy,"  Mr.  Hardinge  continued,  and  I  am  told  you  make 
a  very  superior  seaman.  It  is  a  feather  in  your  cap,  indeed, 
to  have  commanded  an  Indiaman  a  twelvemonth  before 
you  are  of  age.  I  have  been  conversing  with  my  old 
friend  John  Murray,  of  the  house  of  John  Murray  &  Sons, 
one  of  the  very  best  merchants  in  America,  and  he  says 
'  push  the  boy  ahead  when  you  find  the  right  stuff  in  him. 
Get  him  a  ship  of  his  own,  and  that  will  put  him  on  the 
true  track.  Teach  him  early  to  have  an  eye  to  his  own 
interests,  and  it  will  make  a  man  of  him  at  once.'  I  have 
thought  the  matter  over,  have  had  a  vessel  in  my  eye,  for 
the  last  month,  and  will  purchase  her  at  once,  if  you  like 
the  plan." 

"  But  have  I  money  enough  for  such  a  thing,  my  dear 
sir — after  having  sailed  in  the  John,  and  the  Tigris,  and  the 
Crisis,  I  should  not  like  to  take  up- with  any  of  your  B's, 
No.  2." 


318  AFLOAT  AXD 

"  You  have  forgotten  to  mention  the  Pretty  Poll/  Miles," 
said  the  divine,  smiling.  "  Be  under  no  fear,  however,  for 
your  dignity  ;  the  vessel  I  have  in  treaty  is  all  you  could 
wish,  they  fell  me,  having  made  but  one  voyage,  and  is 
sold  on  account  of  the  death  of  her  owner.  As  for  money, 
you  will  remember  I  have  thirteen  thousand  dollars  of  your 
income  invested  in  stocks,  and  stocks  that  cost  but  ten.  The 
peace  has  brought  everything  up,  and  you  are  making 
money,  right  and  left.  How  have  your  own  pay  and 
private  venture  turned  out  ?  " 

"  Perfectly  well,  sir.  I  am  near  three  thousand  dollars 
in  pocket,  and  shall  have  no  need  to  call  on  you  for  my 
personal  wants.  Then  I  have  my  prize  money  to  touch. 
Even  Neb,  wages  and  prize  money,  brings  me  nine  hundred 
dollars.  With  your  permission,  sir,  I  should  like  to  give 
the  fellow  his  freedom." 

"Wait,  till  you  are  of  age,  Miles,  and  then  you  can  do 
as  you  please.  I  hold  four  thousand  dollars  of  your  in- 
vested money,  which  has  been  paid  in,  and  I  have  placed 
it  in  stocks.  Altogether,  I  find  we  can  muster,  in  solid 
cash,  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars,  while  the  price 
of  the  ship,  as  she  stands,  almost  ready  for  sea,  is  only 
fifteen.  Now,  go  and  look  at  the  vessel ;  if  you  like  her,  I 
will  close  the  bargain  at  once." 

"  But,  my  dear  Mr.  Hardinge,  do  you  think  yourself 
exactly  qualified  to  judge  of  the  value  of  a  ship  ?" 

"  Poll !  poll !  don't  imagine  I  am  so  conceited  as  to  pur- 
chase on  my  own  knowledge.  I  have  taken  some  of  the 
very  best  advice  of  the  city.  There  is  John  Murray,  to 
begin  with — a  great  shipholder  himself,  and  Archibald 
Grade,  and  William  Bayard— all  capital  judges,  have  taken 
an  interest  in  the  affair.  Three  others  of  my  friends  have 
walked  round  to  look  at  the  vessel,  and  all  approve — not  a 
dissenting  voice." 

"  May  I  ask,  sir,  who  have  seen  her,  besides  the  gentle- 
men you  have  named  ?  They,  I  admit,  are,  indeed,  good 
judges." 

"  Why — why — yes — do  you  happen  to  know  anything  of 
Doctor  Benjamin  Moore,  now,  Miles  ? " 

"Never  heard  of  him,  sir,  in  my  life;  but  a  physician 
can  be  no  great  judge  of  a  ship." 

"  No  more  of  a  physician  than  yourself,  boy — Doctor 
Benjamin  Moore,  the  gentleman  we  elected  bishop,  while 
you  were  absent — 

"  Oh  !  he   you  wished  to  toast,  instead  of   Miss  Peggy 


AFLOAT  AiVD  ASH  OX  E.  319 

Perott,"  cried  I,  smiling.  "Well,  what  does  the  bishop 
think  of  her — if  he  approve,  she  must  be  orthodox." 

"  He  says  she  is  the  handsomest  vessel  he  ever  laid  eyes 
on,  Miles ;  and  let  me  tell  you,  the  favorable  opinion  of  so 
good  a  man  as  Doctor  Moore  is  of  value,  even  though  it  be 
about  a  ship." 

I  could  not  avoid  laughing,  and  I  dare  say  most  of  the 
readers  will  also,  at  this  touch  of  simplicity  ;  and  yet,  why 
should  not  a  bishop  know  as  much  of  ships  as  a  set  of 
ignoramuses  who  never  read  a  theological  book  in  their 
lives,  some  of  them  not  even  the  Bible,  know  about 
bishops  ?  The  circumstance  was  not  a  tittle  more  absurd 
than  many  that  are  occurring  daily  before  our.  eyes,  and  to 
which,  purely  from  habit,  we  submit,  very  much  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

"Well,  sir,"  I  replied,  as  soon  as  I  could,  "I  will  look 
at  the  ship,  get  her  character,  and  give  you  an  answer  at 
once.  I  like  the  idea,  for  it  is  pleasant  to  be  one's  own 
master." 

In  that  day  $15,000  would  buy  a  very  excellent  ship,  as 
ships  went.  The  vessel  I  was  taken  to  see  was  coppered 
and  copper-fastened,  butt-bolted,  and  she  measured  just 
five  hundred  tons.  She  had  a  great  reputation  as  a  sailer, 
and,  what  was  thought  a  good  deal  of  in  1802,  \vas  Phila- 
delphia built.  She  had  been  one  voyage  to  China,  and 
was  little  more  than  a  year  old,  or  the  best  possible  age  for 
a  vessel.  Her  name  was  the  "  Dawn,"  and  she  carried  an 
"  Aurora  "  for  her  figure-head.  Whether  she  were,  or  were 
not,  inclined  to  Puseyism,  I  never  could  ascertain,  although 
I  can  affirm  she  had  the  services  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  read  on  board  her  afterward  on  more  than  one 
occasion. 

The  result  of  my  examination  and  inquiries  was  favora- 
ble, and,  by  the  end  of  the  week,  the  Dawn  was  purchased. 
The  owners  of  the  Crisis  were  pleased  to  express  their  re- 
grets, for  they  had  intended  that  I  should  continue  in  the 
command  of  their  vessel,  but  no  one  could  object  to  a 
man's  wishing  to  sail  in  his  own  employment.  I  made  this 
important  acquisition  at  what  was  probably  the  most  au- 
spicious moment  of  American  navigation.  It  is  a  proof  of 
this  that,  the  very  day  I  was  put  in  possession  of  the  ship, 
good  freights  were  offered  to  no  less  than  four  different 
parts  of  the  world.  I  had  my  choice  between  Holland, 
France,  England,  and  China.  After  consulting  with  my 
guardian,  I  accepted  that  to  trance,  which  not  only  paid 


320  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  best,  but  I  was  desirous  of  seeing  more  of  the  world 
than  had  yet  fallen  to  my  share.  I  could  make  a  voyage 
to  Bordeaux  and  back  in  five  months,  and  by  the  end  of 
that  time  I  should  be  of  age,  and,  consequently  my  own 
master.  As  I  intended  to  have  great  doings  at  Clawbonny 
on  that  occasion,  I  thought  it  might  be  well  not  to  go 
too  far  from  home.  Accordingly,  after  shipping  Talcott 
and  the  Philadelphia!!,  whose  name  was  Walton,  for  my 
mates,  we  began  to  take  in  cargo  as  soon  as  possible. 

In  the  meantime  I  bethought  me  of  a  visit  to  the  pater- 
nal home.  It  was  a  season  of  the  year  when  most  people, 
who  were  anybodies,  left  town,  and  the  villas  along  the 
shores  of  the  Hudson  had  long  been  occupied.  Mr.  Har- 
dinge,  too,  pined  for  the  country  and  his  flock.  The  girls 
had  had  enough  of  town,  which  was  getting  to  be  very 
dull,  and  everybody,  Rupert  excepted,  seemed  anxious  to 
go  up  the  river.  I  had  invited  the  Mertons  to  pass  part 
of  the  summer  at  the  farm,  moreover,  and  it  was  time  the 
invitation  should  be  renewed,  for  the  major's  physicians 
had  advised  him  to  choose  some  cooler  residence  than  the 
streets  of  a  hot,  close  town  could  furnish  during  the  sum- 
mer months.  Emily  had  been  so  much  engrossed  with  the 
set  into  which  she  had  fallen  since  her  landing,  and  which 
it  was  easy  for  me  to  see  was  altogether  superior  to  that  in 
which  she  had  lived  at  home,  that  I  was  surprised  at  the 
readiness  wTith  which  she  urged  her  father  to  redeem  his 
promise. 

"  Mr.  Hardinge  tells  me,  sir,  that  Clawbonny  is  really  a 
pretty  spot,"  she  said,  "  and  the  country  around  it  is 
thought  to  be  very  healthy.  You  cannot  get  answers  from 
home  (she  meant  England)  for  several  months,  and  I  know 
Captain  Wallingford  will  be  happy  to  receive  us.  Be- 
sides, we  are  pledged  to  accept  this  additional  favor  from 
him." 

I  thought  Major  Merton  felt  some  cf  my  o\vn  surprise 
at  Emily's  earnestness  and  manner,  but  his  resistance  was 
very  feeble.  The  old  gentleman's  health,  indeed,  was 
pretty  thoroughly  undermined,  and  I  began  to  have  seri- 
ous doubts  of  his  living  even  to  return  to  Europe.  He 
had  some  relatives  in  Boston,  and  had"*  opened  a  corre- 
spondence with  them,  and  I  had  thoughfrmore  than  once, 
of  the  expediency  of  apprising  them  of  his  situation.  At, 
present,  however,  nothing  better  could  be  done  than  to 
get  him  into  the  country. 

Having  made  all  the   arrangements  with  the  others,  J 


AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORE.  321 

went  to  persuade  Rupert  to  be  of  the  party,  for  I  thought 
it  would  make  both  Grace  and  Lucy  so  much  the  happier. 

"Miles,  my  clear  fellow,"  said  the  younger  student,  gap- 
ing, "  Clawbonny  is  certainly  a  capitalish  place,  but,  you 
will  admit  it  is  somewhat  stupid  after  New  York.  My 
good  kinswoman,  Mrs.  Bradfort,  has  taken  such  a  fancy  to 
us  all,  and  has  made  me  so  comfortable — would  you  be- 
lieve it,  boy,  sne  has  actually  given  me  six  hundred  a  year, 
for  the  last  two  years,  besides  making  Lucy  presents  fit 
for  a  queen.  A  sterling  woman  is  she,  this  cousin  Mar- 
garet of  ours  !  " 

I  heard  this,  truly,  not  without  surprise  ;  for,  in  settling 
with  my  owners,  I  found  Rupert  had  drawn  every  cent  to 
which  he  was  entitled,  under  the  orders  I  had  left  when  I 
last  went  to  sea. 

As  Mrs.  Bradfort  was  more  than  at  her  ease,  however, 
had  no  nearer  relative  than  Mr.  Hardinge,  and  was  much 
attached  to  the  family,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  believing  it 
true,  so  far  as  the  lady's  liberality  was  concerned.  I  heartily 
wished  Rupert  had  possessed  more  self-respect  ;  but  he 
was,  as  he  was  ! 

"  I  am  sorry  you  cannot  go  with  us,"  I  answered,  "for  I 
counted  on  you  to  help  amuse  the  Mertons — 

"  The  Mertons  !  Why,  surely,  they  are  not  going  to  pass 
the  summer  at  Clawbonny  !  " 

"  They  quit  town  with  us,  to-morrow,  Why  should  not 
the  Mertons  pass  the  summer  at  Clawbonny  ?" 

"  Why,  Miles,  my  dear  boy,  you  know  how  it  is  with 
the  world — how  it  is  with  these  English,  in  particular. 
They  think  everything  of  rank,  you  know,  and  are  devo- 
tees of  the  style  and  appearance,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing, 
you  know,  as  no  one  understands  better  than  myself  ;  for 
I  pass  most  of  my  time  in  the  English  set,  you  know." 

I  did  not  then  understand  what  had  come  over  Rupert, 
though  it  is  all  plain  enough  to  me  now.  He  had,  truly 
enough,  got  into  what  was  then  called  the  English  set. 
Now  there  is  no  question,  that,  so  far  as  the  natives,  them- 
selves, were  concerned,  this  was  as  good  a  set  as  ever  ex- 
isted in  this  country  ;  and  it  is  also  beyond  all  cavil,  that 
many  respectable  Jinglish  persons,  of  both  sexes,  were  oc- 
casionally found  ^n  it  ;  but,  it  had  this  great  defect  : — every 
Englishman  who  wore  a  good  coat,  and  had  any  of  the 
slang  of  society,  made  his  way  into  the  outskirts,  at  least, 
of  this  set ;  and  Rupert,  whose  own  position  was  not  yet 
thoroughly  confirmed,  had  fallen  a  great  HP^!  into  fV««  ooco- 


322  AFLOAT  AArJ)   ASHORE. 

elation  of  these  accidental  comers  and  goers.  They  talked 
large,  drank  deep,  and  had  a  lofty  disdain  for  everything 
in  the  country,  though  it  was  very  certain  they  were  just 
then  in  much  better  company  where  they  were  than  they 
had  ever  been  at  home.  Like  most  tyros,  Rupert  fancied 
these  blustering  gentry  classes  to  imitate  ;  and,  as  they 
seldom  conversed  ten  minutes  without  having  something 
to  say  of  my  Lord  A —  or  Sir  John  B — ,  persons  they  had 
read  of,  or  seen  in  the  streets,  he  was  weak  enough  to  im- 
agine they  knew  all  about  the  dignitaries  of  the  British 
empire.  As  Rupert  was  really  a  gentleman,  and  had  good 
manners  naturally,  it  was  a  grievous  thing  to  see  him 
fashioning  himself  anew,  as  it  might  be,  on  such  very 
questionable  models. 

"  Clawbonny  is  not  a  stylish  place,  I  am  ready  to  allow," 
I  answered,  after  a  moment  of  hesitation  ;  "still,  it  is  re- 
spectable. There  is  a  good  farm,  a  valuable  mill,  and  a 
good,  old,  comfortable,  straggling,  stone  house." 

"  Very  true,  Miles,  my  dear  fellow,  and  all  as  dear  to  me, 
you  know,  as  the  apple  of  my  eye — but  farniish — young 
ladies  like  the  good  things  that  come  from  farms,  but  do 
not  admire  the  homeliness  of  the  residence.  I  speak  of 
young  English  ladies,  in  particular.  Now,  you  see,  Major 
Merton  is  a  field-officer,  and  that  is  having  good  rank  in  a 
respectable  profession,  you  know — I  suppose  you  under- 
stand, Miles,  that  the  king  puts  most  of  his  sons  into  the 
army,  or  navy — all  this  makes  a  difference,  you  under- 
stand !  " 

"  I  understand  nothing  about  it  ;  what  is  it  to  me  where 
the  King  of  England  puts  his  son  ? " 

"  I  wish,  my  dear  Miles,  if  the  truth  must  be  said,  that 
you  and  I  had  been  a  little  less  boyish,  when  we  were  boys, 
than  happened  to  be  the  case.  It  would  have  been  all  the 
better  for  us  both." 

"Well,  I  wish  no  such  thing.  A  boy  should  be  a  boy, 
and  a  man  a  man.  I  am  content  to  have  been  a  boy,  while 
I  was  a  boy.  It  is  a  fault  in  this  country,  that  boys  fancy 
themselves  men  too  soon." 

"  Ah  !  my  dear  fellow,  you  will  not,  or  do  not  understand 
me.  What  I  mean  is,  that  we  were  both  precipitate  in  the 
choice  of  a  profession — I  retired  in  time,  but  you  per- 
severe ;  that  is  all." 

"  You  did  retire  in  season,  my  lad,  if  truth  is  what  you 
are  after  ;  for  had  you  stayed  a  hundred  years  on'  board 
ci->*^  V<VM  ^r.^r»r  \vniiH  hnve  made  n  snilor." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  323 

When  I  said  this  I  fancied  I  had  uttered  a  pretty  severe 
thing.  Rupert  took  it  so  coolly,  however,  as  to  satisfy  me 
at  once  that  he  thought  differently  on  the  subject. 

"  Clearly,  it  is  not  my  vocation.  Nature  intended  me 
for  something  better,  I  trust,  and  I  mistook  a  bovish  in- 
clination for  a  taste.  A  little  experience  taught  me  better, 
and  I  am  now  where  I  feel  I  ought  to  be.  I  wish,  Miles, 
you  had  come  to  the  study  of  the  law,  at  the  time  you  went 
to  sea.  You  would  have  been,  by  this  time,  at  the  bar, 
and  would  have  had  a  definite  position  in  society." 

"  I  am  very  glad  I  did  not.  What  the  deuce  should  I 
have  done  as  a  lawyer — or  what  advantage  would  it  have 
been  to  me  to  be  admitted  to  the  bar  ? " 

"  Advantage  !  Why  my  dear  fellow,  every  advantage  in 
the  world.  You  know  how  it  is  in  this  country,  I  suppose, 
in  the  way  of  society,  my  dear  Miles  ?" 

"  Not  I — and,  by  the  little  I  glean  from  the  manner  you 
sheer  about  in  your  discourse,!  wish  to  know  nothing.  Do 
young  men  study  law  merely  to  be  genteel  ? " 

"  Do  not  despise  knowledge,  my  boy ;  it  is  of  use,  even 
in  trifles.  Now  in  this  country,  you  know,  we  have 
very  few  men  of  mere  leisure — heirs  of  estates  to  live  on 
their  incomes,  as  is  done  in  Europe ;  but  nine-tenths  of  us 
must  follow  professions,  of  which  there  are  only  half  a 
dozen  suitable  for  a  gentleman.  The  army  and  navy  are 
nothing,  you  know  ;  two  or  three  regiments  scattered  about 
in  the  woods,  and  half  a  dozen  vessels.  After  these  there 
remain  the  three  learned  professions,  divinity,  law,  and 
physic.  In  our  family  divinity  has  run  out,  I  fear.  As 
for  physic,  '  throw  physic  to  the  dogs,'  as  Miss  Merton 
says " 

"Who?"  I  exclaimed,  in  surprise.  "  'Throw  physic  to 
the  dogs  ' — why,  that  is  Shakespeare,  man  !  " 

"  I  know  it,  and  it  is  Miss  Emily  Merton's  too.  You 
have  made  us  acquainted  with  a  charming  creature,  at 
least,  Miles,  by  this  going  to  sea.  Her  notions  on  such 
subjects  are  as  accurate  as  a  sun-dial." 

"And  has  Miss  Emily  Merton  ever  conversed  with  you 
on  the  subject  of  my  profession,  Rupert?" 

"  Indeed  she  has,  and  regretted  it,  again  and  again. 
You  know  as  well  as  I  do,  Miles,  to  be  a  sailor,  other  than 
in  a  navy,  is  not  a  genteel  profession  !  " 

I  broke  out  into  a  fit  of  laughter  at  this  remark.  It  struck 
me  as  infinitely  dro'il,  and  as  somewhat  silly.  I  knew  my 
precise  position  in  society,  perfectly  ;  and  had  none  of  th« 


524  AFLOAT  AND  ASH  ORB. 

silly  swaggering  about  personal  merit,  and  of  "one  man's 
being  as  good  as  another,"  that  has  since  got  into  such 
general  use  among  us  ;  and  understood  perfectly  the  use- 
ful and  unavoidable  classifications  that  take  place  in  all 
civilized  communities,  and  which,  while  they  are  attended 
by  certain  disadvantages  as  exceptions,  prove  great  benefits 
as  a  whole,  and  was  not  disposed  at  all  to  exaggerate  my 
claims  or  to  deny  my  deficiencies.  But  the  idea  of  at- 
taching any  considerations  of  gentility  to  my  noble,  manly, 
daring  profession,  sounded  so  absurd  I  could  not  avoid 
laughing.  In  a  few  moments,  however,  I  became  grave. 

"  Harkee,  Rupert,"  said  I  ;  "I  trust  Miss  Merton  does 
not  think  I  endeavored  to  mislead  her  as  to  my  true  posi- 
tion, or  to  make  her  think  I  was  a  greater  personage  than 
I  truly  am  ?" 

"  I'll  not  answer  for  that.  When  we  were  first  acquainted, 
I  found  she  had  certain  notions  about  Clawbonny,  and  your 
estate,  and  all  that,  which  were  rather  English,  you  know. 
Now  in  England,  an  estate  gives  a  man  a  certain  consider- 
ation, whereas  land  is  so  plenty  with  us,  that  we  think 
nothing  of  the  man  who  happens  to  own  a  little  of  it. 
Stock,  in  America,  as  it  is  so  much  nearer  ready  money,  is 
a  better  thing  than  land,  you  know." 

How  true  was  this,  even  ten  years  since  ;  how  false  is  it 
to-day  !  The  proprietor  of  tens  of  thousands  of  acres  was, 
indeed,  under  the  paper  money  regime,  a  less  important 
man  than  the  owner  of  a  handful  of  scrip,  which  has  had 
all  its  value  squeezed  out  of  it,  little  by  little.  That  was 
truly  the  age  when  the  representative  of  property  was  of 
far  more  importance  than  the  property  itself  ;  and  all  be- 
cause the  country  existed  in  a  fever  that  set  everything  in 
motion.  We  shall  see  just  such  times  again,  I  fear. 

"  But  what  had  Emily  Merton  to  do  with  all  this  ! " 

"Miss  Merton  ?  Oh  !  she  is  English, you  know,  and  felt 
as  English  persons  always  do  at  the  sound  of  acres.  I  set 
it  all  right,  however,  and  you  need  be  under  no  concern." 

"  The  devil  you  did  !  And,  pray,  in  what  manner  was 
this  done  ?  How  was  the  matter  set  right?" 

Rupert  took  the  cigar  from  his  mouth,  suffered  the  smoke 
to  issue,  by  a  small,  deliberate  jet,  cocking  his  nose  up  at 
the  same  time,  as  if  observing  the  stars,  and  then  deigned 
to  give  me  an  answer.  Your  smokers  have  such  a  disdain- 
ful, ultra-philosophical  manner,  sometimes! 

"  Why,  just  in  this  way,  iny  fine  fellow.  I  told  her  Claw- 
bonny  was  SL  far //it  and  not  an  estate,  you  know  ;  that  did  3 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  325 

good  deal,  of  itself.  Then  I  entered  into  an  explanation 
of  the  consideration  of  farmers  in  this  country,  you  know, 
and  made  it  all  as  plain  as  A  B  C.  She  is  a  quick  girl,  is 
Emily,  and  takes  a  thing  remarkably  soon." 

"  Did  Miss  Merton  say  anything  to  induce  you  to  sup- 
pose she  thought  the  less  of  me,  for  these  explanations  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not — she  values  you,  amazingly — quite  wor- 
ships you,  as  a  sailor — thinks  you  a  sort  of  merchant  captain 
Nelson,  or  Blake,  or  Truxtun,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 
All  young  ladies,  however,  are  exceedingly  particular 
about  professions,  I  suppose  you  know,  Miles,  as  well  as  I 
do  myself." 

"  What,  Lucy,  Rupert  ?  Do  you  imagine  Lucy  cares  a 
straw  about  my  not  being  a  lawyer,  for  instance  ? " 

"  Do  I  ?  Out  of  all  question.  Don't  you  remember  how 
the  girls  wept — Grace  as  well  as  Lucy — when  we  went  to 
sea,  boy.  It  was  all  on  account  of  the  ##gentility  of  the 
profession,  if  a  fellow  can  use  such  a  word." 

I  did  not  believe  this,  for  I  knew  Grace  better,  to  say  the 
Jeast  ;  and  thought  I  understood  Lucy  sufficiently,  at  that 
time,  to  know  she  wept  because  she  was  sorry  to  see  me 
go  away.  Still,  Lucy  had  grown  from  a  very  young  girl, 
since  I  sailed  in  the  Crisis,  into  a  young  woman,  and  might 
view  things  differently,  now,  from  what  she  had  done  three 
years  before.  I  had  not  time,  however,  for  further  discus- 
sion at  that  moment,  and  I  cut  the  matter  short. 

"Well,  Rupert,  what  am  I  to  expect !"  I  asked  ;  "Claw- 
bonny,  or  no  Clawbonny  ?  " 

"  Why,  now  you  say  the  Mertons  are  to  be  of  the  party, 
I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  go  ;  it  would  be  inhospitable 
else.  I  do  wish,  Miles,  you  would  manage  to  establish 
visiting  relations  with  some  of  the  families  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  There  are  plenty  of  respectable  people 
within  a  few  hours'  sail  of  Clawbonny." 

"  My  father,  and  my  grandfather,  and  my  great-grand- 
father, managed,  as  you  call  it,  to  get  aiong  for  the  last 
hundred  years,  well  enough  on  the  west  side  ;  and,  al- 
though we  are  not  quite  as  genteel  as  the  east,  we  will  do 
well  enough.  The  Wallingford  sails  early  in  the  morning, 
to  save  the  tide  ;  and  I  hope  your  lordship  will  turn  out 
in  season,  and  not  keep  us  waiting.  If  you  do,  I  shall  be 
undented  enough  to  leave  you  behind." 

I  left  Rupert  with  a  feeling  in  which  disgust  and  anger 
were  blended.  I  wish  to  be  understood,  more  particularly, 
as  I  know  I  am  writing  for  a  stiff-necked  generation.  I 


326  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

never  was  guilty  of  the  weakness  of  decrying  a  thing  be- 
cause I  did  not  happen  to  possess  it  myself.  I  knew  my 
own  place  in  the  social  scale  perfectly  ;  nor  was  I,  as  I  have 
just  said,  in  the  least  inclined  to  fancy  that  one  man  was  as 
good  as  another.  I  knew  very  well  that  this  was  not  true, 
either  in  nature  or  in  the  social  relations  ;  in  political 
axioms,  any  more  than  in  political  truths.  At  the  same 
time,  I  did  not  believe  nature  had  created  men  unequal,  in 
the  order  of  primogeniture,  from  male  to  male.  Keeping 
in  view  all  the  facts,  I  was  perfectly  disposed  to  admit  that 
habits,  education,  association,  and  sometimes  chance  and 
caprice,  drew  distinctions  that  produced  great  benefits,  as 
a  whole  ;  in  some  small  degree  qualified,  perhaps,  by  cases 
of  individual  injustice.  This  last  exception,  however, 
being  applicable  to  all  things  human,  it  had  no  influence 
on  my  opinions,  which  were  sound  and  healthful  on  all 
these  points  ;  practical,  common-sense  like,  and  in  con- 
formity with  the  decisions  of  the  world  from  the  time  of 
Moses,  down  to  our  own,  or,  I  dare  say,  of  Adam  himself, 
if  the  truth  could  be  known  ;  and,  as  I  have  said  more  than 
once  in  these  rambling  memoirs,  I  was  not  disposed  to  take 
a  false  view  of  my  own  social  position.  I  belonged,  at 
most,  to  the  class  of  small  proprietors,  as  they  existed  in 
the  last  century,  and  filled  a  very  useful  and  respectable 
niche  between  the  yeoman  and  gentleman,  considering  the 
last  strictly  in  reference  to  the  upper  class  of  that  day. 
Now  it  struck  me  that  Emily  Merton,  with  her  English 
notions,  might  very  well  draw  the  distinctions  Rupert  had 
mentioned  ;  nor  am  I  conscious  of  having  cared  much 
about  it,  though  she  did.  If  I  were  a  less  important  per- 
son on  terra  fir  ma,  with  all  the  usages  and  notions  of  ordi- 
nary society  producing  their  influence,  than  I  had  been 
when  in  command  of  the  Crisis,  in  the  centre  of  the  Pacific, 
so  was  Miss  Merton  a  less  important  young  lady,  in  the 
midst  of  the  beauty  of  New  York,  than  she  had  been  in  the 
isolation  of  Marble  Land.  This  I  could  feel  very  dis- 
tinctly. But  Lucy's  supposed  defection  did  more  than 
annoy  me.  I  felt  humbled,  mortified,  grieved.  I  had 
always  known  that  Lucy  was  better  connected  than  I  was 
myself,  and  I  had  ever  given  Rupert  and  her  the  benefit  of 
this  advantage,  as  some  offset  to  my  own  and  Grace's  larger 
means  ;  but  it  had  never  struck  me  that  either  the  brother 
or  sister  would  be  disposed  to  look  down  upon  us  in  con- 
sequence. The  world  is  everywhere — and  America,  on 
account  of  its  social  vicissitudes,  more  than  most  other 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  327 

countries — constantly  exhibiting  pictures  of  the  struggles 
between  fallen  consequence  and  rising  wealth.  The  last 
may,  and  does  have  the  best  of  it,  in  the  mere  physical  part 
of  the  strife  ;  but  in  the  more  moral,  if  such  a  word  can  be 
used,  the  quiet  ascendency  of  better  manners  and  ancient 
recollections  is  very  apt  to  overshadow  the  fussy  preten- 
sions of  the  vulgar  aspirant,  who  places  his  claims  alto- 
gether on  the  all-mighty  dollar.  It  is  vain  to  deny  it ;  men 
ever  have  done  it,  and  probably  ever  will  defer  to  the  past, 
in  matters  of  this  sort — it  being  much  with  us,  in  this  par- 
ticular, as  it  is  with  our  own  lives,  which  have  had  all  their 
greatest  enjoyments  in  bygone  days.  I  knew  all  this — felt 
all  this — and  was  greatly  afraid  that  Lucy,  through  Mrs. 
Bradfort's  influence,  and  her  town  associations,  might  have 
learned  to  regard  me  as  Captain  Wallingford,  of  the  mer- 
chant-service, and  the  son  of  another  Captain  Wallingford 
of  the  same  line  in  life.  I  determined,  therefore,  to  watch 
her  with  jealous  attention,  during  the  few  days  I  was  to 
remain  at  Clawbonny.  With  such  generous  intentions, 
the  reader  is  not  to  be  surprised  if  I  found  some  of  that 
for  which  I  so  earnestly  sought — people  being  very  apt 
to  find  precisely  the  thing  for  which  they  look,  when  it  is 
not  lost  money. 

The  next  morning  we  were  all  punctual,  and  sailed  at 
the  proper  hour.  The  Mertons  seemed  pleased  with  the 
river,  and,  having  a  fresh  southerly  wind  in  our  favor, 
with  a  strong  flood-tide,  we  actually  landed  at  the  mill  the 
same  afternoon.  Everything  is  apt  to  be  agreeable  when 
the  traveler  gets  on  famously  ;  and  I  thought  1  never  saw 
Emily  in  better  spirits  than  she  was  when  we  first  reached 
the  top  of  the  ascent  that  lies  above  the  landing.  I  had 
given  her  my  arm,  as  due  to  hospitality,  while  the  others 
got  up  as  they  could  ;  for  I  observed  that  Rupert  assisted 
no  one.  As  for  Lucy,  I  was  still  too  much  vexed  with  her, 
and  had  been  so  all  day,  to  be  as  civil  as  I  ought.  We 
were  soon  at  a  point  that  commanded  a  view  of  the  house, 
meadows,  orchards,  and  fields. 

"  This,  then,  is  Clawbonny  ! "  exclaimed  Emily,  as  soon 
as  I  pointed  out  the  place  to  her.  "  Upon  my  word,  a  very 
pretty  farm,  Captain  Wallingford.  Even  prettier  than  you 
represented  it  to  be,  Mr.  Rupert  Hardinge." 

"Oh  !  1  always  do  justice  to  everything  of  Wallingford's. 
you  know.  We  were  children  together,  and  became  so  much 
attached  in  early  life  that  it's  no  wonder  we  remain  so  iu 
these  our  later  days." 


328  AFLOAT  A.VJ)   ASHO RE. 

Rupert  was  probably  nearer  the  truth  than  he  imagined, 
when  he  made  this  speech  ;  my  regard  for  him,  by  this 
time,  being  pretty  much  reduced  to  habit  ;  and  certainly 
it  had  no  increase  from  any  fresh  supplies  of  respect.  I 
began  to  hope  he  might  not  marry  Grace,  though  I  had 
formerly  looked  forward  to  the  connection  as  a  settled 
thing.  "Let  him  get  Miss  Merton, if  he  can,"  I  said  to  my- 
self ;  "  it  will  be  no  great  acquisition,  I  fancy,  to  either 
side." 

How  different  was  it  with  his  father,  and,  I  may  add, 
with  Lucy  !  The  old  gentleman  turned  to  me,  with  tears 
in  his  eyes  ;  pointed  to  the  dear  old  house,  with  a  look  of 
delight ;  and  then  took  my  arm,  without  reference  to  the 
wants  of  Miss  Merton,  and  led  me  on,  conversing  earnestly 
of  my  affairs,  and  of  his  own  stewardship.  Lucy  had  her 
father's  arm,  on  the  other  side  ;  and  the  good  divine  was 
too  much  accustomed  to  her,  to  mind  the  presence  of  his 
daughter.  Away  we  three  went,  therefore,  leading  the 
way,  while  Rupert  took  charge  of  Emily  and  Grace.  Major 
Merton  followed,  leaning  on  his  own  man. 

"It  is  a  lovely — it  is  a  lovely  spot,  Miles,"  said  Mr.  Har- 
dinge  ;  "and  I  do  most  sincerely  hope  you  will  never 
think  of  tearing  down  that  respectable-looking,  comfort- 
able, substantial,  good  old-fashioned  house,  to  build  a  new 
one." 

"  Why  should  I,  dear  sir  ?  The  house,  with  an  occasional 
addition,  all  built  in  the  same  style,  has  served  us  a  cen- 
tury, and  may  very  well  serve  another.  Why  should  I  wish 
for  more,  or  a  better  house  ?  " 

"Why,  sure  enough  ?  But  now  you  are  a  sort  of  a  mer- 
chant, you  may  grow  rich,  and  wish  to  be  the  proprietor  of 
a  seat." 

The  time  had  been,  when  such  thoughts  often  crossed 
my  mind  ;  but  I  cared  less  for  them,  then.  To  own  a  scat, 
was  the  great  object  of  my  ambition  in  boyhood  ;  but  the 
thought  had  weakened  by  time  and  reflection. 

"What  does  Lucy  think  of  the  matter  ?  Do  I  want,  or 
indeed  deserve,  a  better  house  ? " 

"I  shall  not  answer  either  question,"  replied  the  dear 
girl,  a  little  saucily,  I  thought.  "  I  do  not  understand 
your  wants,  and  do  not  choose  to  speak  of  your  deservings. 
But  I  fancy  the  question  will  be  settled  by  a  certain  Mrs. 
Wallingford,  one  of  these  days.  Clever  women  generally 
determine  these  things  for  their  husbands." 

I  endeavored  to  catch  Lucy's  eye,  when  this  was  said,  by 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  329 

leaning  a  little  forward  myself ;  but  the  girl  turned  her 
head  in  such  a  manner  as  prevented  my  seeing  her  face. 
The  remark  was  not  lost  on  Mr.  Hardinge,  however,  who 
took  it  up  with  warmth,  and  all  the  interest  of  a  most  pure 
and  disinterested  affection. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  think  of  marrying,  one  of  these 
days,  Miles,"  he  said;  "but,  on  no  account,  marry  a 
woman  who  will  desert  Clawbonny,  or  who  would  wish 
materially  to  alter  it.  No  good-hearted  woman,  indeed — • 
no  /rw^-hearted  woman — would  ever  dream  of  either.  Dear 
me  !  dear  me  !  the  happy  days  and  the  sorrowful  days — the 
gracious  mercies  of  Providence,  and  the  chastening  afflic- 
tions— that  I  myself  have  seen,  and  felt,  and  witnessed, 
under  these  same  roofs  ! " 

This  was  followed  by  a  sort  of  enumeration  of  the  events 
of  the  last  forty  years,  including  passages  in  the  lives  of  all 
who  had  dwelt  at  the  farm,  the  whole  concluding  with  the 
divine's  solemnly  repeating — "No,  no!  Miles!  do  not 
think,  even,  of  marrying  a  woman  who  would  wish  you 
to  desert,  or  materially  alter,  Clawbonny." 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

"If  thou  be'st  rated  by  thy  estimation, 
Thou  dost  deserve  enough  ;  and  yet  enough 
May  not  extend  so  far  as  to  the  lady." 

— Merchant  of  Venice. 

NEXT  morning,  I  was  early  afoot,  and  I  found  Grace  as 
much  alive  to  the  charms  of  home,  as  I  was  myself.  She 
put  on  a  gypsy,  and  accompanied  me  into  the  garden, 
where,  to  my  surprise,  I  found  Lucy.  It  looked  like  old 
times  to  be  in  that  spot,  again,  with  those  two  dear  girls. 
Rupert  alone  was  wanting  to  complete  the  picture ;  but,  I 
had  an  intimate  conviction  that  Rupert,  as  he  had  been  at 
least,  could  never  come  within  the  setting  of  the  family 
group  again.  I  was  rejoiced,  however,  to  see  Lucy,  and 
more  so,  just  where  I  found  her,  and  I  believe  told  her  as 
much  with  my  eyes.  The  charming  girl  looked  happier 
than  she  had  appeared  the  day  before,  or  for  many  previous 
days  indeed,  and  I  felt  less  apprehension  than  of  late  con- 
cerning her  having  met  with  any  agreeable  youth  of  a 
more  genteel  profession  than  that  of  a  merchant-captain. 


33° 


AFLOAT  A\'D   ASHORE. 


"  T  did  not  expect  to  findjw/  here,  Miss  Lucy,"  cried 
Grace,  "  eating  half-ripe  currants,  too,  or  my  eyes  deceive 
me,  at  this  early  hour  in  the  morning.  It  is  not  twenty 
minutes  since  you  were  in  your  own  room,  quite  un- 
adorned." 

"  The  green  fruit  of  dear  Clawbonny  is  better  than  the 
ripe  fruit  of  those  vile  New  York  markets  !  "  exclaimed 
Lucy,  with  a  fervor  so  natural  as  to  forbid  any  suspicion  of 
acting.  "  I  should  prefer  a  Clawbonny  potato,  to  a  New 
York  peach  ! " 

Grace  smiled,  and  as  soon  as  Lucy's  animation  had  a 
little  subsided  she  blushed. 

"  How  much  better  would  it  be,  Miles,"  my  sister  re- 
sumed, "  could  you  be  induced  to  think  and  feel  with  us, 
and  quit  the  seas,  to  come  and  live  for  the  rest  of  your 
days  on  the  spot  where  your  fathers  have  so  long  lived  be- 
fore you.  Would  it  not,  Lucy  ?  " 

"  Miles  will  never  do  that"  Lucy  answered,  with  empha- 
sis. "  Men  are  not  like  us  females,  who  love  everything 
we  love  at  all  with  our  whole  hearts.  Men  prefer  wander- 
ing about,  and  being  shipwrecked,  and  left  on  desert 
islands,  to  remaining  quietly  at  home  on  their  own  farms. 
No,  no,  you'll  never  persuade  Miles  to  do  that" 

11 1  am  not  astonished  my  brother  thinks  desert  islands 
such  pleasant  abodes,  when  he  can  find  companions  like 
Miss  Merton  on  them." 

"  You  will  remember,  sister  of  mine,  in  the  first  place, 
that  Marble  Land  is  very  far  from  being  a  desert  island  at 
all  ;  and  in  the  next,  that  I  found  Miss  Merton  in  Hyde 
Park.  London,  almost  in  the  canal,  for  that  matter." 

"  I  think  it  a  little  odd  that  Miles  never  told  us  all  about 
this  in  his  letters  at  the  time,  Lucy.  When  young  gentle- 
men drag  young  ladies  out  of  canals,  their  friends  at  home 
have  a  right  to  know  something  of  the  matter." 

How  much  unnecessary  misery  is  inflicted  by  unmean- 
ing expressions  like  this.  Grace  spoke  lightly,  and  prob- 
ably without  a  second  thought  about  the  matter  ;  but  the 
little  she  said  not  only  made  me  thoughtful  and  uneasy,  but 
it  drove  everything  like  a  smile  from  the  usually  radiant 
countenance  of  her  friend.  The  conversation  dragged,  and 
soon  after  we  returned  together  to  the  house. 

I  was  much  occupied  that  morning  in  riding  about  the 
place  with  Mr.  Hardinge,  and  in  listening  to  his  account 
of  the  stewardship.  With  the  main  results  I  was  already 
acquainted,  nay,  possessed  them  in  the  Dawn,  but  the  de- 


AFLOAT  A\'D  ASHORE.  33! 

tails  had  all  to  be  gone  over  with  the  most  minute  accu- 
racy. A  more  simple-minded  being  there  was  not  on  earth 
than  Mr.  Hardinge  ;  and  that  my  affairs  turned  out  so  well 
was  the  result  of  the  prosperous  condition  of  the  country 
at  that  clay,  the  system  my  father  had  adopted  in  his  life- 
time, and  the  good  qualities  of  the  different  agents  he  had 
chosen — every  one  of  whom  remained  in  the  situation  in 
which  he  was  at  the  sad  moment  of  the  fatal  accident  at  the 
mill.  Had  matters  really  depended  on  the  knowledge  and 
management  of  the  most  excellent  divine,  they  would  soon 
have  been  at  sixes  and  sevens. 

"  I  am  no  believer  in  miracles,  my  dear  Miles,"  ob- 
served  my  guardian,  with  amusing  self-complacency  ;  "  but 
I  do  think  a  change  has  been  wrought  in  me,  to  meet 
the  emergencies  of  a  situation  in  which  the  interests  of 
two  orphans  have  been  so  suddenly  intrusted  to  my  guid- 
ance and  care.  God  be  thanked  !  everything  prospers ; 
your  affairs,  as  well  as  those  of  my  dear  Grace.  It  is  won- 
derful, boy,  how  a  man  of  my  habits  has  been  directed  in 
his  purchases  of  wheat,  for  instance  ;  I,  who  never  bought 
a  bushel  until  the  whole  responsibility  of  your  mills  fell 
upon  rny  shoulders.  I  take  no  credit  to  myself  for  it — no 
credit  to  myself  !  " 

"  I  hope  the  miller  has  not  been  backward,  my  dear  sir, 
in  giving  you  all  the  assistance  in  his  power." 

"  Morgan  ?  yes,  he  is  always  ready  ;  and  you  know  I 
never  forget  to  send  him  into  the  market  to  both  buy  and 
sell.  Really  his  advice  has  been  so  excellent,  that  to  me 
it  has  the  appearance  of  being  almost  miraculous — pro- 
phetic, I  should  say,  \vere  it  not  improper.  We  should 
avoid  all  exaggeration  in  our  gratitude,  boy." 

"Very  truly,  sir.  And  in  what  manner  have  you  man- 
aged to  get  along  so  well  with  the  crops  on  the  place  it- 
self ?" 

"  Favored  by  the  same  great  adviser,  Miles.  It  is  really 
wonderful,  the  crops  we  have  had,  and  the  judgment  that 
has  been  so  providentially  shown  in  the  management  of 
the  fields  as  well  as  of  the  mills  !  " 

"  Of  course,  sir,  old  Hiram  (Neb's  uncle)  has  always 
been  ready  to  give  you  his  aid  ?  Hiram  has  a  great  deal 
of  judgment  in  his  way." 

"  No  doubt,  no  doubt.  Hiram  and  I  have  done  it  all, 
led  by  a  providential  counsel.  Well,  my  boy,  you  ought 
to  be  satisfied  with  your  earthly  lot,  for  everything  seems 
to  prosper  that  belongs  to  you.  Of  course  you  will  marry, 


332  AFLOAT  AND  A  SHORE. 

one  of  these  days,  and  transmit  this  place  to  your  son,  as  it 
has  been  received  from  your  fathers  ? " 

"I  keep  that  hope  in  perspective,  sir  ;  or,  as  we  sailors 
say,  for  a  sheet-anchor." 

"Your  hope  of  salvation,  boy,  is  your  sheet-anchor,  I 
trust.  Nevertheless,  we  are  not  to  be  too  hard  on  young 
men,  and  must  let  them  have  a  little  romance  in  their  com- 
positions. Yes,  yes  ;  I  trust  you  will  not  become  so 
much  wedded  to  your  ship,  as  not  to  think  of  taking  a 
wife  one  of  these  days.  It  will  be  a  happy  hour  to  me 
when  I  can  see  another  Mrs.  Miles  Waliingford  at  Claw- 
bonny.  She  will  be  the  third  ;  for  I  can  remember  your 
grandmother." 

"  Can  you  recommend  to  me  a  proper  person  to  fill  that 
honorable  station,  sir  ? "  said  I,  smiling  to  myself,  and  ex- 
ceedingly curious  to  hear  the  answer. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  this  Miss  Merton,  boy  ?  She  is 
handsome,  and  that  pleases  young  men  ;  clever,  and  that 
pleases  old  ones  ;  well  educated,  and  that  will  last  when 
the  beauty  is  gone  ;  and,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  amiable  ; 
and  that  is  as  necessary  to  a  wife  as  fidelity.  Marry  no 
woman,  Miles,  that  is  not  amiable  !  " 

"May  I  ask  what  you  call  amiable,  sir  ?  and,  when  that 
question  is  answered,  I  may  venture  to  go  so  far  as  to  in- 
quire whom  you  call  amiable  ? " 

"Very  sensible  distinctions,  and  such  as  are  entitled  to 
fair  answers  ;  at  least  the  first.  I  do  not  call  levity,  amia- 
bility ;  nor  mere  constitutional  gayety.  Some  of  the 
seemingly  most  light-hearted  women  I  have  ever  known, 
have  been  anything  but  amiable.  There  must  be  an  un- 
usual absence  of  selfishness — a  person  must  live  less  for 
herself,  than  others — or  rather,  must  find  her  own  happi- 
ness in  the  happiness  of  those  she  loves,  to  make  a  truly 
amiable  woman.  Heart  and  principle  are  at  the  bottom  of 
what  is  truly  amiable  ;  though  temperament  and  disposi- 
tion undoubtedly  contribute.  As  for  the  whom,  your  own 
sister  Grace  is  a  truly  amiable  young  woman.  I  never 
knew  her  do  anything  to  hurt  another's  feelings  in  my 
life." 

"  I  suppose  you  will  admit,  sir,  I  cannot  very  well  marry 
Grace  ? " 

"  I  wish  you  could,  with  all  my  heart — yes,  with  all  my 
heart !  Were  not  you  and  Grace  brother  and  sister,  I 
should  consider  myself  well  quit  of  the  responsibility  of 
my  guardianship,  in  seeing  you  man  and  wife." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  333 

"  As  that  is  out  of  the  question,  I  am  not  without  hopes 
you  can  mention  another  who  will  do  just  as  well  so  far  as 
I  am  concerned." 

''Well,  there  is  Miss  Merton — though  I  do  not  know  her 
well  enough  to  venture  absolutely  on  a  recommendation. 
Now  I  told  Lucy,  no  later  than  yesterday,  while  we  were 
on  the  river,  and  as  you  were  pointing  out  to  Miss  Merton 
the  forts  in  the  Highlands,  that  I  thought  you  would  make 
one  of  the  handsomest  couples  in  the  state  ;  and,  moreover, 
I  told  her — bless  me,  how  this  corn  grows  !  The  plants 
will  be  in  tassel  in  a  few  days,  and  the  crop  must  turn  out 
most  beneficent — truly,  truly  there  is  a  Providence  in  all 
things  ;  for,  at  first,  I  was  for  putting  the  corn  on  yonder 
hill-side,  and  the  potatoes  here  ;  but  old  Hiram  was  led  by 
some  invisible  agency  to  insist  on  this  field  for  the  corn, 
and  the  hill-side  for  the  potatoes  ;  and,  now,  look  and  see 
what  crops  are  in  promise  !  Think  of  a  nigger's  blunder- 
ing on  such  a  thing  ! " 

In  1802*  even  well-educated  and  well-intentioned  clergy- 
men had  no  scruples  in  saying  "  nigger." 

"  But,  sir,  you  have  quite  forgotten  to  add  what  else  you 
told  Lucy." 

"  True,  true — it  is  very  natural  that  you  should  prefer 
hearing  me  talk  about  Miss  Merton,  to  hearing  me  talk 
about  potatoes.  I'll  tell  that  to  Lucy,  too,  you  may  de- 
pend on  it." 

"  I  sincerely  hope  you  will  do  no  such  thing,  my  dear 
sir,"  I  cried,  in  no  little  alarm. 

"Ah!  that  betrays  guilt  —  consciousness,  I  should 
say  ;  for  what  guilt  can  there  be  in  a  virtuous  love  ?  and 
rely  on  it,  both  the  girls  shall  know  all  about  it.  Lucy 
and  I  often  talk  over  your  matters,  Miles;  for  she  loves 
you  as  well  as  your  own  sister.  Ah  !  my  fine  fellow,  you 
blush  at  it,  like  a  girl  of  sixteen  !  But  there  is  nothing  to 
be  ashamed  of,  and  there  is  no  occasion  for  blushes." 

"  Well,  sir,  letting  my  blushes — the  blushes  of  a  ship- 
master!— but  setting  aside  my  blushes,  for  mercy's  sake 
what  more  did  you  tell  Lucy  ? " 

"  What  more  ?  Why,  I  told  her  how  you  had  been  on  a 
desert  island,  quite  alone,  as  one  might  say,  with  Miss 
Merton,  and  how  you  had  been  at  sea,  living  in  the  same 
cabin,  as  it  were,  for  nine  months  ;  and  it  would  be  \von- 
derful  indeed,  if  two  so  handsome  young  persons  should 
not  feel  an  attachment  for  each  other.  Country  might 
make  some  difference,  to  be  sure " 


334  AFLOAT  A  XI)  ASHORE. 

"And  station,  sir?  What  do  you  think  would  be  th<3 
influence  'of  the  difference  of  station,  also  ? " 

"  Station  !  Bless  me,  Miles  ;  what  difference  in  station 
is  there  between  you  and  Miss  Merton,  that  it  should 
cause  any  obstacle  to  your  union  ?" 

"  You  know  what  it  is,  sir,  as  well  as  I  do  myself.  She 
is  the  daughter  of  an  officer  in  the  British  army,  and  I  am 
the  master  of  a  ship.  You  will  admit,  I  presume,  Mr.  Hai> 
dinge,  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  difference  in  sta- 
tion ?" 

"Beyond  all  question.  It  is  exceedingly  useful  to  re- 
member it  ;  and  I  greatly  fear  the  loose  appointments  of 
magistrates  and  other  functionaries,  that  are  making  round 
the  country,  will  bring  all  our  notions  on  such  subjects 
into  great  confusion.  I  can  understand  that  one  man  is 
as  good  as  another  in  rights,  Miles;  but  I  cannot  under- 
stand he  is  any  better,  because  he  happens  to  be  unedu- 
cated, ignorant,  or  a  blackguard." 

Mr.  Hardinge  was  a  sensible  man  in  all  such  distinc- 
tions, though  so  simple  in  connection  with  other  matters. 

"You  can  have  no  difficulty,  however,  in  understanding 
that  in  New  York,  for  instance,  I  should  not  be  considered 
the  equal  of  Major  Merton — I  mean  socially  altogether, 
and  not  in  personal  merit  or  the  claims  which  years  give — 
and,  of  course,  not  the  equal  of  his  daughter." 

"Why — yes — I  know  what  you  mean,  now.  There  may 
be  some  little  inequality  in  that  sense,  perhaps  ;  but  Claw- 
bonny,  and  the  ship,  and  the  money  at  use,  would  be  very 
apt  to  strike  a  balance." 

"  I  am  afraid  not,  sir.  I  should  have  studied  law,  sir, 
had  I  wished  to  make  myself  a  gentleman." 

"There  are  lots  of  vulgar  fellows  getting  into  the  law, 
Miles,  men  who  have  not  half  your  claims  to  be  considered 
gentlemen.  I  hope  you  do  not  think  I  wished  you  and 
Rupert  to  study  law  in  order  to  make  gentlemen  of  you  ? " 

"No,  sir;  it  was  unnecessary  to  take  that  step  as  regards 
Rupert,  who  was  fully  born  in  the  station.  Clergymen 
have  a  decided  position  all  over  the  world,  I  believe  ;  and 
then  you  are  extremely  well-connected  otherwise,  Mr. 
Hardinge.  Rupert  has  no  occasion  for  such  an  assistance ; 
with  me  it  was  a  little  different." 

"  Miles,  Miles,  this  is  a  strange  fancy  to  come  over  a 
young  man  in  your  situation — and  who,  I  am  afraid,  has 
been  the  subject  of  envy,  only  too  often,  to  Rupert !  " 

"  If  the  truth  were   known,   Mr.  Hardinge,   I   dare  say 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  335 

both  Rupert  and  Lucy,  in  their  secret  hearts,  think  they 
possess  advantages  in  the  way  of  social  station  that  do  not 
belong  to  Grace  and  myself." 

Mr.  Hardinge  looked  hurt,  and  I  was  soon  sorry  that  I 
had  made  this  speech.  Nor  would  I  have  the  reader  im- 
agine that  what  I  had  said  proceeded  in  the  least  from  that 
narrow,  selfish  feeling  which,  under  the  blustering  preten- 
sion of  equality,  presumes  to  deny  the  existence  of  a  very 
potent  social  fact ;  but  simply  from  the  sensitiveness  of 
feelings  which  on  this  subject  were  somewhat  in  danger  of 
becoming  morbid,  through  the  agency  of  the  most  power- 
ful passion  of  the  human  heart,  or  that  which  has  well 
been  called  the  master-passion.  Nevertheless,  Mr.  Har- 
dinge was  much  too  honest  a  man  to  deny  a  truth,  and 
much  too  sincere  to  wish  even  to  prevaricate  about  it, 
however  unpleasant  it  might  be  to  acknowledge  it  in  all 
its  unpleasant  bearings. 

"  I  now  understand  you,  Miles,  and  it  would  be  idle  to 
pretend  that  there  is  not  some  justice  in  what  you  say, 
though  I  attach  very  little  importance  to  it  myself.  Rupert 
is  not  exactly  what  I  could  wish  him  to  be  in  all  things, 
and  possibly  he  may  be  coxcomb  enough,  at  times,  to  fancy 
he  has  this  slight  advantage  over  you,  but  as  for  Lucy,  I'll 
engage  she  never  thinks  of  you  but  as  a  second  brother, 
and  that  she  loves  you  exactly  as  she  loves  Rupert." 

Mr.  Hardinge's  simplicity  was  of  proof,  and  it  was  idle 
to  think  of  making  any  impression  on  it.  I  changed  the 
subject,  therefore,  and  this  was  easily  enough  done  by  be- 
ginning again  to  talk  about  the  potatoes.  I  was  far  from 
being  easy,  nevertheless  ;  for  I  could  not  avoid  seeing  that 
the  good  divine's  restlessness  might  readily  widen  the  little 
breach  which  had  opened  between  his  daughter  and  myself. 

That  day,  at  dinner,  I  discovered  that  Grace's  winter  in 
town  had  led  to  a  sensible  melioration  of  the  domestic 
economy  ;  most  especially  as  related  to  the  table.  My 
father  and  mother  had  introduced  some  changes,  which 
rendered  the  Clawbonny  household  affairs  a  little  different 
from  those  of  most  other  of  the  Ulster  county  families 
near  our  own  class  ;  but  their  innovations,  or  improve- 
ments, or  whatever  they  might  be  called,  were  far  from  be- 
ing as  decided  as  those  introduced  by  their  daughter. 
Nothing,  perhaps,  sooner  denotes  the  condition  of  people, 
than  the  habits  connected  with  the  table.  If  eating  and 
drinking  be  not  done  in  a  certain  way,  and  a  way  founded 
in  reason,  too,  as  indeed  are  nearly  all  the  customs  of  pol- 


336  AFLOAT  A. YD  ASHORE. 

ished  life,  whatever  may  be  the  cant  of  the  ultras  of  reason 
— but,  if  eating  and  drinking  be  not  done  in  a  certain  way, 
your  people  of  the  world  perceive  it  sooner  than  almost 
anything  else.  There  is,  also,  more  of  common  sense  and 
innate  fitness,  in  the  usages  of  the  table,  so  long  as  they 
are  not  dependent  on  mere  caprice,  than  in  almost  any 
other  part  of  our  deportment ;  for  everybody  must  eat,  and 
most  persons  choose  to  eat  decently.  I  had  been  a  little 
nervous  on  the  subject  of  the  Mertons,  in  connection  with 
the  Clawbonny  table,  I  will  confess  ;  and  great  was  my  de- 
light when  I  found  the  breakfast  going  off  so  well.  As  for 
the  major,  himself  by  no  means  familiar  with  the  higher 
classes  of  his  own  country,  he  had  that  great  stamp  of  a 
gentleman,  simplicity  ;  and  he  was  altogether  above  the 
cockney  distinctions  of  eating  and  drinking  ;  those  about 
cheese  and  malt  liquors,  and  such  vulgar  niceties  ;  nor  was 
he  a  man  to  care  about  the  silver-forkisms  ;  but  he  under- 
stood that  portion  of  the  finesse  of  the  table  which  de- 
pended on  reason  and  taste,  and  was  accustomed  to  ob- 
serve it.  This  I  knew  from  near  a  twelvemonth's  inter- 
course, and  I  had  feared  we  might  turn  out  to  be  a  little 
too  rustic. 

Grace  had  made  provisions  against  all  this,  with  a  tact 
and  judgment  for  which  I  could  have  worshipped  her.  I 
knew  the  viands,  the  vegetables,  and  the  wines  would  all 
be  good  of  their  kind,  for  in  these  we  seldom  failed  ;  nor 
did  I  distrust  the  cookery,  the  £tiglis/i-desceiided  families 
of  the  Middle  States,  of  my  class,  understanding  that  to 
perfection  ;  but  I  feared  we  should  fail  in  those  little  inci- 
dents of  style  and  arrangement,  and  in  the  order  of  the 
service,  that  denote  a  well-regulated  table.  This  is  just 
what  Grace  had  seen  to  ;  and  I  found  that  a  great  revolu- 
tion had  been  quietly  effected  in  this  branch  of  our  do- 
mestic economy  during  my  absence  ;  thanks  to  Grace's  ob- 
servations while  at  Mrs.  Bradfort's. 

Emily  seemed  pleased  at  dinner,  and  Lucy  could  again 
laugh  and  smile.  After  the  cloth  was  removed,  the  major 
and  Mr.  Hardinge  discussed  a  bottle  of  madeira,  and  that 
too  of  a  quality  of  which  I  had  no  reason  to  be  ashamed ; 
while  we  young  people  withdrew  together  to  a  little  piazza 
that  was  in  the  shade  at  that  hour,  and  took  seats  for  a 
chat.  Rupert  was  permitted  to  smoke,  on  condition  that 
he  would  not  approach  within  fifteen  feet  of  the  party 
No  sooner  was  this  little  group  thus  arranged,  the  three 
girls  in  a  crescent,  than  I  disappeared. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  337 

"  Grace,  I  have  not  yet  spoken  to  you  of  a  necklace  of 
pearls  possessed  by  your  humble  servant,"  I  cried,  as  my 
foot  again  touched  the  piazza.  "  I  would  not  say  a  word 
about  it " 

"  Yet  Lucy  and  I  heard  all  about  it,"  answered  Grace, 
with  provoking  calmness,  "  but  would  not  ask  to  see  it, 
lest  you  should  accuse  us  of  girlish  curiosity.  We  waited 
your  high  pleasure  in  the  matter." 

"You  and  Lucy  heard  I  had  such  a  necklace  ? " 

"  Most  unquestionably  ;  I,  Grace  Wallingford,  and  she, 
Lucy  Hardinge.  I  hope  it  is  no  infringement  on  the 
rights  of  Mr.  Miles  Clawbonny  " — so  the  girls  often  called 
me,  when  they  affected  to  think  I  was  on  my  high-ropes — 
"I  hope  it  is  no  infringement  on  the  rights  of  Mr.  Miles 
Clawbonny  to  say  as  much  ?  " 

"And  pray  how  could  you  and  Lucy  know  anything 
about  it  ?" 

"  That  is  altogether  another  question  ;  perhaps  we  may 
accord  an  answer,  after  we  have  seen  the  necklace." 

"  Miss  Merton  told  us,  Miles,"  said  Lucy,  looking  at  me 
with  gentleness,  for  she  saw  I  really  wished  an  answer  ; 
and  what  could  Lucy  Hardinge  ever  refuse  me,  that  was 
right  in  itself,  when  she  saw  my  feelings  were  really  in- 
terested ? 

"  Miss  Merton  ?  Then  I  have  been  betrayed,  and  the 
surprise  I  anticipated  is  lost." 

I  was  vexed,  and  my  manner  must  have  shown  it  in  a 
slight  degree.  Emily  colored,  bit  her  lip,  and  said  nothing, 
but  Grace  made  her  excuses  with  more  spirit  than  it  was 
usual  for  her  to  show. 

"  You  are  rightly  punished,  Master  Miles,"  she  cried  ; 
"for  you  had  no  business  to  anticipate  surprise.  They  are 
vulgar  things  at  best,  and  they  are  worse  than  that  when 
they  come  from  a  distance  of  fifteen  thousand  miles — from 
a  brother  to  a  sister.  Besides,  you  have  surprised  us 
sufficiently  once,  already,  in  connection  with  Miss  Mer- 
ton." 

"  I  !  "  I  exclaimed. 

"Me  !"  added  Emily. 

"Yes,  I  and  me  ;  did  you  tell  us  one  word  about  her  in 
your  letters  ?  and  have  you  not  now  both  surprised  and 
delighted  us,  by  making  us  acquainted  with  so  charming 
a  person  ?  I  can  pardon  such  a  surprise,  on  account  of 
its  consequences  ;  but  nothing  so  vulgar  as  a  surprise  about 
pearls." 

22 


338  AFLOAT  AXD   ASHORE. 

Emily  blushed  now  ;  and  in  her  it  was  possible  to  tell 
the  difference  between  a  blush  and  the  suffusion  that  arose 
from  a  different  feeling  ;  but  she  looked  immensely  su- 
perior to  anything  like  explanations. 

"  Captain  Wallingford  " — how  I  disliked  that  Captain — • 
"  Captain  Wallingford  can  have  but  little  knowledge  of 
young  ladies,"  she  said,  coldly,  "if  he  supposes  such  pearls 
as  he  possesses  would  not  form  the  subject  of  their  con- 
versation." 

I  was  coxcomb  enough  to  fancy  Emily  was  vexed  that  I 
had  neglected  to  be  more  particular  about  her  being  on 
the  island,  and  her  connection  with  the  ship.  This  might 
have  been  a  mistake,  however. 

"Let  us  see  the  pearls,  Miles,  and  that  will  plead  your 
apology,"  said  Lucy. 

"There,  then — your  charming  eyes,  young  ladies,  never 
looked  on  pearls  like  those  before.1' 

Female  nature  could  not  suppress  the  exclamations  of 
delight  that  succeeded.  Even  Rupert,  who  had  a  besetting 
weakness  on  the  subject  of  all  personal  ornaments,  laid 
aside  his  cigar,  and  came  within  the  prescribed  distance, 
the  better  to  admire.  It  was  admitted  all  round,  New  York 
had  nothing  to  compare  with  them.  I  then  mentioned 
that  they  had  been  fished  up  by  myself  from  the  depths  of 
the  sea. 

"How  much  that  adds  to  their  value  !"  said  Lucy,  in  a 
low  voice,  but  in  her  warm,  sincere  manner. 

"That  was  getting  them  cheap,  was  it  not,  Miss  Walling- 
ford?" inquired  Emily,  with  an  emphasis  I  disliked. 

"  Very ;  though  I  agree  with  Lucy,  it  makes  them  so 
much  the  more  valuable." 

"  If  Miss  Merton  wTill  forget  my  charge  of  treason,  and 
condescend  to  put  on  the  necklace,  you  will  all  see  it  to 
much  greater  advantage  than  at  present.  If  a  fine  neck- 
lace embellishes  a  fine  woman,  the  advantage  is  quite 
reciprocal.  I  have  seen  my  pearls  once  already  on  her 
neck,  and  know  the  effect." 

A  wish  of  Grace's  aided  my  application,  and  Emily 
placed  the  ornaments  around  her  throat.  The  dazzling 
whiteness  of  her  skin  gave  a  lustre  to  the  pearls  that  they 
certainly  did  not  previously  possess.  One  scarcely  knew 
which  to  admire  the  most — the  ornaments,  or  their  setting. 

"How  very,  very  beautiful  they  are  now!"  cried  Lucy, 
in  generous  admiration.  "  Oh  !  Miss  Merton,  pearls  should 
ever  be  your  ornaments." 


AFLOAT  A, YD   ASHORE.  339 

"  Those  pearls,  you  mean,  Lucy,"  put  in  Rupert,  who  was 
always  extremely  liberal  with  other  people's  means  ;  "the 
necklace  ought  never  to  be  removed." 

"  Miss  Merton  knows  their  destination,"  I  said,  gallantly, 
"and  the  terms  of  ownership." 

Emily  slowly  undid  the  clasp,  placed  the  string  before 
her  eyes,  and  looked  at  it  long  and  silently. 

"  And  what  is  this  destination,  Miles  ?  What  these 
terms  of  ownership  ?  "  my  sister  asked. 

"  Of  course  he  means  them  for  you,  dear,"  Lucy  re- 
marked in  haste.  "  For  whom  else  can  he  intend  such  an 
ornament  ? " 

"You  are  mistaken,  Miss  Hardinge.  Grace  must  excuse 
me  for  being  a  little  selfish  this  time,  at  least.  I  do  not 
intend  those  pearls  for  Miss  Wallingford,  but  for  Mrs. 
Wtillingford,  should  there  ever  be  such  a  person." 

"  Upon  my  word,  such  a  double  temptation,  my  boy,  I 
wonder  Miss  Merton  ever  had  the  fortitude  to  remove  them 
from  the  enviable  position  they  so  lately  occupied,"  cried 
Rupert,  glancing  meaningly  toward  Emily,  who  returned 
the  look  with  a  slight  smile. 

"  Of  course,  Miss  Merton  understood  that  my  remark 
was  ventured  in  pleasantry,"  I  said  stiffly,  "  and  not  in 
presumption.  It  was  decided,  however,  when  in  the  Pacific, 
that  these  pearls  ought  to  have  that  destination.  It  is 
true,  Clawbonny  is  not  the  Pacific,  and  one  may  be  par- 
doned for  seeing  things  a  little  differently  here,  from  what 
they  appeared  there.  I  have  a  few  more  pearls,  however, 
very  inferior  in  quality,  I  confess,  to  those  of  the  necklace  ; 
but,  such  as  they  are,  I  should  esteem  it  a  favor,  ladies,  if 
you  would  consent  to  divide  them  equally  among  you.  They 
would  make  three  very  pretty  rings,  and  as  many  breastpins." 

I  put  into  Grace's  hands  a  little  box  containing  all  the 
pearls  that  had  not  been  placed  on  the  string.  There  were 
many  fine  ones  among  them,  and  some  of  them  of  very 
respectable  size,  though  most  were  of  the  sort  called  seed. 
In  the  whole,  there  were  several  hundreds. 

"  We  will  not  balk  his  generosity,"  said  Grace,  smiling  ; 
"  so,  Miss  Merton,  we  will  separate  the  pearls  into  three 
parcels,  and  draw  lots  for  them.  Here  are  handsome 
ornaments  among  them  !  " 

"  They  will  have  one  value  with  you,  at  least,  Grace,  and 
quite  likely  with  Lucy,  while  they  might  possibly  possess 
another  with  Miss  Merton.  I  fished  up  every  one  of  those 
pearls  with  my  own  hands." 


340 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


"Certainly  that  will  give  them  value  with  both  Lucy 
and  me,  dearest  Miles,  as  would  the  simple  fact  that  they 
are  your  gift — but  what  is  to  give  them  their  especial  value 
with  Miss  Mertou  ?" 

"  They  may  serve  to  remind  Miss  Merton  of  some  of  hei 
hairbreadth  escapes,  of  the  weeks  passed  on  the  island, 
and  of  scenes  that,  a  few  years  hence,  will  probably  possess 
the  colors  of  a  dream,  in  her  recollection." 

"  One  pearl  I  will  take,  with  this  particular  object,"  said 
Emily,  with  more  feeling  than  I  had  seen  her  manifest 
since  she  had  got  back  into  the  world,  "  if  Miss  Walling- 
ford  will  do  me  the  favor  to  select  it." 

"  Let  it  be  enough  for  a  ring,  at  least,"  Grace  returned, 
in  her  own  sweetest  manner.  "  Half  a  dozen  of  the  finest 
of  these  pearls,  of  which  one  shall  be  on  Miles's  account, 
and  five  on  mine." 

"On  those  conditions,  let  it,  then,  be  six.  I  have  no 
occasion  for  pearls  to  remind  me  how  much  my  father  and 
myself  owe  to  Captain  Wallingford." 

"Come,  Rupert,"  added  Grace,  "you  have  a  taste  in 
these  things,  let  us  have  your  aid  in  the  selection." 

Rupert  was  by  no  means  backward  in  complying,  for  he 
loved  to  be  meddling  in  such  matters. 

"  In  the  first  place,"  he  said,  "I  shall  at  once  direct  that 
the  number  be  increased  to  seven  ;  this  fine  one  in  the 
centre,  and  three  on  each  side,  gradually  diminishing  in 
size.  We  must  look  to  quality,  and  not  to  weight,  for  the 
six  puisne  judges,  as  we  should  call  them  in  the  courts. 
The  chief  justice  will  be  a  noble-looking  fellow,  and  the 
associates  ought  to  be  of  good  quality  to  keep  his  honor's 
company." 

"Why  do  you  not  call  your  judges,  '  my  lord,'  as  we  do 
in  England,  Mr.  Hardinge  ?"  inquired  Emily,  in  her  pret- 
tiest manner. 

"  Whyy  sure  enough  !  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  we  did, 
and  then  a  man  would  have  something  worth  living  for." 

"  Rupert  !  "  exclaimed  Lucy,  coloring,  "  you  know  it  is 
because  our  government  is  republican,  and  that  we  have 
no  nobles  among  us.  Nor  do  you  say  exactly  what  you 
think  ;  you  would  not  be  *  my  lord,'  if  you  could." 

"  As  I  never  shall  be  a  '  my  lord,'  and  I  am  afraid  never 
a  'your  honor.'  There,  Miss  Merton — there  are  numbers 
two  and  three — observe  how  beautifully  they  are  graduated 
as  to  size." 

"  Well,  'your  honor,'  "  added  Grace,  who  began  to  be  a 


A  FLO  A  r  AXD   ASHORE.  341- 

little  uneasy  at  the  manner  Rupert  and  Emily  exhibited 
toward  each  other — "  well,  '  your  honor,'  what  is  to  come 
next  ? " 

"  Numbers  four  and  five,  of  course  ;  and  here  they  are, 
Miss  Merton,  as  accurately  diminished  as  if  done  by  hand. 
A  beautiful  ring  it  will  make.  I  envy  those  who  will  be 
recalled  to  mind  by  so  charming  an  object." 

"You  will  now  be  one  of  those  yourself,  Mr.  Hardinge," 
observed  Emily,  with  great  tact;  "for  you  are  fully  en, 
titled  to  it  by  the  trouble  you  are  giving  yourself,  and  the 
taste  and  judgment  you  possess." 

Lucy  looked  petrified.  She  had  so  long  accustomed 
herself  to  think  of  Grace  as  her  future  sister,  that  the  open 
admiration  expressed  in  Rupert's  countenance,  which  was 
too  manifest  to  escape  any  of  us,  first  threw  a  glimmering 
of  light  on  suspicions  of  the  most  painful  nature.  I  had 
long  seen  that  Lucy  understood  her  brother's  character 
better  than  any  of  us — much  better,  indeed,  than  his  sim- 
ple-minded father  ;  and,  as  for  myself,  I  was  prepared  to 
expect  anything  but  consistency  and  principle  in  his  con- 
duct. Dearly  as  I  prized  Lucy,  and  by  this  time  the  slight 
competition  that  Emily  Merton  had  presented  to  my  fancy, 
had  entirely  given  way  to  the  dear  creature's  heart  and  nat- 
ure— but,  dearly  as  I  prized  Lucy,  I  would  greatly  have 
preferred  that  my  sister  should  not  marry  her  brother  ; 
and,  so  far  from  feeling  resentment  on  account  of  his  want 
of  fidelity,  I  was  rather  disposed  to  rejoice  at  it.  I  could 
appreciate  his  want  of  merit,  and  his  unfitness  to  be  the 
husband  of  such  a  woman  as  Grace,  even  at  my  early  age  ; 
but,  alas  !  I  could  not  appreciate  the  effects  of  his  incon- 
stancy on  a  heart  like  that  of  my  sister.  Could  I  have  felt 
as  easy  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Andrew  Drewett,  and  of  my 
own  precise  position  in  society,  I  should  have  cared  very 
little  just  then  about  Rupert  and  his  caprices. 

The  pearls  for  the  ring  were  soon  selected  by  Rupert, 
and  approved  of  by  Grace,  after  which  I  assumed  the  of- 
fice of  dividing  the  remainder  myself.  I  drew  a  chair,  took 
the  box  from  Rupert,  and  set  about  the  task. 

"  I  shall  make  a  faithful  umpire,  girls,"  I  observed,  as 
pearl  after  pearl  was  laid,  first  on  one  spot,  then  on  an- 
other— "  for  I  feel  no  preference  between  you — Grace  is 
as  Lucy  ;  Lucy  is  as  Grace,  with  me." 

"That  may  be  fortunate,  Miss  Hardinge,  since  it  indi- 
cates no  preference  of  a  particular  sort,  that  might  reakuire 
repressing,"  said  Emily,  smiling  significantly  at  Lucy. 


342  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

"When  gentlemen  treat  young  ladies  as  sisters,  it  is  a  sub- 
ject of  rejoicing.  These  sailors  need  severe  lessons,  to 
keep  them  within  the  rules  of  the  land." 

Why  this  was  said,  I  did  not  understand.  But  Rupert 
laughed  at  it,  as  if  it  were  a  capital  thing.  To  mend  the 
matter,  he  added,  a  little  boisterously  for  him— 

"  You  see,  Miles,  you  had  better  have  taken  to  the 
law — the  ladies  cannot  appreciate  the  merits  of  you 
tars." 

"  So  it  would  seem,"  I  returned,  a  little  dryly,  "  after  all 
Miss  Merton  has  experienced  and  seen  of  the  trade." 

Emily  made  no  reply,  but  she  regarded  her  pearls  with 
a  steadiness  that  showed  she  was  thinking  more  of  their 
effect  than  that  of  either  her  own  speech  or  mine.  I  con- 
tinued to  divide  the  pearls,  and  soon  had  the  work  com- 
plete. 

"  What  am  I  to  do,  now  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Will  you  draw 
lots,  girls,  or  will  you  trust  to  my  impartiality  ?" 

"We  will  certainly  confide  in  the  last,"  answered  Grace. 
"  The  division  is  so  very  equitable  that  I  do  not  well  see 
how  you  can  defraud  either." 

14  That  being  the  case,  this  parcel  is  for  you,  Lucy  ;  and 
Grace,  that  is  yours." 

Grace  rose,  put  her  arms  affectionately  around  my  neck, 
and  gave  me  one  of  the  hundred  kisses  that  I  had  received, 
first  and  last,  for  presents  of  one  sort  and  another.  The 
deep  attachment  that  beamed  in  her  saint-like  eyes,  would 
of  itself  have  repaid  me  for  fifty  such  gifts.  At  the  mo- 
ment, I  was  almost  on  the  point  of  throwing  her  the  neck- 
lace in  the  bargain  ;  but  some  faint  fancies  about  Mrs.  Miles 
Wallingford  prevented  me  from  so  doing.  As  for  Lucy, 
not  a  little  to  my  surprise,  she  received  the  pearls,  mut- 
tered a  few  unintelligible  words,  but  did  not  even  rise  from 
her  chair.  Emily  seemed  to  tire  of  this,  so  she  caught  up 
her  gypsy,  said  the  evening  was  getting  to  be  delightful, 
and  proposed  a  walk.  Rupert  and  Grace  cheerfully  ac- 
quiesced, and  the  three  soon  left  the  place,  Lucy  prepar- 
ing to  follow,  as  soon  as  a  rnaid  could  bring  her  hat,  and 
I  excusing  myself  on  the  score  of  business  in  my  own 
room. 

"  Miles,"  said  Lucy,  as  I  was  about  to  enter  the  house, 
she  herself  standing  on  the  edge  of  the  piazza  on  the 
point  of  following  the  party,  but  holding  toward  me  the 
little  paper  box  in  which  I  had  placed  her  portion  of  tha 
pearls, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  343 

"  Do  you  wish  me  to  put  them  away  for  you,  Lucy  ? " 

"  No,  Miles — not  for  me — but  for  yourself — for  Grace — 
for  Mrs.  Miles  Walling  ford,  if  you  prefer  that." 

This  was  said  without  the  slightest  appearance  of  any 
other  feeling  than  a  gentle  request.  I  was  surprised,  and 
scarce  knew  what  to  make  of  it  ;  at  first,  I  refused  to  take 
the  box. 

"I  hope  I  have  done  nothing  to  merit  this,  Lucy?"  I 
said,  half  affronted,  half  grieved. 

"  Remember,  Miles,"  the  dear  girl  answered,  "  \ve  are  no 
longer  children,  but  have  reached  an  age  when  it  is  in- 
cumbent on  us  to  respect  appearances  a  little.  These 
pearls  must  be  worth  a  good  deal  of  money,  and  I  feel  cer- 
tain my  father,  when  he  came  to  think  of  it,  would  scarce 
approve  of  my  receiving  them." 

"  And  this  froni_)w,  dear  Lucy  ? " 

"This  from  me,  dear  Miles,"  returned  the  precious  girl, 
tears  glistening  in  her  eyes,  though  she  endeavored  to 
smile.  "Now  take  the  box,  and  we  will  be  just  as  good 
friends  as  ever." 

"Will  you  answer  me  one  question  as  frankly  and  as 
honestly  as  you  used  to  answer  all  my  questions  ?" 

Lucy  turned  pale,  and  she  stood  reflecting  an  instant  be- 
fore she  spoke. 

"  I  can  answer  no  question  before  it  is  asked,"  was  at 
length  her  answer. 

"  Have  you  thought  so  little  of  my  present  as  to  have 
thrown  away  the  locket  I  gave  you  before  I  sailed  for  the 
northwest  coast  ? " 

"  No,  Miles  ;  I  have  kept  the  locket,  and  shall  keep  it 
as  long  as  I  live.  It  was  a  memorial  of  our  childish  regard 
for  each  other,  and  in  that  sense  is  very  dear  to  me.  You 
will  let  me  keep  the  locket,  I  am  sure  !  " 

"  If  it  were  not  you,  Lucy  Hardinge,  whom  I  know  to 
be  truth  itself,  I  might  be  disposed  to  doubt  you  ;  so  many 
strange  things  exist,  and  so  much  caprice,  especially  in 
attachments,  is  manifested  here,  ashore  !  " 

"  You  need  doubt  nothing  I  tell  you,  Miles  ;  on  no  ac- 
count would  I  deceive  you." 

"That  I  believe — nay,  I  see  it  is  your  present  object  to 
undeceive  me.  I  do  not  doubt  anything  you  tell  me,  Lucy. 
I  wish  I  could  see  that  locket,  however  ;  show  it  to  me,  if 
yon  have  it  on  your  person." 

Lucy  made  an  eager  movement,  as  if  about  to  produce 
the  locket ;  then  she  arrested  the  impetuous  indication, 


344  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

while  her  cheeks  fairly  burned  with  the  blushes  that  suf- 
fused them. 

"  I  see  how  it  is,  Lucy  ;  the  thing  is  not  to  be  found.  It 
is  mislaid,  the  Lord  knows  where,  and  you  do  not  like  to 
avow  it.'' 

The  locket  at  that  moment  lay  as  near  the  blessed  creat- 
ure's heart  as  it  could  be  placed,  and  her  confusion  pro- 
ceeded from  the  shame  of  Jetting  that  fact  be  known. 
This  I  could  not  see,  and  consequently  did  not  know.  A 
very  small  and  further  indication  of  feeling  on  my  part 
might  have  betrayed  the  circumstance,  but  pride  prevent- 
ed it,  and  I  took  the  still  extended  box,  I  dare  say  in  a 
somewhat  dramatic  manner.  Lucy  looked  at  me  earnest- 
ly ;  I  saw  it  was  with  difficulty  that  she  kept  from  bursting 
into  tears. 

"You  are  not  hurt,  Miles  ? "  she  said. 

"  I  should  not  be  frank  if  I  denied  it.  Even  Emily  Mer- 
ton,  you  saw,  consented  to  accept  enough  pearls  fora  ring." 

"  I  did  perceive  it  ;  and  yet  you  remember  she  felt  the 
impropriety  of  receiving  such  large  gifts  from  gentlemen. 
Miss  Merton  has  gone  through  so  much,  so  much  in  your 
company,  Miles,  that  no  wonder  she  is  willing  to  retain 
some  little  memorial  of  it  all,  until " 

She  hesitated,  but  Lucy  chose  not  to  finish  the  sentence. 
She  had  been  pale,  but  her  cheeks  were  now  like  the  rose 
again. 

"  When  Rupert  and  I  first  went  to  sea,  Lucy,  you  gave 
me  your  little  treasure  in  gold  ;  every  farthing  you  had  on 
earth,  I  fanc.y." 

"  I  am  glad  I  did,  Miles  ;  for  we  were  very  young  then, 
and  you  had  been  so  kind  to  me,  I  rejoice  I  had  a  little  grati- 
tude. But  we  are  now  in  situations,"  she  added,  smiling 
so  sweetly  as  to  render  it  difficult  for  me  to  refrain  from 
catching  her  in  my  arms  and  folding  her  to  my  heart, 
"  that  place  both  of  us  above  the  necessity  of  receiving 
aid  of  this  sort." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  this,  though  /  shall  never  part  with 
the  dear  recollection  of  the  half-joes." 

"  Or  I  with  that  of  the  locket.  We  will  retain  these, 
then,  as  keepsakes.  My  dear  Mrs.  Bradfort,  too,  is  very 
particular  about  Rupert  or  myself  receiving  favors  of  this 
sort  from  any  but  herself.  She  has  adopted  us  in  a  man- 
ner, and  I  owe  to  her  liberality  the  means  of  making  the 
figure  I.  do.  Apart  from  that,  Miles,  we  arc  all  as  poor  as 
we  have  ever  been." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  345 

I  wished  Rupert  had  half  his  sister's  self-respect  and  pride 
of  character.  But  he  had  not ;  for  in  spite  of  his  kins- 
woman's prohibitions,  he  had  not  scrupled  to  spend  nearly 
three  years  of  the  wages  that  accrued  to  me  as  third  mate 
of  the  Crisis.  For  the  money  I  cared  not  a  stiver  ;  it  was 
a  very  different  thing  as  to  the  feeling. 

As  for  Lucy,  she  hastened  away,  as  soon  as  she  had  in- 
duced me  to  accept  the  box  ;  and  I  had  no  choice  but  to 
place  all  the  pearls  together,  and  put  them  in  Grace's 
room,  as  my  sister  had  desired  me  to  do  with  her  own 
property  before  proceeding  on  her  walk. 

I  determined  I  would  converse  confidentially  with  Grace, 
that  very  evening,  about  the  state  of  affairs  in  general, 
and,  if  possible,  learn  the  worst  concerning  Mr.  Andrew 
Drewett's  pretensions.  Shall  I  frankly  own  the  truth  ?  I 
was  sorry  that  Mrs.  Bradfort  had  made  Lucy  so  indepen- 
dent ;  as  it  seemed  to  increase  the  chasm  that  I  fancied 
was  opening  between  us. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

"Your  name  abruptly  mentioned,  casual  words 
Of  comment  on  your  deeds,  praise  from  your  uncle, 
News  from  the  armies,  talk  of  your  return, 
A  word  let  fall  touching  your  youthful  passion 
Suffused  her  cheek,  called  to  her  drooping  eye 
A  momentary  lustre." — HILLHOUSE. 

I  HAD  no  difficulty  in  putting  my  project  of  a  private 
interview  with  Grace,  in  execution  in  my  own  house. 
There  was  one  room  at  Clawbonny  that,  from  time  imme- 
morial, had  been  appropriated  exclusively  to  the  use  of 
the  heads  of  the  establishment.  It  was  called  the  "family 
room,"  as  one  would  say  " family  pictures"  or  "family 
plate."  In  my  father's  time,  I  could  recollect  that  I  never 
dreamed  of  entering  it,  unless  asked  or  ordered  ;  and  even 
then,  I  always  did  so  with  some  such  feelings  as  I  entered 
a  church.  What  gave  it  a  particular  and  additional  sanc- 
tity in  our  eyes,  also,  was  the  fact  that  the  Wallingford 
dead  were  always  placed  in  their  coffins  in  this  room,  and 
thence  they  were  borne  to  their  graves.  It  was  a  very 
small  triangular  room,  with  the  fireplace  in  one  corner, 
and  possessing  but  a  single  window,  that  opened  on  a 
thicket  of  rose-bushes,  syringas,  and  lilacs.  There  was 


346  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

also  a  light  external  fence  around  this  shrubbery,  as  ii 
purposely  to  keep  listeners  at  a  distance.  The  apartment 
had  been  furnished  when  the  house  was  built,  being  in  the 
oldest  part  of  the  structures,  and  still  retained  its  ancient 
inmates.  The  chairs,  tables,  and  most  of  the  other  articles, 
had  actually  been  brought  from  England,  by  Miles  the 
First,  as  we  used  to  call  the  emigrant ;  though,  he  was 
thus  only  in  reference  to  the  Clawbonny  dynasty,  having 
been  something  like  Miles  the  Twentieth,  in  the  old 
country.  My  mother  had  introduced  a  small  settee,  or 
some  such  seat  as  the  French  would  call  causeuse  ;  a  most 
appropriate  article,  in  such  a  place. 

In  preparation  for  the  interview  I  had  slipped  into 
Grace's  hand  a  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was  written, 
"meet  me  in  the  family  room,  precisely  at  six  !  "  This  was 
sufficient  ;  at  the  hour  named,  I  proceeded  to  the  room 
myself.  The  house  of  Clawbonny,  in  one  sense,  was  large 
for  an  American  residence  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  covered  a  great 
deal  of  ground,  every  one  of  the  three  owners  who  pre- 
ceded me,  having  built  ;  the  last  two  leaving  entire  the 
labors  of  the  first.  My  turn  had  not  yet  come,  of  course  ; 
but  the  reader  knows  already  that  I,  most  irreverently,  had 
once  contemplated  abandoning  the  place  for  a  "seat" 
nearer  the  Hudson.  In  such  a  suite  of  constructions,  sun- 
dry passages  became  necessary,  and  we  had  several  more 
than  was  usual  at  Clawbonny,  besides  having  as  many 
pairs  of  stairs.  In  consequence  of  this  ample  provision  of 
stairs,  the  chambers  of  the  family  were  totally  separated 
from  those  of  all  the  rest  of  the  house. 

I  began  to  reflect  seriously,  on  what  I  had  to  say,  and 
how  it  was  to  be  said,  as  I  walked  through  the  long  pas- 
sage which  led  to  the  "family  room, "or  die  "triangle,"  as 
my  own  father  had  nicknamed  the  spot.  Grace  and  I  had 
never  yet  held  what  might  be  termed  a  family  consulta- 
tion ;  I  was  too  young  to  think  of  such  a  thing,  when  last 
at  home,  and  no  former  occasion  had  offered  since  my  re- 
turn. I  was  still  quite  young,  and  had  more  diffidence 
than  might  have  been  expected  in  a  sailor.  To  me,  it  was 
far  more  embarrassing  to  open  verbal  communications  of 
a  delicate  nature,  than  it  would  have  been  to  work  a  ship 
in  action.  But  for  this  mauvaise  honte,  I  do  think  I  should 
have  been  explicit  with  Lucy,  and  not  have  parted  from 
her  on  the  piazza,  as  I  did,  leaving  everything  in  just  as 
much  doubt  as  it  had  been  before  a  word  passed  between 
us.  Then  I  entertained  a  profound  respect  for  Grace; 


AFLOAT  AXh    ASHORE.  347 

something  more  than  the  tenderness  of  a  brother  for  a  sis- 
ter ;  for,  mingled  with  my  strong  affection  for  her,  was  a 
deference,  a  species  of  awe  of  her  angel-like  character  and 
purity,  that  made  me  far  more  disposed  to  receive  advice 
from  her,  than  to  bestow  it.  In  the  frame  of  mind  which 
was  natural  to  all  these  blended  feelings,  I  laid  my  hand 
on  the  old-fashioned  brass  latch,  by  which  the  door  of  the 
"  triangle  "  was  closed.  On  entering  the  room,  I  found 
my  sister  seated  on  the  "causeuse,"  the  window  open  to 
admit  air,  the  room  looking  snug  but  cheerful,  and  its  oc- 
cupant's sweet  countenance  expressive  of  care,  not  alto- 
gether free  from  curiosity.  The  last  time  I  had  been  in 
that  room,  it  was  to  look  on  the  pallid  features  of 'my 
mother's  corpse,  previously  to  closing  the  coffin.  All  the 
recollections  of  that  scene  rushed  upon  our  minds  at  the 
same  instant ;  and  taking  a  place  by  the  side  of  Grace,  I 
put  an  arm  around  her  waist,  drew  her  to  me,  and,  receiv- 
ing her  head  on  my  bosom,  she  wept  like  a  child.  My 
tears  could  not  be  altogether  restrained,  and  several  min- 
utes passed  in  profound  silence.  No  explanations  were 
needed  ;  I  knew  what  my  sister  thought  and  felt,  and  she 
was  equally  at  home  as  respects  my  sensations.  At  length 
we  regained  our  self-command,  and  Grace  lifted  her  head. 

"  You  have  not  been  in  this  room  since,  brother  ? "  she 
observed,  half-inquiringly. 

"  I  have  not,  sister.  It  is  now  many  years — many  for 
those  who  are  as  young  as  ourselves." 

"  Miles,  you  will  think  better  about  that  'seat,'  and 
never  abandon  Clawbonny — never  destroy  this  blessed 


room 


"  I  begin  to  think  and  feel  differently  on  the  subject, 
from  what  I  once  did.  If  this  house  were  good  enough 
for  our  forefathers,  why  is  it  not  good  enough  for  me  ? 
It  is  respectable  and  comfortable,  and  what  more  do  I 
want  ? " 

"  And  so  warm  in  winter,  and  so  cool  in  summer  ;  with 
good  thick  stone  walls  ;  while  everything  they  build  now 
is  a  shingle  palace  !  Besides,  you  can  add  your  portion, 
and  each  addition  has  already  been  a  good  deal  modern- 
ized. It  is  so  pleasant  to  have  a  house  that  partakes  of 
the  usages  of  different  periods  !  " 

"  I  hardly  think  I  shall  ever  abandon  Clawbonny,  my 
dear  ;  for  I  find  it  growing  more  and  more  precious  as 
other  ties  and  expectations  fail  me." 

Grace  drew  herself  entirely  from  my  arms,  and  looked 


348  AFLOAT  AXD  ASHORE. 

intently,  and,  as  I  fancied,  anxiously  at  me,  from  the  othef 
corner  of  the  settee.  Then  she  affectionately  took  one  oi 
my  hands  in  both  her  own,  and  pressed  it  gently. 

"You  are  young  to  speak  of  such  things,  my  dear 
brother,"  she  said  with  a  tone  and  air  of  sadness  I  had 
never  yet  remarked  in  her  voice  and  manner  ;  "much  too 
young  for  a  man  ;  though  I  fear  we  women  are  born  to 
know  sorrow  !" 

I  could  not  speak  if  I  would,  for  I  fancied  Grace  was 
about  to  make  some  communications  concerning  Rupert 
Notwithstanding  the  strong  affection  that  existed  between 
my  sister  and  myself,  not  a  syllable  had  ever  been  uttered 
by  either,  that  bore  directly  on  our  respective  relation? 
with  Rupert  and  Lucy  Hardinge.  I  had  long  been  certain 
that  Rupert,  who  was  never  backward  in  professions,  had 
years  before  spoken  explicitly  to  Grace,  and  I  made  no 
doubt  they  were  engaged,  though  probably  subject  to 
some  such  conditions  as  the  approval  of  his  father  and 
myself  ;  approvals  that  neither  had  any  reason  for  sup- 
posing could  be  withheld.  Still,  Grace  had  never  inti- 
mated anything  of  the  sort,  and  my  conclusions  were  drawn 
from  conjectures  founded  as  I  imagined  on  sufficient  ob- 
servation. On  the  other  hand  I  had  never  spoken  to  Grace 
of  my  love  for  Lucy.  Until  within  the  last  month,  indeed, 
when  jealousy  and  distrust'came  to  quicken  the  sentiment, 
I  was  unconscious  myself,  with  how  much  passion  I  did 
actually  love  the  dear  girl  ;  for,  previously  to  that,  my 
affection  had  seemed  so  much  a  matter  of  course,  was 
united  with  so  much  that  was  fraternal,  in  appearance  at 
least,  that  I  had  never  been  induced  to  enter  into  an  in- 
quiry as  to  the  nature  of  this  regard.  We  were  both, 
therefore,  touching  on  hallowed  spots  in  our  hearts,  and 
each  felt  averse  to  laying  bare  the  weakness. 

"Oh !  you  know  how  it  is  with  life,  Grace,"  I  answered, 
with  affected  carelessness,  after  a  moment's  silence  ;  "  now 
all  sunshine,  and  now  all  clouds — I  shall  probably  never 
marry,  my  dear  sister,  and  you,  or  your  children,  will  in- 
herit Clawbonny  ;  then  you  can  do  as  you  please  with  the 
house.  As  a  memorial  of  myself,  however,  I  will  leave 
orders  for  stone  to  be  got  out  this  fall,  and  next  year,  will 
put  up  the  south  wing,  of  which  we  have  so  much  talked, 
and  add  three  or  four  rooms  in  which  one  will  not  be 
ashamed  to  see  his  friends." 

"I  hope  yqu  are  ashamed  of  nothing  that  is  at  Claw- 
bonny,  now,  Miles — as  for  your  marrying,  my  dear  brother, 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  349 

that  remains  to  be  seen  ;  young  men  do  not  often  know 
their  own  minds  on  such  a  subject,  at  your  age." 

This  was  said,  not  altogether  without  pleasantry,  though 
there  was  a  shade  of  sadness  in  the  countenance  of  the  be- 
loved speaker,  that  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  wished 
were  not  there.  I  believe  Grace  understood  my  concern, 
and  that  she  shrunk  with  virgin  sensitiveness  from  touch- 
ing further  on  the  subject,  for  she  soon  added — 

"  Enough  of  this  desponding  talk.  Why  have  you  par- 
ticularly desired  to  see  me  here,  Miles  ?" 

"  Why  ?  Oh  !  you  know  I  am  to  sail  next  week,  arid  we 
have  never  been  here  ;  and  now  we  are  both  of  an  age  to 
communicate  our  thoughts  to  each  other,  I  supposed — that 
is — there  must  be  a  beginning  of  all  things,  and  it  is  as 
well  to  commence  now  as  any  other  time.  You  do  not 
seem  more  than  half  a  sister,  in  the  company  of  strangers 
like  the  Mertons,  and  Hardinges  ! " 

"Strangers,  Miles!  How  long  have  you  regarded  the 
last  as  strangers  ? " 

"  Certainly  not  strangers  in  the  way  of  acquaintance, 
but  strangers  to  our  blood.  There  is  not  the  least  connec- 
tion between  us  and  them." 

"  No,  but  much  love  ;  and  love  that  has  lasted  from 
childhood.  I  cannot  remember  the  time  when  1  have  not 
loved  Lucy  Hardinge." 

"Quite  true — nor  I.  Lucy  is  an  excellent  girl,  and  one 
is  almost  certain  of  always  retaining  a  strong  regard  for 
her.  How  singularly  the  prospects  of  the  Hardinges  are 
changed  by  this  sudden  liking  of  Mrs.  Bradfort  !" 

"  It  is  not  sudden,  Miles.  You  have  been  absent  years, 
and  forget  how  much  time  there  has  been  to  become  in- 
timate and  attached.  Mr.  Hardinge  and  Mrs.  Bradfort  are 
sisters'  children  ;  and  the  fortune  of  the  last,  which,  I  am 
told,  exceeds  six  thousand  a  year,  in  improving  real  estate 
in  town,  besides  the  excellent  and  valuable  house  in  which 
she  lives,  came  from  their  common  grandfather,  who  cut 
off  Mrs.  Hardinge  with  a  small  legacy,  because  she  married 
a  clergyman.  Mr.  Hardinge  is  Mrs.  Bradfort's  heir-at-law, 
and  it  is  by  no  means  unnatural  that  she  should  think  of 
leaving  the  property  to  those  who,  in  one  sense,  have  as 
good  a  right  to  it  as  she  has  herself." 

"And  is  it  supposed  she  will  leave  Rupert  her  heir  ? " 

"  I  believe  it  is — at  least — I  think — I  am  afraid — Rupert 
himself  imagines  it ;  though  doubtless  Lucy  will  come  in 
for  a  fair  share.  The  affection  of  Mrs.  Bradfort  for  Lucy 


35°  AFLOAT  A. YD  ASHORE. 

is  very  strong — so  strong,  indeed,  that  she  offered,  last 
winter,  openly  to  adopt  her,  and  to  keep  her  with  her  con- 
stantly. You  know  how  true  and  warm-hearted  a  girl  Lucy 
is,  and  how  easy  it  is  to  love  her." 

"This  is  all  new  to  me — why  was  not  the  offer  accepted?" 

"  Neither  Mr.  Hardinge  nor  Lucy  would  listen  to  it.  I 
was  present  at  the  interview  in  which  it  was  discussed,  and 
our  excellent  guardian  thanked  his  cousin  for  her  kind  in- 
tentions ;  but,  in  his  simple  way,  he  declared,  as  long  as 
life  was  spared  him,  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  keep  his  girl ;  or, 
at  least,  until  he  committed  her  to  the  custody  of  a  hus- 
band, or  death  should  part  them." 

"And  Lucy?" 

"  She  is  much  attached  to  Mrs.  Bradfort,  wrho  is  a.  good 
woman  in  the  main,  though  she  has  her  weaknesses  about 
the  world,  and  society,  and  such  things.  Lucy  wept  in  her 
cousin's  arms,  but  declared  she  never  could  leave  her  father. 
I  suppose  you  do  not  expect,"  added  Grace,  smiling,  "that 
she  had  anything  to  say  about  a  husband." 

"  And  how  did  Mrs.  Bradfort  receive  this  joint  declara- 
tion of  resistance  to  her  pleasure,  backed,  as  the  last  was, 
by  dollars?" 

"  Perfectly  well.  The  affair  terminated  by  Mr.  Hardinge's 
consenting  to  Lucy's  passing  each  winter  in  town,  until 
she  marry.  Rupert,  you  know,  lives  there  as  a  student  at 
law,  at  present,  and  will  become  established  there,  when 
admitted  to  the  bar. 

"And  I  suppose  the  knowledge  that  Lucy  is  likely  to  in- 
herit some  of  the  old  Bleecker  estate,  has  not  in  the  least 
diminished  her  chance  of  finding  a  husband  to  remove  her 
from  the  paternal  custody  of  her  father  ?  " 

"  No  husband  could  ever  make  Lucy  anything  but  Mr. 
Hardinge's  daughter ;  but  you  are  right,  Miles,  in  sup- 
posing that  she  has  been  sought.  I  am  not  in  her  secrets, 
for  Lucy  is  a  girl  of  too  much  principle  to  make  a  parade 
of  her  conquests,  even  under  the  pretense  of  communi- 
cating them  to  her  dearest  friend — and  in  that  light,  be- 
yond all  question,  does  she  regard  me  ;  but  I  feel  as  mor- 
ally certain  as  one  can  be,  without  actually  knowing  the 
facts,  that  Lucy  refused  one  gentleman  winter  before  last, 
and  three  last  winter." 

"Was  Mr.  Andrew  Drewett  of  the  number?"  I  asked, 
with  a  precipitation  of  which  I  was  immediately  ashamed. 

Grace  started  a  little  at  the  vivacity  of  my  manner,  and 
then  she  smiled,  though  I  still  thought  sadly. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  351 

"  Of  cotrse  not,"  she  answered,  after  a  moment's  thought, 
"  or  he  would  not  still  be  in  attendance.  Lucy  is  too 
frank  to  leave  an  admirer  in  doubt  an  instant  after  his 
declaration  is  made,  and  her  own  mind  made  up  ;  and  not 
one  of  all  those  who,  I  am  persuaded,  have  offered,  has 
ever  ventured  to  continue  more  than  a  distant  acquaint- 
ance. As  Mr.  Drewett  never  has  been  more  assiduous  than 
down  to  the  last  moment  of  our  remaining  in  town,  it  is 
impossible  he  should  have  been  rejected.  I  suppose  you 
know  Mr.*Hardinge  has  invited  him  here  ?" 

"  Here  ?  Andrew  Drewett  ?  And  why  is  he  coming 
here  ? " 

"  I  heard  him  ask  Mr.  Hardinge's  permission  to  visit  us 
here  ;  and  you  know  how  it  is  with  our  dear,  good  guar- 
dian— the  milk  of  human  kindness  himself,  and  so  per- 
fectly guileless  that  he  never  sees  more  than  is  said  in 
such  matters,  it  was  impossible  he  could  refuse.  Besides, 
he  likes  Drewett,  who,  apart  from  some  fashionable  follies, 
is  both  clever  and  respectable.  Mr.  Drewett  has  a  sister 
married  into  one  of  the  best  families  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river,  and  is  in  the  habit  of  coming  into  the  neigh- 
borhood every  summer  ;  doubtless  he  will  cross  from  his 
sister's  house  to  Clawbonny." 

I  felt  indignant  for  just  one  minute,  and  then  reason  re- 
sumed its  sway.  Mr.  Hardinge,  in  the  first  place,  had  the 
written  authority,  or  request,  of  my  mother  that  he  would 
invite  whom  he  pleased,  during  my  minority,  to  the  house  ; 
and,  on  that  score,  I  felt  no  disapprobation.  But  it  seemed 
so  much  like  braving  my  own  passion,  to  ask  an  open  ad- 
mirer of  Lucy's  to  my  own  house,  that  I  was  very  near 
saying  something  silly.  Luckily  I  did  not,  and  Grace 
never  knew  what  I  suffered  at  this  discovery.  Lucy  had 
refused  several  offers — that  was  something  ;  and  I  was  dy- 
ing to  know  what  sort  of  offers  they  were.  I  thought  I 
might  at  least  venture  to  ask  that  question. 

"  Did  you  know  the  four  gentlemen  that  you  suppose 
Lucy  to  have  refused  ? "  said  I,  with  as  indifferent  an  air 
as  I  could  assume,  affecting  to  destroy  a  cob\veb  with  my 
rattan,  and  even  carrying  my  acting  so  far  as  to  make  an 
attempt  at  a  low  whistle. 

"  Certainly  ;  how  else  should  I  know  anything  about 
it  ?  Lucy  has  never  said  a  word  to  me  on  the  subject  ; 
and,  though  Mrs.  Bradfort  and  I  have  had  our  pleasant- 
/ies  on  the  subject,  neither  of  us  is  in  Lucy's  secrets." 

"  Ay,  your  pleasantries  on  the  subject  !  That  I  dare  say. 


352  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

There  is  no  better  fun  to  a  woman  than  to  see  a  man  maka 
a  fool  of  himself  in  this  way  ;  little  does  she  care  how  much 
a  poor  fellow  suffers  !  " 

Grace  turned  pale,  and  I  could  see  that  her  sweet  coun- 
tenance became  thoughtful  and  repentant. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  truth  in  your  remark,  and  justice  in 
your  reproach,  Miles.  None  of  us  treat  this  subject  with 
as  much  seriousness  as  it  deserves,  though  I  cannot  sup- 
pose any  woman  can  reject  a  man  whom  she  believes  to  be 
seriously  attached  to  her,  without  feeling  for  him.  Still, 
attachments  of  this  nature  affect  your  sex  less  than  ours, 
and  I  believe  few  men  die  of  love.  Lucy,  moreover,  never 
has,  and  I  believe  never  would  encourage  any  man  whom 
she  did  not  like  ;  this  principle  must  have  prevented  any 
of  that  intimate  connection,  without  which  the  heart  never 
can  get  much  interested.  The  passion  that  is  produced 
without  any  exchange  of  sentiment  or  feeling,  Miles,  can- 
not be  much  more  than  imagination  or  caprice." 

"  I  suppose  those  four  chaps  are  all  famously  cured  by 
this  time,  then  ! "  said  I,  pretending  again  to  whistle. 

"  I  cannot  answer  for  that  ;  it  is  so  easy  to  love  Lucy, 
and  to  love  her  warmly.  I  only  know  they  visit  her  no 
longer,  and  when  they  meet  her  in  society  behave  just  as 
I  think  a  rejected  admirer  would  behave  wThen  he  has  not 
lost  his  respect  for  his  late  flame.  Mrs.  Bradfort's  fortune 
and  position  may  have  had  their  influence  on  two,  but  the 
others,  I  think,  were  quite  sincere." 

"  Mrs.  Bradfort  is  quite  in  a  high  set,  Grace,  altogether 
above  what  we  have  been  accustomed  to." 

My  sister  colored  a  little,  and  I  could  see  she  was  not  at 
her  ease.  Still,  Grace  had  too  much  self-respect,  and  too 
much  character,  ever  to  feel  an  oppressive  inferiority 
where  it  did  not  exist  in  essentials ;  and  she  had  never  been 
made  to  suffer,  as  the  more  frivolous  and  vain  often  suffer, 
by  communications  with  a  class  superior  to  their  own — 
especially  when  that  class,  as  always  happens,  contains 
those  who,  having  nothing  else  to  be  proud  of,  take  care 
to  make  others  feel  their  inferiority." 

"  This  is  true,  Miles,"  she  answered  ;  "or  I  might  better 
say  both  are  true.  Certainly  I  never  have  seen  as  many 
well-bred  persons  as  I  meet  in  her  circle  ;  indeed  we  have 
little  around  us  at  Clawbonny  to  teach  us  any  distinctions 
in  such  tastes.  Mr.  Hardinge,  simple  as  he  is,  is  so  truly  a 
gentleman,  that  he  has  not  left  us  altogether  in  the  dark  as 
to  what  was  expected  of  us ;  and  I  fancy  the  higher  people 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  353 

truly  are  in  the  world,  the  less  they  lay  stress  on  anything 
but  what  is  substantial  in  these  matters." 

"And  Lucy's  admirers — and  Lucy  herself " 

"  How,  Lucy  herself  ?  " 

"  Was  she  well  received — courted — admired  ?  Met  as 
an  equal,  and  treated  as  an  equal  ?  And  you,  too  ?" 

"  Had  you  lived  more  in  the  world,  Miles,  you  would 
not  have  asked  the  question.  But  Lucy  has  been  always 
received  as  Mrs.  Bradfort's  daughter  would  have  been  re- 
ceived ;  and  as  for  myself,  I  have  never  supposed  it  was 
known  exactly  who  I  am." 

"  Captain  Miles  Wallingford's  daughter,  and  Captain  Miles 
WallLigford's  sister,"  said  I,  with  a  little  bitterness  on  each 
emphasis. 

"  Precisely  ;  and  a  girl  proud  of  her  connections  with 
both,"  rejoined  Grace,  with  strong  affection. 

"  I  wish  I  knew  one  thing,  Grace  ;  and  I  think  I  ought  to 
know  it,  too." 

"  If  you  can  make  the  last  appear,  Miles,  you  may  rest 
assured  you  shall  know  it,  if  it  depend  on  me." 

"  Did  any  of  these  gentry — these  soft-handed  fellows — 
ever  think  of  offering  to  you?" 

Grace  laughed,  and  she  colored  so  deeply — oh  !  how 
heavenly  was  her  beauty,  with  that  roseate  tint  on  her 
cheek  ! — but  she  colored  so  deeply  that  I  felt  satisfied  that 
she,  too,  had  refused  her  suitors.  The  thought  appeased 
some  of  my  bitter  feelings,  and  I  had  a  sort  of  semi-savage 
pleasure  in  believing  that  a  daughter  of  Clawbonny  was 
not  to  be  had  for  the  asking,  by  one  of  that  set.  The  only 
answers  I  got  were  these  disclosures  by  blushes. 

"  What  are  the  fortune  and  position  of  this  Mr.  Drewett, 
since  you  are  resolved  to  tell  me  nothing  of  your  own  af- 
fairs ?  " 

"  Both  are  good,  and  such  as  no  young  lady  can  object 
to ;  he  is  even  said  to  be  rich." 

"  Thank  God  !  He  then  is  not  seeking  Lucy  in  the  hope 
of  getting  some  of  Mrs.  Bradfort's  money  ? " 

"  Not  in  the  least.  It  is  so  easy  to  love  Lucy  for  Lucy's 
sake,  that  even  a  fortune-hunter  would  be  in  danger  of 
being  caught  in  his  own  trap.  But  Mr.  Drewett  is  above 
the  necessity  of  practising  so  vile  a  scheme  for  making 
money." 

Here,  that  the  present  generation  may  not  be  misled, 
and  imagine  fortune-hunting  has  come  in  altogether  within 
the  last  twenty  years,  I  will  add  that  it  was  not  exactly  a 


354  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

trade  in  this  country — a  regular  occupation — in  1802,  as  it 
has  become  in  1844.  There  were  such  things  then,  cer- 
tainly, as  men  or  women  who  were  ready  to  marry  anybody 
who  would  make  them  rich,  but  I  do  not  think  theirs  was 
a  calling  to  which  either  sex  served  regular  apprentice- 
ships as  is  practised  to-day.  Still,  the  business  was  carried 
on,  to  speak  in  the  vernacular,  and  sometimes  with  marked 
success. 

"  You  have  not  told  me,  Grace,"  I  resumed,"  whether  you 
think  Lucy  is  pleased  or  not  with  the  attentions  of  this 
gentleman." 

My  sister  looked  at  me  intently,  for  a  moment,  as  if  to 
ascertain  how  far  I  could,  or  could  not,  ask  such  a  ques- 
tion with  indifference.  It  will  be  remembered  that  no 
verbal  explanations  had  ever  taken  place  between  us  on  the 
subject  of  our  feelings  toward  the  companions  of  our  child- 
hood, and  that  all  that  was  known  to  either  was  obtained 
purely  by  inference.  Between  myself  and  Lucy  nothing 
had  ever  passed,  indeed,  which  might  not  have  been  hon- 
estly referred  to  our  long  and  early  association,  so  far  as 
the  rules  of  intercourse  were  concerned,  though  I  some- 
times fancied  I  could  recall  a  hundred  occasions  on  which 
Lucy  had  formerly  manifested  deep  attachment  for  myself ; 
nor  did  I  doubt  her  being  able  to  show  similar  proofs  by 
reversing  the  picture.  This,  however,  was,  or  I  had  thought 
it  to  be,  merely  the  language  of  the  heart;  the  tongue  hav- 
ing never  spoken.  Of  course,  Grace  had  nothing  but  con- 
jecture on  this  subject,  and  alas!  she  had  begun  to  see 
how  possible  it  was  for  those  who  lived  near  each  other  to 
change  their  views  on  such  subjects  ;  no  wonder,  then,  if 
she  fancied  it  still  easier  for  those  who  had  been  separated 
for  years. 

"I  have  not  told  you,  Miles,"  Grace  answered  after  a 
brief  delay,  "  because  it  would  not  be  proper  to  communi- 
cate the  secrets  of  my  friend  to  a  young  man,  even  toyou, 
were  it  in  my  power,  as  it  is  not,  since  Lucy  never  has 
made  to  me  the  slightest  confidential  communications  of 
any  sort  or  nature,  touching  love." 

''Never!"  I  exclaimed — reading  my  fancied  doom  in 
the  startling  fact  ;  for  I  conceived  it  impossible,  had  she  ever 
really  loved  me,  that  the  matter  should  not  have  come  up 
in  conversation  between  two  so  closely  united.  "  Never  ! 
What,  no  girlish — no  childish  preference — have  you  never 
had  any  mutual  preferences  to  reveal?" 

"  Never,"  answered  Grace,  firmly,  though  her  very  tem- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  35$ 

pies  seemed  illuminated.  "  Never.  We  have  been  satis- 
fied with  each  other's  affection,  and  have  had  no  occasion 
to  enter  into  any  unfeminine  and  improper  secrets,  if  any 
such  existed." 

A  long,  and  I  doubt  not  a  mutually  painful  pause  suc- 
ceeded. 

"  Grace,"  said  I,  at  length,  "  I  am  not  envious  of  this 
probable  accession  of  fortune  to  the  Hardinges,  but  I  think 
we  should  all  have  been  much  more  united — much  happier 
—  without  it." 

M\T  sister's  color  left  her  face,  she  trembled  all  over,  and 
she  became  pale  as  death. 

"You  may  be  right  in  some  respects,  Miles,"  she  an- 
swered, after  a  time.  "And  yet  it  is  hardly  generous  to 
think  so.  Why  should  we  wish  to  see  our  oldest  friends— 
those  who  are  so  very  dear  to  us,  our  excellent  guardian's 
children,  less  well  off  than  we  are  ourselves  ?  No  doubt, 
no  doubt,  it  may  seem  better  to  us,  that  Clawbonny  should 
be  the  castle  and  we  its  possessors  ;  but  others  have  their 
rights  and  interests  as  well  as  ourselves.  Give  the  Har- 
dinges money,  and  they  will  enjoy  every  advantage  known 
in  this  country — more  than  money  can  possibly  give  us — 
why,  then,  ought  we  to  be  so  selfish  as  to  wish  them  de- 
prived of  this  advantage  ?  Place  Lucy  where  you  will 
she  will  always  be  Lucy  ;  and  as  for  Rupert,  so  brilliant  a 
young  man  needs  only  an  opportunity  to  rise  to  anything 
the  country  possesses  !  " 

Grace  was  so  earnest,  spoke  with  so  much  feeling,  ap- 
peared so  disinterested,  so  holy  I  had  almost  said,  that  I 
could  not  find  in  my  heart  the  courage  to  try  her  any 
further.  That  she  began  to  distrust  Rupert,  I  plainly 
saw,  though  it  was  merely  with  the  glimmerings  of  doubt. 
A  nature  as  pure  as  hers,  and  a  heart  so  true,  admitted  with 
great  reluctance  the  proofs  of  the  unworthiness  of  one  so 
long  loved.  It  was  evident,  moreover,  that  she  shrunk 
from  revealing  her  own  great  secret,  while  she  had  only 
conjectures  to  offer  in  regard  to  Lucy  ;  and  even  these  she 
withheld,  as  due  to  her  sex,  and  the  obligation  of  friend- 
ship. I  forgot  that  I  had  not  been  ingenuous  myself,  and 
that  I  made  no  communication  to  justify  any  confidence  on 
the  part  of  my  sister.  That  which  would  have  been  treach- 
ery in  her  to  say,  under  this  state  of  the  case,  might  have 
been  uttered  with  greater  frankness  on  my  own  part. 
After  a  pause,  to  allow  my  sister  to  recover  from  her  agi- 
tation, I  turned  the  discourse  to  our  own  more  immediate 


356  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

family  interests,  and  soon  got  off  the  painful  subject  alto* 
gether. 

"  I  shall  be  of  age,  Grace,"  I  said,  in  the  course  of  my 
explanations, '"  before  you  see  me  again.  We  sailors  are 
always  exposed  to  more  chances  and  hazards  than  people 
ashore  ;  and  I  now  tell  you,  should  anything  happen  to 
me,  my  will  may  be  found  in  my  secretary  ;  signed  and 
sealed,  the  day  I  attain  my  majority.  I  have  given  orders 
to  have  it  drawn  up  by  a  lawyer  of  eminence,  and  shall  take 
it  to  sea  with  me,  for  that  very  purpose." 

"  From  which  I  am  to  infer  that  I  must  not  covet  Claw- 
bonny,"  answered  Grace,  with  a  smile  that  denoted  how 
little  she  cared  for  the  fact.  "  You  give  it  to  our  cousin, 
Jack  Wallingford,  as  a  male  heir,  worthy  of  enjoying  the 
honor." 

"No,  dearest,  I  give  it  to  you.  It  is  true,  the  law  would 
do  this  for  me  ;  but  I  choose  to  let  it  be  known  that  I  wish 
it  to  be  so.  I  am  aware  my  father  made  that  disposition 
of  the  place,  should  I  die  childless  before  I  became  of  age  ; 
but,  once  of  age,  the  place  is  all  mine  ;  and  that  which  is 
all  mine,  shall  be  all  thine,  after  I  am  no  more." 

"  This  is  melancholy  conversation,  and,  I  trust,  useless. 
Under  the  circumstances  you  mention,  Miles,  I  never 
should  have  expected  Clawbonny,  nor  do  I  know  I  ought 
to  possess  it.  It  comes  as  much  from  Jack  Wallingford's 
ancestors,  as  from  our  own  ;  and  it  is  better  it  should  re- 
main with  the  name.  I  will  not  promise  you,  therefore,  I 
will  not  give  it  to  him,  the  instant  I  can." 

This  Jack  Wallingford,  of  whom  I  have  not  yet  spoken, 
was  a  man  of  five-and-forty,  and  a  bachelor.  He  was  a 
cousin-german  of  my  father's,  being  the  son  of  a  younger 
brother  of  my  grandfather's,  and  somewhat  of  a  favorite. 
He  had  gone  into  what  was  called  the  new  countries,  in 
that  day,"  or  a  few  miles  west  of  Cayuga  Bridge,  which  put 
him  into  Western  New  York.  I  had  never  seen  him  but 
once,  and  that  was  on  a  visit  he  paid  us  on  his  return  from 
selling  quantities  of  pot  and  pearl  ashes  in  town  ;  articles 
made  on  his  new  lands.  He  was  said  to  be  a  prosperous 
man,  and  to  stand  little  in  need  of  the  old  paternal  prop- 
erty. 

After  a  little  more  conversation  on  the  subject  of  my 
will,  Grace  and  I  separated,  each  more  closely  bound  to 
the  other,  I  firmly  believed,  for  this  dialogue  in  the  V  family 
room."  Never  had  my  sister  seemed  more  worthy  of  all 
my  love  ;  and,  certain  I  am,  never  did  she  possess  more  of 


AFLOAT  AXD  ASHORE.  357 

it.  Of  Clawbonny  she  was  as  sure  as  my  power  over  it 
could  make  her. 

The  remainder  of  the  week  passed  as  weeks  are  apt  to 
pass  in  the  country,  and  in  summer.  Feeling  myself  so 
often  uncomfortable  in  the  society  of  the  girls,  I  was  much 
in  the  fields  ;  always  possessing  the  good  excuse  of  begin- 
ning to  look  after  my  own  affairs.  Mr.  Hardinge  took 
charge  of  the  major,  an  intimacy  beginning  to  spring  up 
between  these  two  respectable  old  men.  There  were,  in- 
deed, so  many  points  of  common  feeling,  that  such  a  result 
was  not  at  all  surprising.  They  both  loved  the  Church — 
I  beg  pardon,  the  Holy  Catholic  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  They  both  disliked  Bonaparte — the  major  hated 
him,  but  my  guardian  hated  nobody — both  venerated  Billy 
Pitt,  and  both  fancied  the  French  Revolution  was  merely 
the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  through  the  agency  of  the 
devils.  As  we  are  now  touching  upon  times  likely  to  pro- 
duce important  results,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  As 
an  old  man,  aiming,  in  a  new  sphere,  to  keep  enlightened 
the  generation  that  is  coming  into  active  life,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  explain.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  in- 
duce the  country  to  think  that  Episcopalian  and  tory  were 
something  like  synonymous  terms,  in  the  "  times  that  tried 
men's  souls."  This  is  sufficiently  impudent  per  se,  in  a 
country  that  possessed  Washington,  Jay,  Hamilton,  the 
Lees,  the  Morrises,  the  late  Bishop  White,  and  so  many 
other  distinguished  patriots  of  the  Southern  and  Middle 
States  ;  but  men  are  not  particularly  scrupulous  when 
there  is  an  object  to  be  obtained,  even  though  it  be  pre- 
tended that  heaven  is  an  incident  of  that  object.  I  shall, 
therefore,  confine  my  explanations  to  what  I  have  said  about 
Billy  Pitt  and  the  French. 

The  youth  of  this  day  may  deem  it  suspicious  that  an 
Episcopal  divine — Protestant  Episcopal,  I  mean  ;  but  it  is 
so  hard  to  get  the  use  of .  new  terms  as  applied  to  old 
thoughts,  in  the  decline  of  life  ! — may  deem  it  suspicious 
that  a  Protestant  Episcopal  divine  should  care  anything 
about  Billy  Pitt,  or  execrate  infidel  France  ;  I  will,  there- 
fore, just  intimate  that,  in  1802,  no  portion  of  the  country 
dipped  more  deeply  into  similar  sentiments  than  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  first  put  foot  on  the  rock  of  Ply- 
mouth, and  whose  progenitors  had  just  before  paid  a  visit 
to  Geneva,  where,  it  is  "said  or  sung,"  they  had  found  a 
"  church  without  a  bishop,  and  a  state  without  a  king." 
In  a  word,  admiration  of  Mr.  Pitt,  and  execration  of  Bona- 


358  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

parte,  were  by  no  means  such  novelties  in  America,  in  that 
day,  as  to  excite  wonder.  For  myself,  however,  I  can 
truly  say,  that,  like  most  Americans  who  went  abroad  in 
those  stirring  times,  I  was  ready  to  say  with  Mercutio,  "  a 
plague  on  both  your  houses  ; "  for  neither  was  even  mod- 
erately honest,  or  even  decently  respectful  to  ourselves. 
Party  feeling,  however,  the  most  inexorable,  and  the  most 
unprincipled,  of  all  tyrants,  and  the  bane  of  American 
liberty,  notwithstanding  all  our  boasting,  decreed  other- 
wise ;  and  while  one-half  the  American  republic  was 
shouting  hosannas  to  the  Great  Corsican,  the  other  half 
was  ready  to  hail  Pitt  as  the  "  Heaven-born  Minister." 
The  remainder  of  the  nation  felt  and  acted  as  Americans 
should.  It  was  my  own  private  opinion,  that  France  and 
England  would  have  been  far  better  off,  had  neither  of 
these  worthies  ever  had  a  being. 

Nevertheless,  the  union  of  opinion  between  the  divine 
and  the  major  was  a  great  bond  of  union  in  friendship.  I 
saw  they  were  getting  on  well  together,  and  let  things  take 
their  course.  As  for  Emily,  I  cared  very  little  about  her, 
exceptfc-as  she  might  prove  to  be  connected  with  Rupert, 
and  through  Rupert  with  the  happiness  of  my  sister.  As 
for  Rupert,  himself,  I  could  not  get  entirely  weaned  from 
one  whom  I  had  so  much  loved  in  boyhood,  and  who, 
moreover,  possessed  the  rare  advantage  of  being  Lucy's 
brother  and  Mr.  Hardinge's  son.  "  Sidney's  sister,  Pem- 
broke's mother,"  gave  him  a  value  in  my  eyes  that  he  had 
long  ceased  to  possess  on  his  own  account. 

"  You  see,  Neb,"  I  said,  toward  the  end  of  the  week,  as 
the  black  and  I  were  walking  up  from  the  mill  in  company, 
"Mr.  Rupert  has  altogether  forgotten  that  he  ever  knew 
the  name  of  a  rope  in  a  ship.  His  hands  are  as  white  as 
a  young  lady's  !" 

"  Nebber  mind  dat,  Masser  Mile.  Masser  Rupert  nebber 
feel  a  saterfaction  to  be  wracked  away,  or  to  be  prisoner 
to  Injin  !  Golly!  No  gentleum  to  be  envy,  sir,  'em  doesn't 
enjoy  dat!  " 

"  You  have  a  queer  taste,  Neb,  from  all  which  I  conclude 
you  expect  to  return  to  town  with  me  in  the  Wallingford, 
this  evening,  and  to  go  out  in  the  Dawn  ?" 

"  Sartain,  Masser  Miles.  How  you  t'ink  of  goin'  to 
sea,  and  leave  nigger  at  home  ?" 

Here  Neb  raised  such  a  laugh  that  he  might  have  been 
heard  a  hundred  rods,  seeming  to  fancy  the  idea  he  had  sug- 
gested was  so  preposterous  as  to  merit  nothing  but  ridicule. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  359 

"Well,  Neb,  I  consent  to  your  wishes  ;  but  this  will  be 
the  last  voyage  in  which  you  will  have  to  consult  me  on 
the  subject,  as  I  shall  make  out  your  freedom  papers  the 
moment  I  am  of  age." 

"  What  dem  ? "  demanded  the  black,  quick  as  lightning. 

"  Why,  papers  to  make  you  your  own  master — a  free 
man  ;  you  surely  know  what  that  means.  Did  you  never 
hear  of  free  niggers  ? " 

"  Sartain — awful  poor  debble  dey  be,  too.  You  catch 
Neb,  one  day,  at  being  a  free  nigger,  gib  you  leave  to  tell 
him  ov  it,  Masser  Mile  !  " 

Here  was  another  burst  of  laughter  that  sounded  like  a 
chorus  in  merriment. 

"This  is  a  little  extraordinary,  Neb  !  I  thought,  boy,  all 
slaves  pined  for  freedom  ?" 

"  P'raps  so  ;  p'raps  not.  What  good  he  do,  Masser  Mile, 
when  heart  and  body  well  satisfy  as  it  is.  Now,  how  long 
a  Wallingford  family  lib,  here,  in  dis  berry  spot?"  Neb 
always  talked  more  like  a  "  nigger"  when  within  hearing 
of  the  household  gods  than  he  did  at  sea. 

"How  long?  About  a  hundred  years,  Neb — just  one 
hundred  and  seven,  I  believe,  to  be  accurate." 

"  And  how  long  a  Clawbonny  family,  at  'e  same  time, 
Masser  Mile  ?" 

"  Upon  my  word,  Neb,  your  pedigree  is  a  little  con- 
fused, and  I  cannot  answer  quite  as  certainly.  Eighty  or 
ninety,  though,  I  should  think,  at  least ;  and,  possibly,  a 
hundred  too.  Let  me  see — you  called  old  Pompey  your 
grandfather ;  did  you  not,  Neb  ? " 

"  Sart'in  ;  berry  good  grandfader,  too,  Masser  Mile. 
Ole  Pomp  a  won'erful  black  !  " 

"Oh  !  I  say  nothing  touching  the  quality  ;  I  dare  say  he 
was  as  good  as  another.  Well,  I  think  that  I  have  heard 
old  Pompey's  grandfather  was  an  imported  Guinea,  and 
that  he  was  purchased  by  my  great-grandfather,  about  the 
year  1700." 

"  Dat  just  as  good  as  gospel !  Who  want  to  make  up  lie 
about  poor  debble  of  nigger?  Well,  den,  Masser  Mile,  in 
all  dem  1700  year,  did  he  ebber  hear  of  a  Clawbonny, 
that  want  to  be  a  free  nigger  ?  Tell  me  dat,  once,  an'  I  hab 
an  answer." 

"  You  have  asked  me  more  than. I  can  answer,  b^y  ;  for 
I  am  not  in  the  secret  of  your  own  wishes,  much  less  in 
those  of  all  your  ancestors/" 

Neb  pulled  off  his  tarpaulin,  scratched  his  wool,  rolled 


360  AFLOAT  A  .YD    ASHORE. 

his  black  eyes  at  me,  as  if  he  enjoyed  the  manner  in  which 
he  had  puzzled  me  ;  after  which  he  set  off  on  a  tumbling 
excursion,  in  the  road,  going  like  a  wheel  on  his  hands 
and  feet,  showing  his  teeth  like  rows  of  pearls,  and  con- 
cluding the  whole  with  roar  the  third,  that  sounded  as  if 
the  hills  and  valleys  were  laughing  in  the  very  fatness  of 
their  fertility.  The  physical  tour  de  force  was  one  of  those 
feats  of  agility  in  which  Neb  had  been  my  instructor,  ten 
years  before. 

"  S'pose  I  free,  who  do  sich  matter  for  you,  Masser 
Mile  ? "  cried  Neb,  like  one  laying  down  an  unanswerable 
proposition.  "  No,  no,  sir — I  belong  to  you,  you  belong 
to  me,  and  we  belong  to  one  anodder." 

This  settled  the  matter  for  the  present,  and  I  said  no 
more.  Neb  was  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  next 
day  ;  and  at  the  appointed  hour,  I  met  the  assembled 
party  to  take  my  leave,  on  this,  my  third  departure  from 
the  roof  of  my  fathers.  It  had  been  settled  the  major  and 
Emily  were  to  remain  at  the  farm  until  July,  when  they 
were  to  proceed  to  the  Springs,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
water,  after  living  so  long  in  a  hot  climate.  I  had  passed 
an  hour  with  my  guardian  alone,  and  he  had  no  more  to 
say  than  to  wish  me  well,  and  to  bestow  his  blessing.  I 
did  riot  venture  an  offer  to  embrace  Lucy.  It  was  the  first 
time  we  had  parted  without  this  token  of  affection  ;  but  I 
was  shy,  and  I  fancied  she  was  cold.  She  offered  me  her 
hand,  as  frankly  as  ever,  however,  and  I  pressed  it  fer- 
vently, as  I  wished  her  adieu.  As  for  Grace,  she  wept  in 
my  arms,  just  as  she  had  always  done  ;  and  the  major  and 
Emily  shook  hands  cordially  with  me,  it  being  understood 
I  should  find  them  in  New  York,  at  my  return.  Ruper; 
accompanied  me  down  to  the  sloop. 

"  If  you  should  find  an  occasion,  Miles,  let  us  hear  from 
you,"  said  my  old  friend.  "  I  have  a  lively  curiosity  to 
learn  something  of  the  Frenchmen  ;  nor  am  I  entirely 
without  the  hope  of  soon  gratifying  the  desire,  in  per- 
son." 

"You  !  If  you  have  any  intention  to  visit  France,  what 
better  opportunity  than  to  go  in  my  cabin  ?  Is  it  business 
that  will  take  you  there  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all  ;  pure  pleasure.  Our  excellent  cousin  thinks 
a  gentleman  of  a  certain  class  ought  to  travel ;  and  I  be- 
lieve she  has  an  idea  of  getting  me  attached  to  the  lega- 
tion, in  some  form  or  other." 

This  sounded  so  odd  to  me  !  Rupert  Hardinge,  who  had 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  361 

not  one  penny  to  rub  against  another,  so  lately,  was  now 
talking  of  his  European  tour,  and  of  legations  !  I  ought 
to  have  been  glad  of  his  good  fortune,  and  I  fancied  I  was. 
I  said  nothing,  this  time,  concerning  his  taking  up  any 
portion  of  my  earnings,  having  the  sufficient  excuse  of  not 
being  on  pay  myself.  Rupert  did  not  stay  long  in  the 
sloop,  and  we  were  soon  under  way.  I  looked  eagerly 
along  the  higli  banks  of  the  creek,  fringed  as  it  was  with 
bushes,  in  hopes  of  seeing  Grace,  at  least  ;  nor  was  I  dis- 
appointed. She  and  Lucy  had  taken  a  direct  path  to  the 
point  where  the  two  waters  united,  and  were  standing- 
there,  as  the  sloop  dropped  past.  They  both  waved  their 
handkerchiefs,  in  a  way  to  show  the  interest  they  felt  in 
me  ;  and  I  returned  the  parting  salutations  by  kissing  my 
hand  again  and  again.  At  this  instant,  a  sail-boat  passed 
our  bows,  and  I  saw  a  gentleman  standing  up  in  it,  waving 
his  handkerchief,  quite  as  industriously  as  I  was  kissing 
my  hand.  A  look  told  me  it  was  Andrew  Drewett,  who 
directed  his  boat  to  the  point,  and  was  soon  making  his 
bows  to  the  girls  in  person.  His  boat  ascended  the  creek, 
no  doubt  with  his  luggage  ;  while  the  last  I  saw  of  the 
party  it  w^as  walking  off  in  company,  taking  the  direction 
of  the  house. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

"Or  feeling,  as  the  storm  increases, 
The  love  of  terror  nerve  thy  breast, 

Didst  venture  to  the  coast  : 
To  see  the  mighty  war-ship  leap 
From  wave  to  wave  upon  the  deep, 
Like  chamois  goat  from  steep  to  steep, 

Till  low  in  valley  lost." — ALLSTON. 

ROGER  TALCOTT  had  not  been  idle  during  my  absence. 
Clawbonny  was  so  dear  to  me,  that  I  had  stayed  longer 
than  was  proposed  in  the  original  plan  ;  and  I  now  found 
the  hatches  on  the  Dawn,  a  crew  shipped,  and  nothing  re- 
maining but  to  clear  out.  I  mean  the  literal  thing,  and 
not  the  slang  phrase,  one  of  those  of  which  so  many  have 
crept  into  the  American  language,  through  the  shop,  and 
which  even  find  their  way  into  print;  such  as  "  charter 
coaches,"  "on  a  boat,"  "on  board  a  stage,"  and  other  sim- 
ilar elegances.  "  On  a  boat"  always  makes  me even 

at  my  present  time  of  life.     The  Dawn  was  cleared  the 
day  I  reached  town. 


362  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Several  of  the  crew  of  the  Crisis  had  shipped  with  ul 
anew,  the  poor  fellows  having  already  made  away  with  all 
their  wages  and  prize  money,  in  the  short  space  of  a 
month  !  This  denoted  the  usual  improvidence  of  sailors, 
and  was  thought  nothing  out  of  the  common  way.  The 
country  being  at  peace,  a  difficulty  with  Tripoli  excepted, 
it  was  no  longer  necessary  for  ships  to  go  armed.  The 
sudden  excitement  produced  by  the  brush  with  the  French 
had  already  subsided,  and  the  navy  was  reduced  to  a  few 
vessels  that  had  been  regularly  built  for  the  service  ;  while 
the  list  of  officers  had  been  curtailed  of  two-thirds  of  their 
names.  We  were  no  longer  a  warlike,  but  were  fast  get- 
ting to  be  a  strictly  commercial,  body  of  seamen.  I  had  a 
single  six-pounder,  and  half  a  dozen  muskets,  in  the  Dawn, 
besides  a  pair  or  two  of  pistols,  with  just  ammunition 
enough  to  quell  a  mutiny,  fire  a  few  signal-guns,  or  to  kill 
a  few  ducks. 

We  sailed  on  the  3d  of  July.  I  have  elsewhere  intimated 
that  the  Manhattanese  hold  exaggerated  notions  of  the 
comparative  beauty  of  the  scenery  of  their  port,  sometimes 
presuming  to  compare  it  even  with  Naples  ;  to  the  bay  of 
which  it  bears  some  such  resemblance  as  a  Dutch  canal 
bears  to  a  river  flowing  through  rich  meadows,  in  the  free- 
dom and  grace  of  nature.  Nevertheless,  there  are  times 
and  seasons  when  the  bay  of  New  York  offers  a  landscape 
worthy  of  any  pencil.  It  was  at  one  of  these  felicitous 
moments  that  the  Dawn  cast  off  from  the  wharf,  and  com- 
menced her  voyage  to  Bordeaux.  There  was  barely  aii 
enough  from  the  southward  to  enable  us  to  handle  the  ship, 
and  we  profited  by  a  morning  ebb  to  drop  down  to  the 
Narrows,  in  the  midst  of  a  fleet  of  some  forty  sail ;  most 
of  the  latter,  however,  being  coasters.  Still  we  were  a 
dozen  ships  and  brigs,  bound  to  almost  as  many  different 
countries.  The  little  air  there  was  seemed  scarcely  to 
touch  the  surface  of  the  water  ;  and  the  broad  expanse  of 
bay  was  as  placid  as  an  inland  lake  of  a  summer's  morn- 
ing. Yes,  yes — there  are  moments  when  the  haven  of  New 
York  does  present  pictures  on  which  the  artist  would  seize 
with  avidity  ;  but  the  instant  nature  attempts  any  of  her 
grander  models,  on  this, -a.  spot  that  seems  never  to  rise 
much  above  the  level  of  commercial  excellences,  it  is 
found  that  the  accessories  are  deficient  in  sublimity,  or 
even  beauty. 

I  have  never  seen  our  home  waters  so  lovely  as  on  this 
morning.  The  movements  of  the  vessels  gave  just  enough 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  363 

of  life  and  variety  to  the  scene  to  destroy  the  appearance 
of  sameness  ;  while  the  craft  were  too  far  from  the  land  to 
prevent  one  of  the  most  unpleasant  effects  of  the  ordinary 
landscape  scenery  of  the  place — that  produced  by  the  dis- 
proportion between  the  tallness  of  their  spars,  and  the  low 
character  of  the  adjacent  shores.  As  we  drew  near  the 
Narrows,  the  wind  increased  ;  and  forty  sail,  working 
through  the  pass  in  close  conjunction,  terminated  the  piece 
with  something  like  the  effect  produced  by  a  finale  in  an 
overture.  The  brightness  of  the  morning,  the  placid  charms 
of  the  scenery,  and  the  propitious  circumstances  under 
which  I  commenced  the  voyage,  in  a  commercial  point  of 
view,  had  all  contributed  to  make  me  momentarily  forget 
my  private  griefs,  and  to  enter  cheerfully  into  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  hour. 

I  greatly  disliked  passengers.  They  appeared  to  me  to 
lessen  the  dignity  of  my  position,  and  to  reduce  me  to  the 
level  of  an  innkeeper,  or  one  who  received  boarders.  I 
wished  to  command  a  ship,  not  to  take  in  lodgers  ;  persons 
whom  you  are  bound  to  treat  with  a  certain  degree  of  con- 
sideration, and  in  one  sense,  as  your  superiors.  Still,  it 
had  too  much  of  an  appearance  of  surliness,  and  a  want  of 
hospitality,  to  refuse  a  respectable  man  a  passage  across 
the  ocean,  when  he  might  not  get  another  chance  in  a 
month,  and  that  too  when  it  was  important  to  himself  to 
proceed  immediately.  In  this  particular  instance,  I  be- 
came the  dupe  of  a  mistaken  kindness  on  the  part  of  my 
former  owners.  These  gentlemen  brought  to  me  Mr.  Brig- 
ham — Wallace  Mortimer  Brigham  was  his  whole  name,  to 
be  particular — as  a  person  who  was  desirous  of  getting  to 
France  with  his  wife  and  wafe's  sister,  in  order  to  proceed 
to  Italy  for  the  health  of  the  married  lady,  who  \vas  be- 
lieved to  be  verging  on  a  decline.  These  people  were  from 
the  eastward,  and  had  fallen  into  the  old  error  of  Ameri- 
cans, that  the  south  of  France  and  Italy  had  residences 
far  more  favorable  for  such  a  disease  than  our  own  coun- 
try. This  was  one  of  the  provincial  notions  of  the  day, 
that  were  entailed  on  us  by  means  of  colonial  dependency. 
I  suppose  the  colonial  existence  is  as  necessary  to  a  people 
as  childhood  and  adolescence  are  to  the  man  ;  but  as  my 
Lady  Mary  VVortley  Montagu  told  her  friend,  Lady  Rich 
— "  Nay  ;  but  look  you,  my  dear  madam,  I  grant  it  a  very 
fine  thing  to  continue  always  fifteen  ;  that,  everybody  must 
approve  of— it  is  quite  fair,  but,  indeed,  one  ne^d  not  be 
five  years  old." 


364  AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE. 

I  was  prevailed  on  to  take  these  passengers,  and  I  got  a 
specimen  of  their  characters  as  we  dropped  down  the  bay, 
in  the  midst  of  the  agreeable  scene  to  which  I  have  just 
alluded.  They  were  gossips  ;  and  that,  too,  of  the  lowest, 
or  personal  caste.  Nothing  made  them  so  happy  as  to  be 
talking  of  the  private  concerns  of  their  fellow-creatures  ; 
and,  as  ever  must  happen  where  this  propensity  exists, 
nine-tenths  of  what  they  said  rested  on  no  better  founda- 
tion than  surmises,  inferences  drawn  from  premises  of 
questionable  accuracy,  and  judgments  that  were  entered 
up  without  the  authority,  or  even  the  inclination,  to  exam- 
ine witnesses.  They  had  also  a  peculiarity  that  I  have  of- 
ten remarked  in  persons  of  the  same  propensity  ;  most  of 
their  gossiping  arose  from  a  desire  to  make  apparent 
their  own  intimacy  with  the  private  affairs  of  people  of 
mark — overlooking  the  circumstance  that,  in  thus  making 
the  concerns  of  others  the  subjects  of  their  own  comments, 
they  were  impliedly  admitting  a  consciousness  of  their 
own  inferiority  ;  men  seldom  condescending  thus  to  busy 
themselves  with  the  affairs  of  any  but  those  of  whom  they 
feel  it  to  be  a  sort  of  distinction  to  converse.  I  am  much 
afraid  good-breeding  has  more  to  do  with  the  suppression 
of  this  vice  than  good  principles,  as  the  world  goes.  I 
have  remarked  that  persons  of  a  high  degree  of  self-re- 
spect, and  a  good  tone  of  manners,  are  quite  free  from  this 
defect  of  character  ;  while  I  regret  to  be  compelled  to  say 
that  1  have  been  acquainted  with  divers  very  saintly  pro- 
fessors, including  one  or  two  parsons,  who  have  represented 
the  very  beau  ideal  of  scandal. 

My  passengers  gave  me  a  taste  of  their  quality,  as  I  have 
said,  before  we  had  got  a  mile  below  Governor's  Island. 
The  ladies  were  named  Sarah  and  Jane  ;  and  between  them 
and  Wallace  Mortimer,  what  an  insight  did  I  obtain  into 
the  private  affairs  of  sundry  personages  of  Salem,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, together  with  certain  glimpses  in  at  Boston 
folks  ;  all,  however,  referring  to  qualities  and  facts  that 
might  be  classed  among  the  real  or  supposed.  I  can 
at  this  distant  day,  recall  Scene  ist,  Act  ist,  of  the  drama 
that  continued  while  we  were  crossing  the  ocean,  with  the 
slight  interruption  of  a"  few  days  produced  by  sea-sick' 
ness. 

"Wallace,"  said  Sarah,  "did  you  say,  yesterday,  that 
John  Viner  had  refused  to  lend  his  daughter's  husband 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  to  get  him  out  of  his  difficulties, 
and  that  he  failed  in  consequence  ? " 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  365 

"To  be  sure.  It  was  the  common  talk  through  Wall 
Street  yesterday,  and  everybody  believes  it," — there  was  no 
more  truth  in  the  story  than  in  one  of  the  forty  reports 
that  have  killed  General  Jackson  so  often  in  the  last 
twenty  years.  "  Yes,  no  one  doubts  it — but  all  the  Viners 
are  just  so  !  All  of  us,  in  our  part  of  the  world,  know 
what  to  think  of  the  Viners." 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  drawled  Jane.  "  I've  heard  it  said 
this  John  Viner's  father  ran  all  the  way  from  the  Common 
in  Boston,  to  the  foot  of  State  Street,  to  get  rid  of  a  dun 
against  this  very  son,  who  had  his  own  misfortunes  when 
he  was  young." 

"  The  story  is  quite  likely  true  in  part,"  replied  Wallace, 
"  though  it  can't  be  quite  accurate,  as  the  old  gentleman 
had  but  one  leg,  and  running  was  altogether  out  of  the 
question  with  him.  It  was  probably  old  Tim  Viner,  who 
ran  like  a  deer  when  a  young  man,  as  I've  heard  people 
say." 

"  Well,  then,  I  suppose  he  ran  his  horse,"  added  Jane,  in 
the  same  quiet,  drawling  tone.  "  Something  must  have 
run,  or  they  never  would  have  got  up  the  story." 

I  wondered  if  Miss  Jane  Hitchcock  had  ever  taken  the 
trouble  to  ascertain  who  they  were  !  I  happened  to  know 
both  the  Viners,  and  to  be  quite  certain  there  was  not  a 
word  of  truth  in  the  report  of  the  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
having  heard  all  the  particulars  of  the  late  failure  from  one 
of  my  former  owners,  who  wras  an  assignee,  and  a  con- 
siderable creditor.  Under  the  circumstances,  I  thought,  I 
would  hint  as  much.  "Are  you  quite  sure  that  the  failure 
of  Viner  &  Co.  was  owing  to  the  circumstance  you  men- 
tion, Mr.  Brigham?"  I  inquired. 

"  Pretty  certain.  I  am  *  measurably  acquainted'  with  their 
affairs,  and  think  I  am  tolerably  safe  in  saying  so." 

Now  "  measurably  acquainted "  meant  that  he  lived 
within  twenty  or  thirty  miles  of  those  whodfo/  know  some- 
thing of  the  concerns  of  the  house  in  question,  and  was 
in  the  way  of  catching  scraps  of  the  gossip  that  fell  from 
the  disappointed  creditors.  How  much  of  this  is  there  in 
this  good  country  of  ours !  Men  who  live  just  near  enough 
to  one  another  to  feel  the  influence  of  all  that  rivalry, 
envy,  personal  strifes  and  personal  malignancies,  can  gen- 
erate, fancy  they  are  acquainted,  from  this  circumstance, 
with  those  to  whom  they  have  never  even  spoken.  One 
half  the  idle  tales  that  circulate  up  and  down  the  land, 
come  from  authority  not  one  tittle  better  than  this.  How 


366  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

much  would  men  learn,  could  they  only  acquire  the  health- 
ful lesson  of  understanding  that  nothing,  which  is  much 
out  of  the  ordinary  way,  and  which  circulates  as  received 
truths  illustrative  of  character,  is  true  in  all  its  material 
parts,  and  very  little  in  any.  But,  to  return  to  my  pas- 
sengers, and  that  portion  of  their  conversation  which  most 
affected  myself.  They  continued  commenting  on  persons 
and  families  by  name,  seemingly  more  to  keep  their  hands 
in,  than  for  any  other  discoverable  reason,  as  each  appeared 
to  be  perfectly  conversant  with  all  the  gossip  that  was 
started  ;  when  Sarah  casually  mentioned  the  name  of  Mrs. 
Bradfort,  with  some  of  whose  supposed  friends,  it  now  came 
out,  they  had  all  a  general  visiting  acquaintance. 

"  Dr.  Hosack  is  of  opinion  she  cannot  live  long,  I  hear," 
said  Jane,  with  a  species  of  fierce  delight  in  killing  a  fellow- 
creature,  provided  it  only  led  to  a  gossip  concerning  her 
private  affairs.  "  Her  case  has  been  decided  to  be  a  can- 
cer, now,  for  more  than  a  week,  and  she  made  her  will 
last  Tuesday." 

"  Only  last  Tuesday  ? "  exclaimed  Sarah,  in  surprise. 
"  Well,  I  heard  she  had  made  her  will  a  twelvemonth 
since,  and  that  she  left  all  her  property  to  young  Rupert 
Hardinge' ;  in  the  expectation,  some  persons  thought,  that 
he  might  marry  her." 

"How  could  that  be,  my  dear  ?"  asked  the  husband; 
"  in  what  would  she  be  better  off  for  leaving  her  own 
property  to  her  husband  ? " 

"  Why,  by  law,  would  she  not  ?  I  don't  exactly  know 
how  it  would  happen,  for  I  do  not  particularly  understand 
these  things  ;  but  it  seems  natural  that  a  woman  would  be 
a  gainer  if  she  made  the  man  she  was  about  to  marry  her 
heir.  She  would  have  her  thirds  in  his  estate,  would  she 
not?" 

"But,  Mrs.  Brigham,"  said  I,  smiling,  "is  it  quite  certain 
Mrs.  Bradfort  wishes  to  marry  Rupert  Hardinge,  at  all  ?" 

"  I  know  so  little  of  the  parties,  that  I  cannot  speak 
with  certainty  in  the  matter,  I  admit,  Captain  Walling- 
ford." 

"  Well,  but  Sarah,  dear,"  interposed  the  more  exacting 
Jane,  "  you  are  making  yourself  unnecessarily  ignorant. 
You  very  well  know  how  intimate  we  are  with  the  Greenes, 
and  they  know  the  Winters  perfectly  well,  who  are  next- 
door  neighbors  to  Mrs.  Bradfort.  I  don't  see  how  you 
can  say  we  haven't  good  means  of  being  *  measurably '  well 
informed." 


A  FLO AT  AND  ASHORE.  367 

Now  4  happened  to  know,  through  Grace  and  Lucy, 
that  a  disagreeable  old  person  of  the  name  of  Greene  did 
live  next  door  to  Mrs.  Bradfort ;  but  that  the  latter  re- 
fused to  visit  her,  firstly,  because  she  did  not  happen  to 
like  her,  and  secondly,  because  the  two  ladies  belonged  to 
very  different  social  circles  ;  a  sufficient  excuse  for  not 
visiting  in  town,  even  though  the  parties  inhabited  the 
same  house.  But  the  Brighams,  being  Salem  people,  did 
not  understand  that  families  might  reside  next  door  to  each 
other,  in  a  large  town,  for  a  long  series  of  months,  or  even 
years,  and  not  know  each  other's  names.  It  would  not  be 
easy  to  teach  this  truth,  one  of  every-day  occurrence,  to  the 
inhabitant  of  one  of  our  provincial  towns,  who  was  in  the 
habit  of  fancying  he  had  as  close  an  insight  into  the  pri- 
vate affairs  of  all  his  neighbors,  as  they  enjoyed  themselves. 

"  No  doubt  we  are  all  as  well  cff  as  most  strangers  in 
New  York,"  observed  the  wife  ;  "still,  it  ought  to  be  ad- 
mitted that  we  may  be  mistaken.  I  have  heard  it  said 
there  is  an  old  Mr.  Hardinge,  a  clergyman,  who  would 
make  a  far  better  match  for  the  lady,  than  his  son.  How- 
ever, it  is  of  no  great  moment,  now,  for,  when  our  neigh- 
bor, Mrs.  John  Foote,  saw  Doctor  Hosack  about  her  own 
child,  she  got  all  the  particulars  out  of  him  about  Mrs. 
Bradfort's  case,  from  the  highest  quarter,  and  I  had  it  from 
Mrs.  Foote,  herself."  s_ 

"  I  could  not  have  believed  that  a  physician  of  Doctor 
Hosack's  eminence  and  character  would  speak  openly  of 
the  diseases  of  his  patients,  "  I  observed,  a  little  tartly,  I  am 
afraid. 

"  Oh  !  he  didn't,"  said  Sarah,  eagerly — u  he  was  as  cun- 
ning as  a  fox,  Mrs.  Foote  owned  herself,  and  played  her 
off  finely  ;  but  Mrs.  Foote  was  cunninger  than  any  half- 
dozen  foxes,  and  got  it  all  out  of  him  by  negations." 

"  Negations  !  "  I  exclaimed,  wondering  what  was  meant 
by  the  term,  though  I  had  understood  I  was  to  expect  a  little 
more  philosophy  and  metaphysics,  not  to  say  algebra,  in 
my  passengers,  than  usually  accompanied  petticoats  in  our 
part  of  the  world. 

"  Certainly,  negations"  answered  the  matron,  with  a  smile 
as  complacent  as  that  which  usually  denotes  the  conscious- 
ness of  intellectual  superiority.  "  One  who  is  a  little  prac- 
tised, can  ascertain  a  fact  as  well  by  means  of  negatives  as 
affirmatives.  It  only  requires  judgment  and  use." 

"  Then  Mrs.  Bradfort's  disease  is  only  ascertained  by 
the  negative  process  ?  " 


368  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  So  I  suppose — but  what  does  one  want  more  ? "  put  in 
the  husband ;  "and  that  she  made  her  will  last  week,  I  feel 
quite  sure,  as  it  was  generally  spoken  of  among  our  friends. " 

Here  were  people  who  had  been  in  New  York  only  a 
month,  looking  out  for  a  ship,  mere  passengers  as  it  might 
be,  who  knew  more  about  a  family,  with  which  I  had 
myself  such  an  intimate  connection,  than  its  own  members. 
I  thought  it  no  wonder  that  such  a  race  was  capable  of  en- 
lightening mankind,  on  matters  and  things  in  general. 
But  the  game  did  not  end  here. 

"  I  suppose  Miss  Lucy  Hardinge  will  get  something  by 
Mrs.  Bradfort's  death,"  observed  Miss  Jane,  "  and  that  she 
and  Mr.  Andrew  Drewett  will  marry  as  soon  as  it  shall  be- 
come proper." 

Here  was  a  speculation  for  a  man  in  my  state  of  mind ! 
The  names  were  all  right ;  some  of  the  incidents,  even, 
were  probable,  if  not  correct ;  yet  how  could  the  facts  be 
known  to  these  comparative  strangers?  Did  the  art  of 
gossiping,  with  all  its  meanness,  lies,  devices,  inventions, 
and  cruelties,  really  possess  so  much  advantage  over  the 
intercourse  of  the  confiding  and  honest,  as  to  enable  those 
who  practise  it  to  discover  facts  hidden  from  eye-witnesses, 
and  eye-witnesses,  too,  that  had  every  inducement  of  the 
strongest  interest  in  the  issue,  not  to  be  deceived  ?  I  felt 
satisfied,  the  moment  Mrs.  Greene's  name  was  mentioned, 
that  my  passengers  were  not  in  the  true  New  York  set ; 
and,  justly  enough,  inferred  they  were  not  very  good  au- 
thority for  one-half  they  said  ;  and,  yet,  how  could  they 
know  anything  of  Drewett's  attachment  to  Lucy,  unless 
their  information  were  tolerably  accurate  ? 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  repeat  all  that  passed  while  the 
ship  dropped  down  the  bay ;  but  enough  escaped  the  gos- 
sips to  render  me  still  more  unhappy  than  I  had  yet  been, 
on  the  subject  of  Lucy.  I  could  and  did  despise  these 
people — that  was  easy  enough  ;  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to 
forget  all  that  they  had  said  and  surmised.  This  is  one 
of  the  curses  attendant  on  the  habit  of  loose  talking; 
one  never  knowing  what  to  credit,  and  what  not.  In  spite 
of  all  my  disgust,  and  a  firm  determination  not  to  contrib- 
ute in  any  manner  to  the  stock  in  trade  of  these  people, 
I  found  great  difficulty  in  evading  their  endless  questions. 
How  much  they  got  out  of  me,  by  means  of  the  process  of 
negations,  I  never  knew  ;  but  they  got  no  great  matter 
through  direct  affirmatives.  Something,  however,  persons 
so  indefatigable,  to  whom  gossiping  was  the  great  aim  of 


A  FLO  A  7'  AND   ASHORE.  369 

!ife,  must  obtain,  and  they  ascertained  that  Mr.  Hardinge 
was  my  guardian,  that  Rupert  and  I  had  passed  our  boy- 
hoods in  each  other's  company,  and  that  Lucy  was  even 
an  inmate  of  my  own  house  the  day  we  sailed.  This  little 
knowledge  only  excited  a  desire  for  more,  and  by  the  end 
of  a  week,  I  was  obliged  to  submit  to  devices  and  expedi- 
ents  to  pump  me,  than  which  even  the  thumb-screw  was 
scarcely  more  efficient.  I  practised  on  the  negative 
system,  myself,  with  a  good  deal  of  dexterity,  however, 
and  threw  my  inquisitors  off,  very  handsomely,  more  than 
once,  until  I  discovered  that  Wallace  Mortimer,  determined 
not  to  be  baffled,  actually  opened  communications  with 
Neb,  in  order  to  get  a  clearer  insight  into  my  private  affairs. 
After  this,  I  presume  my  readers  will  not  care  to  hear  any 
more  about  these  gentry,  whose  only  connection  with  my 
life  grew  out  of  the  misgivings  they  contributed  largely 
to  create  in  my  mind  touching  the  state  of  Lucy's  affec- 
tions. This  much  they  did  effect,  and  I  was  compelled  to 
submit  to  their  power.  We  are  all  of  us,  more  or  less,  the 
dupes  of  knaves  and  fools. 

All  this,  however,  was  the  fruits  of  several  weeks'  inter- 
course, and  I  have  anticipated  events  a  little  in  order  to 
make  the  statements  in  connection.  Meeting  a  breeze,  as 
has  been  said  already,  the  Dawn  got  over  the  bar  about 
two  o'clock,  and  stood  off  the  land,  on  an  easy  bowline,  in 
company  with  the  little  fleet  of  square-rigged  vessels  that 
went  out  at  the  same  time.  By  sunset  Navesink  again 
dipped,  and  I  was  once  more  fairly  at  sea. 

This  was  at  the  period  when  the  commerce  of  America 
was  at  its  height.  The  spirit  shown  by  the  young  republic 
in  the  French  affair  had  commanded  a  little  respect,  though 
the  supposed  tendencies  of  the  new  administration  were 
causing  anything  but  a  cordial  feeling  toward  the  country 
to  exist  in  England.  That  powerful  nation,  however,  had 
made  a  hollow  peace  with  France  the  previous  March,  and 
the  highway  of  nations  was  temporarily  open  to  all  ships 
alike,  a  state  of  things  that  existed  for  some  ten  months 
after  we  sailed.  Nothing  to  be  apprehended,  consequently, 
lay  before  me,  beyond  the  ordinary  dangers  of  the  ocean. 
For  these  last  I  was  now  prepared  by  the  experience  of 
several  years  passed  almost  entirely  on  board  ship,  during 
which  time  I  had  encircled  the  earth  itself  in  my  peregrina- 
tions. 

Our  run  off  the  coast  was  favorable,  and  the  sixth  day 
out  we  were  in  the  longitude  of  the  tail  of  the  Grand  Bank. 
24 


370  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

I  was  delighted  with  my  ship,  .which  turned  out  to  be  even 
more  than  I  had  dared  to  hope  for.  She  behaved  well 
under  all  circumstances,  sailing  even  better  than  she 
worked.  The  first  ten  days  of  our  passage  were  prosperous, 
and  we  were  mid-ocean  by  the  loth  of  the  month.  During 
this  time  I  had  nothing  to  annoy  me  but  the  ceaseless  can- 
cans of  my  passengers.  I  had  heard  the  name  of  every 
individual  of  note  in  Salem,  with  certain  passages  in  his  or 
her  life,  and  began  to  fancy  I  had  lived  a  twelvemonth  in 
the  place.  At  length  I  began  to  speculate  on  the  reason 
why  this  morbid  propensity  should  exist  so  much  stronger 
in  that  part  of  the  world  than  in  any  other  I  had  visited. 
There  was  nothing  new  in  the  disposition  of  the  people  of 
small  places  to  gossip,  and  it  was  often  done  in  large  towns, 
more  especially  those  that  did  not  possess  the  tone  of  a 
capital.  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu  and  Horace  Wai- 
pole  wrote  gossip,  but  it  was  spiced  with  wit,  as  is  usual 
with  the  scandal  of  such  places  as  London  and  Paris  ; 
whereas  this  to  which  I  was  doomed  to  listen,  was  nothing 
more  than  downright  impertinent,  vulgar  meddling  with 
the  private  affairs  of  all  those  whom  the  gossips  thought 
of  sufficient  importance  to  talk  about.  At  Clawbonny  we 
had  our  gossip,  too,  but  it  was  innocent,  seldom  infringed 
much  on  the  truth,  and  usually  respected  the  right  of  every 
person  to  possess  certain  secrets  that  might  remain  inviolate 
to  the  world.  No  such  rules  prevailed  with  my  passengers. 
Like  a  certain  editor  of  a  newspaper  of  my  acquaintance, 
who  acts  as  if  he  fancied  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth 
were  created  expressly  to  furnish  materials  for  "para- 
graphs," they  appeared  to  think  that  everybody  of  their 
acquaintance  existed  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  furnish 
them  food  for  conversation.  There  must  have  been  some 
nnusual  cause  for  so  much  personal  espionage,  and  at  length 
I  came  to  the  following  conclusion  on  the  subject.  I  had 
heard  that  church  government  among  the  Puritans  descend- 
ed into  all  the  details  of  life  ;  that  it.  was  a  part  of  their 
religious  duty  to  watch  over  each  other,  jog  the  memories 
of  tiie  delinquents,  and  serve  God  by  ferreting  out  vice. 
This  is  a  terrible  inducement  to  fill  the  mind  with  the 
motes  of  a  neighborhood,  and  the  mind  thus  stowed,  as  we 
sailors  say,  will  be  certain  to  deliver  a  cargo.  Then  come 
the  institutions,  with  their  never-ending  elections,  and  the 
construction  that  has  been  put  on  the  right  of  the  elector 
to  inquire  into  all  things;  the  whole  consummated  by  the 
journals,  who  assume  a  power  to  penetrate  the  closet,  ayy 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  371 

even  the  heart,  and  lay  bare  its  secrets.  Is  it  any  wonder 
if  we  should  becomf  in  time,  a  nation  of  mere  gossips? 
As  for  my  passengers,  even  Neb  got  to  consider  them  as 
so  many  nuisances. 

From  some  cause  or  other,  whether  it  was  having  these 
loose-tongued  people  on  board  or  not,  is  more  than  I  can 
say,  but  certain  it  is,  about  the  time  Salem  was  handsomely 
cleaned  out,  and  a  heavy  inroad  had  been  made  upon  Bos- 
ton, that  the  weather  changed.  It  began  to  blow  in  gusts, 
sometimes  from  one  point  of  the  compass,  sometimes  from 
another,  until  the  ship  was  brought  to  very  short  canvas, 
from  a  dread  of  being  caught  unprepared.  At  length 
these  fantasies  of  the  winds  terminated  in  a  tremendous 
gale,  such  as  I  had  seldom  then  witnessed,  and  such,  in- 
deed, as  I  have  seldom  witnessed  since.  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  the  heaviest  weather  occurs  in  the 
autumnal,  spring,  or  winter  months.  Much  the  strongest 
blows  I  have  ever  known,  have  taken  place  in  the  middle 
of  the  warm  weather.  This  is  the  season  of  the  hurri- 
canes, and,  out  of  the  tropics,  I  think  it  is  also  the  season 
of  the  gales.  It  is  true,  these  gales  do  not  return  annually, 
a  long  succession  of  years  frequently  occurring  without 
one  ;  but  when  they  do  come,  they  may  be  expected,  in 
our  own  seas,  in  July,  August,  or  September. 

The  wind  commenced  at  southwest  on  this  occasion,  and 
it  blew  fresh  for  several  hours,  sending  us  ahead  on  our 
course  at  the  rate  of  eleven  knots.  As  the  sea  got  up  and 
sail  was  reduced,  our  speed  was  a  little  diminished,  per- 
haps, but  we  must  have  made  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
in  the  first  ten  hours.  The  day  was  bright,  cloudless, 
genial,  and  even  bland,  there  being  nothing  unpleasant  in 
the  feeling  of  the  swift'  currents  of  the  air  that  whirled 
past  us.  At  sunset  I  did  not  quite  like  the  appearance  of 
the  horizon  ;  and  we  let  the  ship  wade  through  it  under 
her  three  topsails,  single  reefed,  her  fore-course,  and  fore- 
topmast  stay-sail.  This  was  short  canvas  for  a  vessel  that 
had  the  wind  nearly  over  her  taffrail.  At  nine  o'clock 
second  reefs  were  taken  in,  and  at  ten  the  mizzen-topsaii 
was  furled.  I  then  turned  in,  deeming  the  ship  quite  snug, 
leaving  orders  with  the  mates  to  reduce  the  sail  did  they 
find  the  ship  straining  or  the  spars  in  danger,  and  to  call 
me  should  anything  serious  occur.  I  was  not  called  until 
daylight,  when  Talcott  laid  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and 
said,  "  You  had  better  turn  out,  Captain  Wallingforcl,  we 
have  a  peeler,  and  I  want  a  little  advice." 


372  AFLOAT  A. YD   ASHORE. 

It  was  a  peeler,  indeed,  when  I  readied  the  deck.  The 
ship  was  under  a  fore-course  and  a  close-reefed  main-top- 
sail, canvas  that  can  be  carried  a  long  time  while  running 
off,  but  which  I  at  once  saw  was  quite  too  much  for  us. 
An  order  was  given  immediately  to  take  in  the  topsail. 
Notwithstanding  the  diminutive  surface  that  was  exposed, 
the  surges  given  by  this  bit  of  canvas,  as  soon  as  the  clews 
were  eased  off  sufficiently  to  allow  the  cloth  to*jerk,  shook 
the  vessel's  hull.  It  was  a  miracle  that  we  saved  the  mast, 
or  that  we  got  the  cloth  rolled  up  at  all.  At  one  time  I 
thought  it  would  be  necessary  to  cut  it  from  the  yard. 
Fortunately  the  gale  was  steady,  this  day  proving  bright 
and  clear  like  that  which  had  preceded  it. 

The  men  aloft  made  several  attempts  to  hail  the  deck, 
but  the  wind  blew  too  heavily  to  suffer  them  to  be  heard. 
Talcott  had  gone  on  the  yard  himself,  and  I  saw  him  ges- 
ticulating in  a  way  to  indicate  there  was  something  ahead. 
The  seas  were  running  so  high  that  it  was  not  easy  to  ob- 
tain much  of  a  look  at  the  horizon,  but  by  getting  into 
the  mizzen-rigging  I  had  a  glimpse  of  a  vessel's  spars,  to 
the  eastward  of  us  and  directly  on  our  course.  It  was  a 
ship  under  bare  poles,  running  as  nearly  before  us  as  she 
could,  but  making  most  fearful  yaws  ;  sometimes  sheering 
away  off  to  starboard  in  a  way  to  threaten  her  with  broach- 
ing-to ;  then  taking  a  yaw  to  port,  in  which  I  could  see  all 
three  of  her  masts,  with  her  yards  pointing  nearly  at  us. 
I  got  but  one  glimpse  of  her  hull  as  it  rose  on  a  sea  at  the 
same  instant  with  the  Dawn,  and  it  actually  appeared  as  if 
about  to  be  blown  away ;  though  I  took  the  stranger  to  be 
a  vessel  at  least  as  large  as  we  were  ourselves.  We  were 
evidently  approaching  her  fast,  though  both  vessels  were 
going  the  same  way. 

The  Dawn  steered  beautifully,  one  of  the  greatest  virt- 
ues in  a  ship,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  we  were 
then  placed.  A  single  man  was  all  that  we  had  at  the 
wheel,  and  he  controlled  it  with  ease.  I  could  see  it  was 
very  different  with  the  ship  ahead,  and  fancied  they  had 
made  a  mistake  on  board  her,  by  taking  in  all  their  can- 
vas: Talcott,  and  the  gang  aloft,  had  not  got  out  of  the 
top,  however,  before  we  had  a  hint  that  it  would  be  well 
to  imitate  the  stranger's  prudence.  Though  our  vessel 
steered  so  much  better  than  another,  no  ship  can  keep 
on  a  direct  line  while  running  before  the  wind  in  a  heavy 
sea.  The  waves  occasionally  fly  past  a  vessel,  like  the 
scud  glancing  through  the  air  ;  then  they  seem  to  pause 


AFLOAT  A.VD  ASHORE.  373 

altogether,  as  if  to  permit  the  ship  to  overtake  them. 
When  a  vessel  is  lifted  aft  by  one  of  these  torrents  of 
rushing  waters,  the  helm  loses  a  portion  of  its  power ;  and 
the  part  of  the  vast  machine  that  receives  the  impulse, 
seems  intent  on  exchanging  places  with  the  bows,  vessels 
often  driving  sideways  before  the  surge,  for  spaces  of  time 
that  are  exceedingly  embarrassing  to  the  mariner.  This 
happens  to  the  best-steering  ships,  and  is  always  one 
source  of  danger  in  very  heavy  weather,  to  those  who  are 
running  off.  The  merit  of  the  Dawn  was  in  coming  under 
command  again,  quickly,  and  in  not  losing  so  much  of  the 
influence  of  her  helm,  as  is  frequently  the  case  with  wild- 
steering  craft.  I  understand  there  is  a  sloop-of-war  now 
in  the  navy,  that  is  difficult  to  get  through  a  narrow 
passage,  in  a  blow,  in  consequence  of  her  having  this  pro- 
pensity to  turn  her  head  first  one  way,  then  another,  like  a 
gay  horse  that  breaks  his  bridle. 

The  hint  given,  just  as  Talcott  was  quitting  the  top,  and 
to  which  there  has  been  allusion,  was  given  under  the 
impulsion  of  one  of  these  driving  seas.  The  Dawn  still 
carried  her  fore-topmast  staysail,  a  small  triangular  piece 
of  stout  canvas,  and  which  was  particularly  useful,  as  lead- 
ing from  the  end  of  the  bowsprit  toward  the  head  of  the 
fore-topmast,  in  preventing  her  from  broaching  to,  or  pass- 
ing up  with  her  bows  so  near  the  wind  as  to  produce  the 
danger  of  seas  breaking  over  the  mass  of  the  hull,  and 
sweeping  the  decks.  The  landsman  will  understand  this 
is  the  gravest  of  the  dangers  that  occur  at  sea,  in  very 
heavy  weather.  When  the  ship  is  thrown  broadside  to 
the  sea,  or  comes  up  so  as  to  bring  the  wind  abeam,  or 
even  forward  of  the  beam,  as  in  lying-to,  there  is  always 
risk  from  this  source.  Another  danger,  which  is  called 
pooping,  is  of  a  character,  that  one  who  is  ignorant  of  the 
might  of  the  ocean  when  aroused,  would  not  be  apt  to 
foresee.  It  proceeds  from  the  impetuous  velocity  of  the 
waves,  which,  rushing  ahead  so  much  faster  than  the 
vessel  that  is  even  driving  before  the  gale,  breaks  against 
the  quarter,  or  stern,  and  throws  its  masses  of  water  along 
the  deck,  in  a  line  with  its  keel.  I  suppose  the  President 
steamer  to  have  been  lost  by  the  first  of  these  two  dangers, 
as  will  appear  in  the  following  little  theory. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  well-constructed  steamers  are 
safer  craft,  the  danger  from  fire  excepted,  than  the  ordi- 
nary ship,  except  in  very  heavy  weather.  With  an  ordinary 
gale,  they  can  contend  with  sufficient  power  ;  but,  it  is  an 


374  A  FLO  A  7'  AXD 

unfortunate  consequence  of  their  construction,  that  exactly 
as  the  danger  increases,  their  power  of  meeting  it  dimin- 
ishes. In  a  very  heavy  swell,  one  cannot  venture  to  resort 
to  a  strong  head  of  steam,  since  one  wheel  may  be  nearly 
out  of  water,  while  the  other  is  submerged,  and  thus  en- 
danger the  machinery.  Now  the  great  length  of  these 
vessels  renders  it  difficult  to  keep  them  up  to  the  wind,  or 
head  to  sea,  the  safest  of  all  positions  for  a  vessel  in  heavy 
weather,  while  it  exposes  them  to  the  additional  risk  of 
having  the  water  break  aboard  them  near  the  waist,  in 
running  dead  before  it.  In  a  word,  I  suppose  a  steamer 
difficult  to  be  kept  out  of  the  trough,  in  very  heavy 
weather ;  and  no  vessel  can  be  safe  in  the  trough  of  the 
seas,  under  such  circumstances  ;  one  of  great  length  less 
so  than  others.  This  is  true,  however,  only  in  reference 
to  those  which  carry  the  old-fashioned  wheel  ;  Erricson's 
screw,  and  Hunter's  submerged  wheels,  rendering  steam- 
ships, in  my  poor  judgment,  the  safest  craft  in  the  world. 

The  Dawn  was  overtaken  by  the  seas,  from  time  to  time  ; 
and,  then,  like  everything  else  that  floats,  she  yawed,  or 
rather,  had  her  stern  urged  impetuously  round,  as  if  it 
were  in  a  hurry  to  get  ahead  of  the  bows.  On  these  occa- 
sions the  noise  made  by  the  fore-topmast  staysail,  as  it 
collapsed  and  filled,  resembled  the  report  of  a  small  gun. 
We  had  similar  reports  from  the  foresail,  which,  for  mo- 
ments at  a  time,  was  actually  becalmed,  as  the  ship  settled 
into  the  trough,  and  then  became  distended  with  a  noise 
like  that  of  the  shaking  of  a  thousand  carpets,  all  filled 
with  Sancho  Panzas,  at  the  same  instant.  As  yet,  the  cloth 
and  gear  had  stood  these  violent  shocks  admirably  ;  but, 
just  as  Talcott  was  leading  his  party  down,  the  ship  made 
one  of  her  sidelong  movements  ;  the  staysail  filled  with  a 
tremendous  report,  and  away  it  flew  to  leeward,  taken  out 
of  the  bolt-rope  as  if  it  had  been  cut  by  shears,  and  then 
used  by  the  furies  of  the  tempest.  Talcott  smiled,  as  he 
gazed  at  the  driving  canvas,  which  went  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  before  it  struck  the  water,  whirling  like  a  kite  that 
had  broken  its  string,  and  then  he  shook  his  head.  I  dis- 
liked, too,  the  tremendous  surges  of  the  foresail,  when  it 
occasionally  collapsed,  and  as  suddenly  filled,  menacing  to 
start  every  bolt,  and  to  part  every  rope  connected  with 
block  or  spar. 

"  We  must  get  in  that  fore-course,  Mr.  Talcott,"  I  said, 
"  or  we  shall  lose  something.  I  see  the  ship  ahead  is  under 
bare  poles,  and  it  were  better  we  were  as  snug.  If  I  did 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  375 

not  dislike  losing  such  a  wind,  it  would  be  wiser  to  heave- 
to  the  ship  ;  man  the  buntlines  and  clew-garnets,  at  once, 
and  wait  for  a  favorable  moment." 

We  had  held  on  to  our  canvas  too  long  ;  the  fault  of 
youth.  As  I  had  determined  to  shorten  sail,  however,  we 
now  set  about  it  in  earnest,  and  with  all  the  precautions 
exacted  by  the  circumstances.  Everybody  that  could  be 
mustered  was  placed  at  the  clew-lines  and  buntlines,  with 
strict  orders  to  do  his  best  at  the  proper  moments.  The 
first  mate  went  to  the  tack,  and  the  second  to  the  sheet. 
I  was  to  take  in  the  sail  myself.  I  waited  for  a  collapse  ; 
and  then,  while  the  ship  was  buried  between  two  mounds 
of  water,  when  it  was  impossible  to  see  a  hundred  yards 
from  her  in  any  direction,  and  the  canvas  was  actually 
dropping  against  the  mast,  I  gave  the  usual  orders.  Every 
man  hauled,  as  if  for  life,  and  we  had  got  the  clews  pretty 
well  up,  when  the  vessel  came  out  of  the  cavern  into  the 
tempest,  receiving  the  whole  power  of  the  gale,  with  a 
sudden  surge,  into  the  bellying  canvas.  Away  went  every- 
thing as  if  the  gear  were  cobwebs.  At  the  next  instant, 
the  sail  was  in  ribbons.  I  was  deeply  mortified,  as  well  as 
rendered  uneasy,  by  this  accident,  as  the  ship  ahead  un- 
questionably was  in  full  view  of  all  that  happened. 

It  was  soon  apparent,  however,  that  professional  pride 
must  give  place  to  concern  for  the  safety  of  the,  vessel. 
The  wind  had  been  steadily  increasing  in  power,  and  had 
now  reached  a  pass  when  it  became  necessary  to  look 
things  steadily  in  the  face.  The  strips  of  canvas  that  re- 
mained attached  to  the  yard,  with  the  blocks  and  gear 
attached,  threshed  about  in  a  way  to  threaten  the  lives  of 
all  that  approached.  This  was  only  at  the  intervals  when 
the  ship  settled  into  the  troughs  ;  for,  while  under  the  full 
influence  of  the  gale,  pennants  never  streamed  more  di- 
rectly from  a  mast  than  did  these  heavy  fragments  from 
the  fore -yard.  It  was  necessary  to  get  rid  of  them  ;  and 
Talcott  had  just  volunteered  to  go  on  the  yard  with  this 
end,  when  Neb  sprung  into  the  rigging  without  an  order, 
and  was  soon  beyond  the  reach  of  the  A^oice.  This  daring 
black  had  several  narrow  escapes,  more  especially  from 
the  fore-sheet  blocks  ;  but  he  succeeded  in  cutting  every- 
thing adrift,  and  in  leaving  nothing  attached  to  the  spar 
but  the  bolt-rope  of  the  head  of  the  sail.  It  is  true,  little 
effected  this  object,  when  the  knife  could  be  applied,  the 
threads  of  the  stout  canvas  snapping  at  the  touch. 

As  soon  as  the  ship  was  under  bare  poles,  though  at  the 


376  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

sacrifice  of  two  of  her  sails,  I  had  leisure  to  look  out  for 
the  other  vessel.  There  she  was,  more  than  half  a  mile 
ahead  of  us,  yawing  wildly,  and  rolling  her  lower  yard-arm 
to  the  water's  edge.  As  we  drew  nearer,  I  got  better 
glimpses  of  this  vessel,  which  was  a  ship,  and  as  I  fancied, 
an  English  West  Indiaman,  deep-loaded  with  the  prod- 
uce of  the  islands.  Deep-loaded,  as  1  fancied,  for  it 
was  only  at  instants  that  she  could  be  seen  at  all  under 
circumstances  to  judge  of  this  fact ;  sometimes  her  hull 
appearing  to  be  nearly  smothered  in  the  brine,  and  then, 
again,  her  copper  glistening  in  the  sun,  resembling  a  light 
vessel  kept  under  the  care  of  some  thrifty  housewife. 

The  Dawn  did  not  fly,  now  all  her  canvas  was  gone,  as 
fast  as  she  had  previously  done.  She  went  through  the 
water  at  a  greater  rate  than  the  vessel  ahead  ;  but  it  re- 
quired an  hour  longer  to  bring  the  two  ships  within  a 
cable's  length  of  each  other.  Then,  indeed,  we  got  a  near 
view  of  the  manner  in  which  the  elements  can  play  with 
such  a  rnass  of  wood  and  iron  as  a  ship,  when  in  an  angry 
mood.  There  were  instants  when  I  fancied  I  could  nearly 
see  the  keel  of  the  stranger  for  half  its  length,  as  he  went 
foaming  up  on  the  crest  of  a  wave,  apparently  ready  to 
quit  the  water  altogether  ;  then,  again,  he  would  settle 
away  into  the  blue  abyss,  hiding  everything  beneath  his 
tops.  When  both  vessels  sunk  together,  no  sign  of  our 
neighbor  was  visible,  though  so  near.  We  came  up  after 
one  of  those  deep  plunges  into  the  valleys  of  the  ocean, 
and,  to  our  alarm,  saw  the  English  ship  yawing  directly 
athwart  our  course,  and  within  fifty  fathoms  of  us.  This 
was  about  the  distance  at  which  I  intended  to  pass,  little 
dreaming  of  finding  the  other  ship  so  completely  in  our 
way.  The  Englishman  must  have  intended  to  come  a 
little  nearer,  and  got  one  of  those  desperate  sheers  that  so 
often  ran  away  with  him.  There  he  was,  however  ;  and  a 
breathless  minute  followed  when  he  was  first  seen.  Two 
vehicles  dashing  along  a  highway,  with  frightened  and 
runaway  teams,  would  not  present  a  sight  one-half  as  ter- 
rific as  that  which  lay  directly  before  our  eyes. 

The  Dawn  was  plunging  onward  with  a  momentum  to 
dash  in  splinters,  did  she  strike  any  resisting  object,  and 
}4fivving  herself  sufficiently  to  render  the  passage  hazardous. 
But  the  stranger  made  the  matter  tenfold  worse.  When  I 
first  saw  him  in  this  fearful  proximity,  his  broadside  was 
nearly  offered  to  the  seas,  and  away  he  was  flying,  on  the 
summit  of  a  mountain  of  foam,  fairly  crossing  our  fore- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  377 

foot.  At  the  next  moment,  he  fell  off  before  the  wind 
again,  and  I  could  just  see  his  tops  directly  ahead.  His 
sheer  had  been  to-port,  our  intention  having  been  to  pass 
him  on  his  larboard  side  ;  but,  perceiving  him  to  steer  so 
wild,  I  thought  it  might  be  well  to  go  in  the  other  direc- 
tion. Quick  as  the  words  could  be  uttered,  therefore,  I 
called  out  to  port  our  helm.  This  was  done,  of  course  ; 
and  just  as  the  Dawn  felt  the  new  influence,  the  other 
vessel  took  the  same  sheer,  and  away  we  both  went  to- 
starboard,  at  precisely  the  same  instant.  I  shouted  to 
right  our  helm  to  "  hard  a-starboard,"  and  it  was  well  I 
did  ;  a  minute  more  would  have  brought  us  down  head- 
long on  the  Englishman.  Even  now  we  could  only  see  his 
hull  at  instants";  but  the  awful  proximity  of  his  spars  de- 
noted the  full  extent  of  the  danger.  Luckily,  we  hit  on 
opposite  directions,  or  our  common  destruction  would 
have  been  certain.  But  it  was  one  thing  in  that  caldron 
of  a  sea  to  determine  on  a  course,  and  another  to  follow  it. 
As  we  rose  on  the  last  wave  that  alone  separated  us  from 
zhe  stranger,  he  was  nearly  ahead  ;  and  as  we  glanced  on- 
ward, I  saw  that  we  could  barely  clear  his  larboard  quarter. 
Our  helm  being  already  a-starboard,  no  more  could  be 
done.  Should  he  take  another  sheer  to-port,  we  must  in- 
fallibly cut  him  in  twain.  As  I  have  said,  he  had  jammed 
his  helm  to-port,  and  slowly,  and  with  a  species  of  reluc- 
tance, he  inclined  a  little  aside.  Then  we  came  up,  both 
ships  rolling  off,  or  our  yards  must  have  interlocked,  and 
passing  his  quarter  with  our  bows,  we  each  felt  the  sheer 
at  the  same  instant,  and  away  we  went  asunder,  the  sterns 
of  the  ships  looking  at  each  other,  and  certainly  not  a  hun- 
dred feet  apart.  A  shout  from  Talcott  drew  me  to  our 
taffrail,  and,  standing  on  that  of  our  neighbor,  what  or 
whom  should  I  see  waving  his  hat,  but  the  red  countenance 
of  honest  Moses  Marble  ! 


378  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

"At  the  piping  of  all  hands, 
When  the  judgment  signal's  spread — 
When  the  islands  and  the  lands, 
And  the  seas  give  up  the  dead, 
And  the  south  and  the  north  shall  come ; 
When  the  sinner  is  dismay'd, 
And  the  just  man  is  afraid, 
Then  Heaven  be  thy  aid, 
Poor  7iw«." — BRAINARD. 

THE  two  ships,  in  the  haste  of  their  respective  crews  to 
get  clear  of  each  other,  were  now  running  in  the  troughs  ; 
and  the  same  idea  would  seem  to  have  suggested  itself  to 
me  and  the  other  master,  at  the  same  instant.  Instead  of 
endeavoring  to  keep  away  again,  one  kept  his  helm  hard 
a-port,  and  the  other  as  hard  a-starboard,  until  we  both 
came  by  the  wind,  though  on  opposite  tacks.  The  Eng- 
lishman set  his  mizzen-staysail,  and  though  he  made  bad 
weather  of  it,  he  evidently  ran  much  less  risk  than  in  scud- 
ding. The  seas  came  on  board  him  constantly  ;  but  not 
in  a  way  to  do  any  material  damage.  As  for  the  Dawn, 
she  lay-to,  like  a  duck,  under  bare  poles.  I  had  a  spare 
staysail  stopped  up  in  her  mizzen-rigging,  from  the  top 
down,  and  after  that  the  ship  was'  both  easy  and  dry. 
Once  in  a  while,  it  is  true,  her  bows  would  meet  some  fel- 
low heavier  than  common,  and  then  we  got  a  few  hogs- 
heads of  water  forward  ;  but  it  went  out  to  leeward  as  fas: 
as  it  came  in  to  windward.  At  the  turn  of  the  day,  how- 
ever, the  gale  broke,  and  the  weather  moderated  sensibly  ; 
both  sea  and  wind  beginning  to  go  down. 

Had  we  been  alone,  I  should  not  have  hesitated  about 
bearing  up,  getting  some  sail  on  the  ship,  and  running  off 
on  my  course,  again  ;  but  the  desire  to  speak  the  stranger, 
and  have  some  communication  with  Marble,  was  so  strong, 
that  I  could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  do  so.  Including 
myself,  Talcott,  Neb,  the  cabin  steward,  and  six  of  the 
people  forward,  there  were  ten  of  us  on  board  who  knew 
the  ex-mat^  ;  and,  of  the  whole  ten,  there  was  not  a  dis- 
senting voice  concerning  his  identity.  I  determined, 
therefore,  to  stick  by  the  Englishman,  and  at  least  have 
some  communication  with  my  old  friend.  As  for  myself, 
I  own  I  loved  Marble,  uncouth  and  peculiar  as  he  some- 
times was.  I  owed  him  more  than  any  other  man  living, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  379 

Mr.  Hardinge  excepted  ;  for  he  had  made  me  a  seaman, 
having  been  of  use  to  me  professionally  in  a  hundred  ways. 
Then  we  had  seen  so  much  in  company,  that  I  regarded 
him  as  a  portion  of  my  experience,  and  as,  in  some  meas- 
ure, identified  with  my  own  nautical  career. 

I  was  afraid  at  one  moment,  that  the  Englishman  in- 
tended to  remain  as  he  was,  all  night  ;  but,  about  an  hour 
before  sunset,  I  had  the  gratification  to  see  him  set  his 
foresail,  and  keep  off.  I  had  wore  round,  two  hours  be- 
fore, to  get  the  Dawn's  head  on  the  same  tack  with  him, 
and  followed  under  bare  poles.  As  the  stranger  soon  set 
his  main-topsail,  close  reefed,  and  then  his  fore,  it  enabled 
us  to  make  a  little  sail  also,  in  order  to  keep  up  with  him. 
This  we  did  all  that  night ;  and,  in  the  morning,  both  ships 
were  under  everything  that  would  draw,  with  a  moderate 
breeze  from  the  northward,  and  no  great  matter  of  sea 
going.  The  English  vessel  was  about  a  league  to  leeward 
of  us,  and  a  little  ahead.  Under  such  circumstances,  it 
was  easy  to  close.  Accordingly,  just  as  the  two  ships' 
companies  were  about  to  go  to  breakfast,  the  Dawn  ranged 
up  under  the  lee-quarter  of  the  stranger. 

"  What  ship's  that  ?  "  I  hailed  in  the  usual  manner. 

"  The  Dundee  ;  Robert  Ferguson,  master.  What  ship's 
that  ? " 

"  The  Dawn  ;  Miles  Wallingford.    Where  are  you  from  ? " 

"  From  Rio  Janeiro,  bound  to  London.  Where  are  you 
from  ? " 

"  From  New  York  to  Bordeaux.  A  heavy  blow  we  have 
just  had  of  it." 

''Quite  ;  the  like  of  it  I've  not  seen  in  many  a  day. 
You've  a  pretty  sea-boat,  yon  ! " 

"  She  made  capital  weather,  in  the  late  gale,  and  I've 
every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  her.  Pray,  haven't  you 
an  American  on  board,  of  the  name  of  Marble  ?  We  fan- 
cied that  we  saw  the  face  of  an  old  shipmate  on  your  taff- 
rail,  yesterday,  and  have  kept  you  company  in  order  to  in- 
quire after  his  news." 

"Ay,  ay,"  answered  the  Scotch  master,  waving  his  hand, 
"the  chiel  will  be  visiting  you  prasently.  He's  below, 
stowing  away  his  dunnage  ;  and  will  be  thanking  you  for 
a  passage  home,  I'm  thinking." 

As  these  words  were  uttered,  Marble  appeared,  on  deck, 
and  waved  his  hat,  again,  in  recognition.  This  was 
enough  ;  as  we  understood  each  other,  the  two  ships  took 
sufficient  room,  and  hove-to.  We  lowered  our  boat,  and 


380  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Talcott  went  alongside  of  the  Dundee,  in  quest  of  our  old 
shipmate.  Newspapers  and  news  were  exchanged  ;  and  in 
twenty  minutes,  I  had  the  extreme  gratification  of  grasp- 
ing Marble  once  more  by  the  hand. 

My  old  friend  was  too  much  affected  to  speak  for  some 
little  time.  He  shook  hands  with  everybody,  and  seemed 
as  much  astonished  as  he  was  delighted  at  finding  so  many 
of  us  together  again  ;  but  not  a  syllable  did  he  utter  for 
several  minutes.  I  had  his  chest  passed  into  the  cabin, 
and  then  went  and  took  my  seat  alongside  of  him  on  the 
hen-coops,  intending  to  hear  his  story,  as  soon  as  he  was 
disposed  to  give  it.  But  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  get  out 
of  ear-shot  of  my  passengers.  During  the  gale,  they  had 
been  tongue-tied,  and  I  had  a  little  peace  ;  but,  no  sooner 
did  the  wind  and  sea  go  down,  than  they  broke  out  in  the 
old  spot,  and  began  to  do  Boston,  in  the  way  they  had  com- 
menced. Now  Marble  had  come  on  board,  in  a  mannef 
so  unusual,  and  it  was  evident  a  secret  history  was  to  be 
revealed,  they  all  three  took  post  in  the  companion-way,  in 
a  manner  to  render  it  impossible  anything  material  could 
escape  them.  I  knew  the  folly  of  attempting  a  change  of 
position  on  deck  ;  we  should  certainly  be  followed  up; 
and,  people  of  this  class,  so  long  as  they  can  make  the  ex- 
cuse of  saying  they  heard  any  part  of  a  secret,  never  scruple 
about  inventing  the  portions  that  happen  to  escape  their 
ears.  Consequently,  I  desired  Marble  and  Talcott  to  fol- 
low me  ;  and,  incontinently,  I  led  the  way  into  the  main- 
top. I  was  obeyed,  the  second  mate  having  the  watch, 
and  all  three  of  us  were  soon  seated  with  our  legs  over  the 
top-rim,  as  comfortable  as  so  many  gossips,  who  had  just 
finished  their  last  cups,  have  stirred  the  fire,  and  drawn 
their  heads  together  to  open  a  fresh  budget.  Neither  Sarah 
nor  Jane  could  follow  us,  thank  God ! 

"  There,  d — n  'em,"  said  I,  a  little  pointedly,  for  it  was 
enough  to  make  a  much  more  scrupulous  person  swear, 
"  we've  got  the  length  of  the  main-rigging  between  vis, 
and  I  do  not  think  they  will  venture  into  the  top,  this 
fine  morning,  in  order  to  overhear  what  shall  be  said.  It 
would  puzzle  even  Wallace  Mortimer  to  do  that,  Talcott." 

"If  they  do,"  observed  Talcott,  laughing,  "we  can  re- 
treat to  the  cross-trees,  and  thence  to  the  royal-yard." 

Marble  looked  inquisitive,  but,  at  the  same  time,  he 
looked  knowing. 

"  I  understand,"  he  said,  with  a  nod  ;  "  three  people 
with  six  sets  of  ears — is  it  not  so,  Miles  ?" 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  381 

"  Precisely  ;  though  you  only  do  them  credit  by  halves, 
for  you  should  have  added  to  this  inventory  forty  tongues." 

"Well,  that  is  a  large  supply.  The  man,  or  woman, 
who  is  so  well  provided,  should  carry  plenty  of  ballast. 
However,  as  you  say,  they're  out  of  hail  now,  and  must 
guess  at  all  they  repeat,  if  repeating  it  can  be  called." 

"Quite  as  much  as  nine-tenths  of  what  they  give  as 
coming  from  others,"  observed  Talcott.  "  People  never 
can  tell  so  much  of  other  person's  affairs,  without  bailing 
out  most  of  their  ideas  from  their  own  scuttle-butts." 

"Well,  let  them  go  to — Bordeaux,"  said  I,  "since  they 
are  bound  there.  And  now,  my  dear  Marble,  here  we  are, 
and  dying  to  know  all  that  has  happened  to  you.  You 
have  firm  friends  in  Talcott  and  myself  ;  either  of  us  ready 
to  give  you  his  berth  for  the  asking." 

"  Thank  'ee,  my  dear  boys — thank  'ee,  with  all  my  heart 
and  soul,"  returned  the  honest  fellow,  dashing  the  moist- 
ure from  his  eyes,  with  the  back  of  his  hand.  "  I  believe 
you  would,  boys  ;  I  do  believe  you  would,  one  or  both.  I 
am  glad,  Miles,  you  came  up  into  this  bloody  top,  for 
I  wouldn't  like  to  let  your  reg'lar  'long-shore  harpies  see 
a  man  of  my  time  of  life,  and  one  that  has  been  to  sea, 
now,  man  and  boy,  close  on  to  forty  years,  with  as  much 
blubber  about  him  as  one  of  your  right  whales.  Well — 
and  now  for  the  log ;  for  I  suppose  you'll  insist  on  over- 
hauling it,  lads." 

"  That  we  shall,  and  see  you  miss  no  leaf  of  it.  Be 
as  particular  as  if  it  were  overhauled  in  an  insurance 
case." 

"  Ay ;  they're  bloody  knaves,  sometimes,  them  under- 
writers, and  a  fellow  need  be  careful  to  get  his  dues  out 
of  them — that  is  to  say  some  ;  others,  ag'in,  are  gentlemen 
down  to  their  shoe-buckles,  and  no  sooner  see  a  poor 
shipwrecked  devil,  than  they  open  their  tills,  and  begin  to 
count  out  before  he  has  opened  his  mouth." 

"  Well,  but  your  own  adventures,  my  old  friend  ;  you 
forget  we  are  dying  with  curiosity." 

"Ay  ;  your  cur'osity's  a  troublesome  inmate,  and  will 
never  be  quiet  as  long  as  one  tries  to  keep  it  under  hatch- 
es ;  especially  female  cur'osity.  Well,  I  must  gratify  yoii> 
and  so  I'll  make  no  more  bones  about  it,  though  it's  giv- 
ing an  account  of  my  own  obstinacy  and  folly.  I  reckon, 
now,  my  boys,  you  missed  me  the  day  the  ship  sailed  from 
the  island  ? " 

"That  we  did,  and  supposed  you  had  got  tired  of  your 


382  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

experiment  before  it  began,"  I  answered,  "so  were  off,  be- 
fore we  were  ourselves." 

"You  had  reason  for  so  thinking,  though  you  were  out 
in  your  reckoning  too.  No — it  happened  in  this  fashion. 
After  you  left  me  I  began  to  generalize  over  my  situation, 
and  I  says  to  myself,  says  I,  '  Moses  Marble,  them  lads  will 
never  consent  to  sail  and  leave  you  here,  on  this  island, 
alone,  like  a  bloody  hermit,'  says  I.  '  If  you  want  to  hold 
on,'  says  I,  'and  try  your  hand  at  a  hermitage,'  says  I,  'or 
to  play  Robinson  Crusoe,'  says  I,  'you  must  be  out  of  the 
way  when  the  Crisis  sails  ' — boys,  what's  become  of  the  old 
ship  ?  Not  a  word  have  I  heard  about  her,  yet !  " 

"  She  was  loading  for  London  when  we  sailed,  her  own- 
ers intending  to  send  her  the  same  voyage  over  again." 

"And  they  refused  to  let  you  have  her, 'Miles,  on  ac- 
count of  your  youth,  notwithstanding  all  you  did  for 
them  ? " 

"  Not  so  ;  they  pressed  me  to  keep  her,  but  I  preferred 
a  ship  of  my  own.  The  Dawn  is  my  property,  Master 
Moses." 

"  Thank  God  !  Then  there  is  one  honest  chap  among 
the  owners.  And  ho\v  did  she  behave  ?  Had  you  any  trou- 
ble with  the  pirates  ?  " 

Perceiving  the  utter  uselessness  of  attempting  to  hear  his 
own  story  before  I  rendered  an  account  of  the  Crisis  and 
her  exploits,  I  gave  Marble  a  history  of  her  voyage  from 
the  time  we  parted  down  to  the  day  we  reached  New  York. 

"And  that  scaramouch  of  a  schooner  that  the  French- 
man gave  us  in  his  charity  ? " 

"  The  Pretty  Poll  ?  She  got  home  safe,  was  sold,  and 
is  now  in  the  West  India  trade.  There  is  a  handsome  bal- 
ance, amounting  to  some  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  in  the 
owners'  hands,  coming  to  you  from  prize  money  and  wages." 

It  is  not  in  nature  for  any  man  to  be  sorry  he  has  money. 
I  saw  by  Marble's  eyes  that  this  sum,  so  unusually  large 
for  him  to  possess,  formed  a  new  tie  to  the  world,  and  that 
he  fancied  himself  a  much  happier  man  in  possessing  it. 
He  looked  at  me  earnestly  for  quite  a  minute,  and  then  re- 
marked, I  make  no  doubt  with  sincere  regret — 

"Miles,  if  I  had  a  mother  living  now,  that  money  might 
make  her  old  age  comfortable  !  It  seems  that  they  who 
have  no  mothers  have  money,  and  they  who  have  no 
money  have  mothers." 

I  waited  a  moment  for  Marble  to  recover  his  self-com- 
mand, and  then  urged  him  to  continue  his  story. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  383 

"  I  was  telling  you  how  I  generalized  over  my  situation," 
resumed  the  ex-mate,  "  as  soon  as  I  found  myself  alone  in 
the  hut.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  should  be  carried 
off  by  force,  if  I  remained  till  next  day  ;  and  so  I  got  into 
the  launch,  carried  her  out  of  the  lagoon,  taking  care  to 
give  the  ship  a  berth,  went  through  the  reef,  and  kept 
turning  to  windward  until  daybreak.  By  that  time  the  isl- 
and was  quite  out  of  sight,  though  I  saw  the  upper  sails 
of  the  ship  as  soon  as  you  got  her  under  way.  I  kept  the 
topgallant-sails  in  sight,  until  I  made  the  island  again  ; 
and  as  you  went  off  I  ran  in  and  took  possession  of  my 
dominions,  with  no  one  to  dispute  my  will,  or  to  try  to 
reason  me  out  of  my  consait." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  term  that  notion  conceit,  for, 
certainly,  it  was  not  reason.  You  soon  discovered  your 
mistake,  my  old  messmate,  and  began  to  think  of  home." 

"  I  soon  discovered,  Miles,  that  if  I  had  neither  father 
nor  mother,  brother  nor  sister,  that  I  had  a  country  and 
friends.  The  bit  of  marble  on  which  I  was  found  in  the 
stonecutter's  yard,  then  seemed  as  dear  to  me  as  a  gold 
cradle  is  to  a  king's  son  ;  and  I  thought  of  you,  and  all  the 
rest  of  you — nay,  I  yearned  after  you  as  a  mother  would 
yearn  for  her  children." 

"  Poor  fellow,  you  were  solitary  enough,  I  dare  say ; 
had  you  no  amusement  with  your  pigs  and  poultry  ?" 

"  For  a  day  or  two  they  kept  me  pretty  busy.  But  by 
the  end  of  a  week  I  discovered  that  pigs  and  poultry  were 
not  made  to  keep  company  with  man.  I  had  consaited 
that  I  could  pass  the  rest  of  my  days  in  the  bosom  of  my 
own  family,  like  any  other  man  who  had  made  his  fortune 
and  retired,  but  I  found  my  household  too  small  for  such 
a  life  as  that.  My  great  mistake  was  in  supposing  that  the 
Marble  family  could  be  happy  in  its  own  circle." 

This  was  said  bitterly,  though  it  was  said  drolly,  and 
while  it  made  Talcott  and  myself  laugh,  it  also  made  us 
sorry. 

"  I  fell  into  another  mistake,  however,  boys,"  Marble 
continued,  "and  it  might  as  well  be  owned.  I  took  it  into 
my  head  that  I  should  be  all  alone  on  the  island,  but  I 
found,  to  my  cost,  that  the  devil  insisted  on  having  his 
share.  I'll  tell  you  how  it  is,  Miles,  a  man  must  either 
look  ahead  or  look  astarn  ;  there  is  no  such  thing  as  satis- 
fying himself  with  the  present  moorings.  Now  this  was 
my  misfortune,  for  ahead  I  had  nothing'to  look  forward  to, 
and  astarn  what  comfort  had  I  in  overhauling  past  sins  ?  * 


384  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  I  think  I  can  understand  your  difficulties,  my  friend; 
how  did  you  manage  to  get  rid  of  them  ? " 

"  I  left  the  island.  You  had  put  the  Frenchman's  launch 
in  capital  condition,  and  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  fill  up  the 
breakers  with  fresh  water,  kill  a  hog  and  salt  him  away, 
put  on  board  a  quantity  of  biscuit,  and  be  off.  As  for  eat- 
ables, you  know  there  was  no  scarcity  on  the  island,  and  I 
took  my  choice.  I  make  no  doubt  there  are  twenty  hogs- 
heads of  undamaged  sugars  at  this  very  moment  in  the 
hold- of  that  wreck  and  on  the  beach  of  the  island.  I  fed 
my  poultry  on  it  the  whole  time  I  stayed." 

"  And  so  you  abandoned  Marble  Land  to  the  pigs  and 
the  fowls  ? " 

"I  did,  indeed,  Miles,  and  I  hope  the  poor  creatures 
will  have  a  comfortable  time  of  it.  I  gave  'em  what  the 
lawyers  call  a  quitclaim,  and  sailed  two  months  to  a  day 
after  you  went  off  in  the  Crisis." 

"  I  should  think,  old  shipmate,  that  your  voyage  must 
have  been  as  solitary  and  desperate  as  your  life  ashore." 

"  I'm  amazed  to  hear  you  say  that.  I'm  never  solitary  at 
sea,  one  has  so  much  to  do  in  taking  care  of  his  craft,  and 
then  he  can  always  look  forward  to  the  day  he'll  get  in. 
But  this  generalizing,  night  and  day,  without  any  port 
ahead,  and  little  comfort  in  looking  astarn,  will  soon  fit  a 
man  for  Bedlam.  I  just  weathered  Cape  Crazy,  I  can  tell 
you,  lads,  and  that  too  in  the  white  water!  As  for  my 
v'y'ge  being  desperate,  what  was  there  to  make  it  so,  I 
should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  You  must  have  been  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  miles 
from  any  island  where  you  could  look  forward  to  anything 
like  safety,  and  that  is  a  distance  one  would  rather  not 
travel  all  alone  on  the  high  seas." 

"Pshaw!  all  consait.  You're  getting  notional,  Miles, 
now  you're  a  master  and  owner.  What's  a  run  of  a  thou- 
sand or  fifteen  hundred  miles,  in  a  tight  boat,  and  with 
plenty  of  grub  and  water  ?  It  was  the  easiest  matter  in  the 
world,  and  if  it  warn't  for  that  bloody  Cape  Horn,  I  should 
have  made  as  straight  a  wake  for  Coenties'  Slip  as  the 
trending  of  the  land  would  have  allowed.  As  it  was,  I 
turned  to  windward,  for  I  knew  the  savages  to  leeward 
weren't  to  be  trusted.  You  see  it  was  as  easy  as  working 
out  a  day's  work.  I  kept  the  boat  on  a  wind  all  day,  and 
long  bits  of  the  night  too,  until  I  wanted  sleep,  and  then  I 
hove  her  to  under  a  reefed  mainsail,  and  slept  as  sound  as 
a  lord.  I  hadn't  an  uncomfortable  moment  after  I  got 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  385 

outside  of  the  reef  again,  and  the  happiest  hour  of  my  life 
was  that  in  which  I  saw  the  tree  tops  of  the  island  dip." 

"And  how  long  were  you  navigating  in  this  manner,  and 
what  land  did  you  first  make  ? " 

"  Seven  weeks,  though  I  made  half  a  dozen  islands, 
every  one  of  them  just  such  a  looking  object  as  that  I  had 
left.  You  weren't  about  to  catch  me  ashore  again  in  any 
of  them  miserable  places  !  I  gave  the  old  boat  a  slap,  and 
promised  to  stick  by  her  as  long  as  she  would  stick  by  me, 
and  I  kept  my  word.  I  saw  savages,  moreover,  on  one  or 
two  of  the  islands,  and  gave  them  a  berth,  having  no  fancy 
for  being  barbecued." 

"  And  where  did  you  finally  make  your  land-fall  ?  " 

"  Nowhere,  so  far  as  the  launch  was  concerned.  I  fell 
in  with  a  Manilla  ship,  bound  to  Valparaiso,  and  got  on 
board  her  ;  and  sorry  enough  was  I  for  the  change,  when 
I  came  to  find  out  how  they  lived.  The  captain  took  me 
in,  however,  and  I  worked  my  passage  into  port.  Finding 
no  ship  likely  to  sail  soon,  I  entered  with  a  native  who 
was  about  to  cross  the  Andes,  bound  over  on  this  side,  for 
the  east  coast.  Don't  you  remember,  Miles,  monsters  of 
mountains  that  we  could  see,  a  bit  inland,  and  covered 
with  snow,  all  along  the  west  side  of  South  America  ?  You 
must  remember  the  chaps  I  mean." 

"  Certainly — they  are  much  too  plain,  and  objects  much 
too  striking,  ever  to  be  forgotten,  when  once  seen." 

"  Well,  them's  the  Andes  ;  and  rough  customers  they 
be,  let  me  tell  you,  boys.  You  know  there  is  little  amuse- 
ment in  a  sailor's  walking  on  the  levelest  'arth  and  hand- 
somest highways,  on  account  of  the  bloody  ups  and  downs 
a  fellow  meets  with  ;  and  so  you  may  get  some  idee  of  the 
time  we  had  of  it,  when  I  tell  you,  had  all  the  seas  we  saw 
in  the  last  blow  been  piled  on  top  of  each -other,  they  would 
have  made  but  a  large  pancake,  compared  to  them  'ere 
Andes.  Natur'  must  have  outdone  herself  in  making  'em  ; 
and  when  they  were  thrown  together,  what  good  comes  of 
it  all  ?  Such  mountains  might  be  of  some  use  in  keeping 
the  French  and  English  apart  ;  but  you  leave  nothing  but 
bloody  Spaniards  on  one  side  of  them  Andes,  and  find 
bloody  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  on  the  other.  How- 
ever, we  found  our  way  over  them,  and  brought  up  at  a 
place  called  Buenos  Ayres,  from  which  I  worked  my  pas- 
sage round  to  Rio  in  a  coaster.  At  Rio,  you  know,  I  felt 
quite  at  home,  having  stopped  in  there  often,  in  going 
backward  and  forward." 

25 


586  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

11  And  thence  you  took  passage  in  the  Dundee  for  Lon- 
don, intending  to  get  a  passage  home  by  the  first  opportu- 
nity ? " 

"  It  needs  no  witch  to  tell  that.  I  had  to  scull  about 
Rio  for  several  months,  doing  odd  jobs  as  a  rigger,  and  the 
like  of  that,  until,  finding  no  Yankee  came  in,  I  got  a 
'passage  in  a  Scotchman.  I'll  not  complain  of  Sawney, 
who  was  kind  enough  to  me  as  a  shipwrecked  mariner ;  for 
that  was  the  character  I  sailed  under,  hermits  being  no  way 
fashionable  among  us  Protestants,  though  it's  very  different 
among  them  Catholic  chaps,  I  can  tell  you.  I  happened 
to  mention  to  a  landlady  on  the  road,  that  I  was  a  sort  of 
a  hermit  on  his  travels  ;  when  I  thought  the  poor  woman 
would  have  gone  down  on  her  knees  and  worshipped 
me." 

Here  then  was  the  history  of  Moses  Marble,  and  the  end 
of  the  colony  of  Marble  Land,  pigs  and  poultry  excepted. 
It  was  now  my  turn  to  be  examined.  I  had  to  answer  fifty 
curious  inquiries,  some  of  which  I  found  sufficiently  em- 
barrassing. When,  in  answer  to  his  interrogatories,  Marble 
learned  that  the  major  and  Miss  Merton  had  actually  been 
left  at  Clawbonny,  I  saw  the  ex-mate  wink  at  Talcott,  who 
smiled  in  reply.  Then,  where  was  Rupert,  and  how  came 
on  the  law  ?  The  farm  and  mills  were  not  forgotten  ;  and, 
as  for  Neb,  he  was  actually  ordered  up  into  the  top,  in  order 
that  there  might  be  another  shake  of  the  hand,  and  that  he 
might  answer  for  himself.  In  a  word,  nothing  could  be 
more  apparent  than  the  delight  of  Marble  at  finding  him- 
self among  us  once  more.  I  believed  even  then,  that  the 
man  really  loved  me  ;  and  the  reader  will  remember  how 
long  we  had  sailed  together,  and  how  much  we  had  seen 
in  company.  More  than  once  did  my  old  shipmate  dash 
the  tears  from  his  eyes,  as  he  spoke  of  his  satisfaction. 

"I  say,  Miles — I  say,  Roger,"  he  cried — "  this  is  like 
being  at  home,  and  none  of  your  bloody  hermitages  !  Blast 
me,  if  I  think,  now,  I  should  dare  pass  through  a  wood  all 
alone.  I'm  never  satisfied  unless  I  see  a  fellow-creatur', 
for  fear  of  being  left.  I  did  pretty  well  with  the  Scotch- 
man, who  ha*  a  heart,  though  it's  stowed  away  in  oatmeal, 
but  this  is  home.  I  must  ship  as  your  steward,  Miles,  for 
hang  on  to  you  I  will." 

"  If  we  ever  part,  again,  until  one  or  both  go  into  dock, 
it  will  be  your  fault,  my  old  friend.  If  I  have  thought  of 
you  once,  since  we  parted,  I  have  dreamed  of  you  fifty 
times  !  Talcott  and  I  were  talking  of  you  in  the  late  gale, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  387 

and  wondering  what  sail  you  would  advise  us  to  put  the 
ship  under." 

"  The  old  lessons  have  not  all  been  forgotten,  boys  ;  it 
was  easy  enough  to  see  that.  I  said  to  myself,  as  you  stood 
down  upon  us,  '  that  chap  has  a  real  sea-dog  aboard,  as  is 
plain  by  the  manner  in  which  he  has  everything  snug, 
while  he  walks  ahead  like  an  owner  in  a  hurry  to  be  first 
in  the  market.'  " 

It  was  then  agreed  Marble  should  keep  a  watch,  when- 
ever it  suited  him,  and  that  he  should  do  just  as  he  pleased 
aboard.  At  some  future  day,  some  other  arrangement 
might  be  made,  though  he  declared  his  intention  to  stick 
by  the  ship,  and  also  announced  a  determination  to  be  my 
first  mate  for  life,  as  soon  as  Talcott  got  a  vessel,  as  doubt- 
less he  would,  through  the  influence  of  his  friends,  as  soon 
as  he  returned  home.  I  laughed  at  all  this,  though  I  bade 
him  heartily  welcome,  and  then  I  nicknamed  him  commo- 
dore, adding  that  he  should  sail  with  me  in  that  capacity, 
doing  just  as  much  and  just  as  little  duty  as  he  pleased. 
As  for  money,  there  was  a  bag  of  dollars  in  the  cabin,  and 
he  had  only  to  put  his  hand  in,  and  take  what  he  wanted. 
The  key  of  the  locker  was  in  my  pocket,  and  could  be  had 
for  asking.  Nobody  was  more  delighted  with  this  arrange- 
ment than  Neb,  who  had  even  taken  a  fancy  to  Marble 
from  the  moment  when  the  latter  led  him  from  the  steer- 
age of  the  John,  by  the  ear. 

"  \  say,  Miles,  what  sort  of  bloody  animals  are  them 
passengers  of  yours?"  Marble  next  demanded,  looking 
over  the  rim  of  the  top,  down  at  the  trio  on  deck,  with  a 
good  deal  of  curiosity  expressed,  in  his  countenance. 
"This  is  the  first  time  I  ever  knew  a  ship-master  driven 
aloft  by  his  passengers,  in  order  to  talk  secrets  ! " 

"  That  is  because  you  never  sailed  with  the  Brigham 
family.  They'll  pump  you  till  you  suck,  in  the  first  twenty- 
four  hours,  rely  on  it.  They'll  get  every  fact  about  your 
birth,  the  island  where  you  first  saw  me,  what  you  have 
been  about,  and  what  you  mean  to  do  ;  in  a  word,  the  past, 
present,  and  future." 

"  Leave  me  to  overlay  their  cur'osity,"  answered  the  ex- 
mate,  or  new  commodore — "  I  got  my  hand  in,  by  boarding 
six  weeks  with  a  Connecticut  old  maid,  once,  and  I'll  defy 
the  keenest  questioner  of  them  all." 

We  had  a  little  more  discourse,  when  we  all  went  below, 
and  I  introduced  Marble  to  my  passengers,  as  one  who  was 
to  join  our  mess.  After  this,  things  went  on  in  their  usual 


388  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

train.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  however,  I  overheard  the 
following  brief  dialogue  between  ,  Brigham  and  Marble, 
the  ladies  being  much  too  delicate  to  question  so  rough  a 
mariner. 

"You  came  on  board  of  us  somewhat  unexpectedly,  I 
rather  conclude,  Captain  Marble  ?  "  commenced  the  gen- 
tleman. 

"  Not  in  the  least ;  I  have  been  expecting  to  meet  the 
Dawn,  just  about  this  spot,  more  than  a  month,  now." 

"Well,  that  is  odd!  I  do  not  comprehend  how  such  a 
thing  could  well  be  foreseen  ?  " 

"Do  you  understand  spherical  trigonometry,  sir?" 

"  I  cannot  say  I  am  at  all  expert — I've  looked  into  mathe- 
matics, but  have  no  great  turn  for  the  study." 

"  It  would  be  hopeless,  then,  to  attempt  to  explain  the 
matter.  If  you  had  your  hand  in  at  the  spherical,  I  could 
make  it  all  as  plain  as  the  capstan." 

"You  and  Captain  Wallingford  must  be  somewhat  old 
acquaintances,  I  conclude  ?  " 

"  Somewhat,"  answered  Marble,  very  dryly. 

"  Have  you  ever  been  at  the  place  that  he  calls  Claw- 
bonny  ?  A  queer  name,  I  rather  think,  captain  !  " 

"  Not  at  all,  sir.  I  know  a  place  down  in  the  Eastern 
States  that  was  called  Scratch  and  Claw,  and  a  very  pretty 
spot  it  was." 

"  It's  not  usual  for  us  to  the  eastward,  to  give  names  to 
farms  and  places.  It  is  done  a  little  by  the  Boston  folks, 
but  they  are  notional,  as  everybody  knows." 

"  Exactly  ;  I  suppose  it  was  for  want  of  use,  the  chap  I 
mean  made  out  no  better  in  naming  his  place." 

Mr.  Brigham  was  no  fool  ;  he  was  merely  a  gossip.  He 
took  the  hint,  and  asked  no  more  questions  of  Marble. 
He  tried  Neb,  notwithstanding  ;  but  the  black  having  his 
orders,  obeyed  them  so  literally,  that  I  really  believe  we 
parted  in  Bordeaux,  a  fortnight  later,  without  any  of  the 
family's  making  the  least  discovery.  Glad  enough  was  I 
to  get  rid  of  them  ;  yet,  brief  as  had  been  our  intercourse, 
they  produced  a  sensible  influence  on  my  future  happiness. 
Such  is  the  evil  of  this  habit  of  loose  talking,  men  giving 
credit  to  words  conceived  in  ignorance  and  uttered  in  the 
indulgence  of  one  of  the  most  contemptible  of  all  our  pro- 
pensities. To  return  to  my  ship. 

We  reached  Bordeaux  without  any  further  accident  or 
delay.  I  discharged  in  the  usual  way,  and  began  to  look 
about  me,  for  another  freight.  It  had  been  my  intention 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  389 

to  return  to  New  York,  and  to  keep  the  festivities  of  at- 
taining my  majority,  at  Clavvbonny  ;  but,  I  confess,  the 
discourse  of  these  eternal  gossips,  the  Brighams,  had 
greatly  lessened  the  desire  to  see  home  again,  so  soon.  A 
freight  for  New  York  was  offered  me,  but  I  postponed  an 
answer,  until  it  was  given  to  another  ship.  At  length  an 
offer  was  made  to  me  to  go  to  Cronstadt,  in  Russia,  with  a 
cargo  of  wines  and  brandies,  and  I  accepted  it.  The  great 
and  better  informed  merchants,  as  it  would  seem,  distrusted 
the  continuance  of  the  hollow  peace  that  then  existed,  and 
a  company  of  them  thought  it  might  be  well  to  transfer 
their  liquors  to  the  capital  of  the  czar,  in  readiness  for 
contingencies.  An  American  ship  was  preferred,  on  ac- 
count of  her  greater  speed,  as  well  as  on  account  of  her 
probable  neutral  character,  in  the  event  of  troubles  oc- 
curring at  any  unlooked-for  moment. 

The  Dawn  took  in  her  wines  and  brandies  accordingly, 
and  sailed  for  the  Baltic  about  the  last  of  August.  She 
had  a  long,  but  safe  passage,  delivering  the  freight  accord- 
ing to  the  charter-party,  in  good  condition.  While  at 
Cronstadt,  the  American  consul,  and  the  consignees  of  an 
American  ship  that  had  lost  her  master  and  chief  mate  by 
the  small-pox,  applied  to  me  to  let  Marble  carry  the  vessel 
home.  I  pressed  the  offer  on  my  old  friend,  but  he  obsti- 
nately refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with»the  vessel.  I 
then  recommended  Talcott,  and  after  some  negotiation, 
the  latter  took  charge  of  the  Hyperion.  I  was  sorry  to 
part  with  my  mate,  to  whom  I  had  become  strongly  at- 
tached ;  but  the  preferment  was  so  clearly  to  his  advantage, 
that  I  could  take  no  other  course.  The  vessel  being  ready, 
she  sailed  the  day  after  Talcott  joined  her  ;  and,  sorry  am 
I  to  be  compelled  to  add,  that  she  was  never  heard  of,  after 
clearing  the  Cattegat.  The  equinox  of  that  season  was 
tremendously  severe,  and  it  caused  the  loss  of  many  ves- 
sels ;  that  of"  the  Hyperion  doubtless  among  the  rest. 

Marble  insisted  on  taking  Talcott's  place,  and  he  now  be- 
came my  chief  mate,  as  I  had  once  been  his.  After  a 
little  delay,  I  took  in  freight  on  Russian  government  ac- 
count, and  sailed  for  Odessa.  It  was  thought  the  Sublime 
Porte  would  let  an  American  through  ;  but,  after  reach- 
ing the  Dardanelles,  I  was  ordered  back,  and  was  obliged 
to  leave  my  cargo  in  Malta,  which  it  was  expected  would 
be  in  possession  of  its  own  knights  by  that  time,  agreea- 
bly to  the  terms  of  the  late  treaty.  From  Malta  I  sailed 
for  Leghorn,  in  quest  of  another  freight.  I  pass  over  the 


390  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

details  of  these  voyages,  as  really  nothing  worthy  of  being 
recorded  occurred.  They  consumed  a  good  deal  of  time  ; 
the  delay  at  the  Dardanelles  alone  exceeding  six  weeks, 
during  which  negotiations  were  going  on  up  at  Constanti- 
nople, but  all  in  vain.  In  consequence  of  all  these  deten- 
tions, and  the  length  of  the  passages,  I  did  not  reach  Leg- 
horn until  near  the  close  of  March.  I  wrote  to  Grace  and 
Mr.  Hardinge,  whenever  a  favorable  occasion  offered,  but 
I  did  not  get  a  letter  from  home,  during  the  whole  period. 
It  was  not  in  the  power  of  my  sister  or  guardian — late 
guardian  would  be  the  most  accurate  expression,  as  I  had 
been  of  age  since  the  previous  October — to  write,  it  be- 
ing impossible  for  me  to  let  them  know  when,  or  where, 
a  letter  would  find  me.  It  followed  that  while  my  friends 
at  home  were  kept  tolerably  apprised  of  my  movements,  I 
was  absolutely  in  the  dark  as  respected  them.  That  this 
ignorance  gave  me  great  concern,  it  would  be  idle  to  deny ; 
yet,  I  had  a  species  of  desperate  satisfaction  in  keeping 
aloof,  and  in  leaving  the  course  clear  to  Mr.  Andrew 
Drewett.  As  respects  substantiate,  I  had  sent  a  proper 
power  of  attorney  to  Mr.  Hardinge,  who,  I  doubted  not, 
would  take  the  same  care  of  my  temporal  interests  he  had 
never  ceased  to  do  since  the  day  of  my  beloved  mother's 
death. 

Freights  were  not  offering  freely  at  Leghorn,  when  the 
Dawn  arrived.  After  waiting  a  fortnight,  however,  I  be- 
gan to  take  in  for  America,  and  on  American  account. 
In  the  meantime,  the  cargo  coming  to  hand  slowly,  I  left 
Marble  to  receive  it,  and  proceeded  on  a  little  excursion 
in  Tuscany,  or  Etruria,  as  that  part  of  the  world  was  then 
called.  I  visited  Pisa,  Lucca,  Florence,  and  several  other 
intermediate  towns.  At  Florence  I  passed  a  week  looking 
at  sights,  and  amusing  myself  the  best  way  I  could.  The 
gallery  and  the  churches  kept  me  pretty  busy,  and  the 
reader  will  judge  of  my  surprise  one  day,  at  hearing  my 
own  name  uttered  on  a  pretty  high  key,  by  a  female 
voice,  in  the  Duomo,  or  Cathedral  of  the  place.  On  turn- 
ing I  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  the  Brighams  !  I 
was  overwhelmed  with  questions  in  a  minute.  Where  had 
I  been  ?  Where  was  Talcott  ?  Where  was  the  ship  ?  When 
did  I  sail,  and  whither  did  I  sail  ?  After  this  came  the 
communications.  They  had  been  to  Paris ;  had  seen  the 
French  Consul,  and  had  dined  with  Mr.  R.  N.  Livingston, 
then  negotiating  the  treaty  of  Louisiana  ;  had  seen  the 
Louvre  ;  had  been  to  Geneva,  had  seen  the  lake  ;  had  seen 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  391 

Mont  Blanc  ;  had  crossed  Mont  Cenis  ;  had  been  at  Milan  ; 
Rome  ;  had  seen  the  Pope  ;  Naples  ;  had  seen  Vesuvius  ; 
had  been  at  Psestum  ;  had  come  back  to  Florence,  and 
nous  void !  Glad  enough  was  I,  when  I  got  them  fairly 
within  the  gates  of  the  city  of  the  Lily.  Next  came  Amer- 
ica ;  from  which  part  of  the  world  they  received  such  de- 
lightful letters !  One  from  Mrs.  Jonathan  Little,  a  Salem 
lady  then  residing  in  New  York,  had  just  reached  them. 
It  contained  four  sheets,  and  was  full  of  news.  Then  com- 
menced the  details  ;  and  I  was  compelled  to  listen  to  a 
string  of  gossip  that  connected  nearly  all  the  people  of 
mark  my  informants  had  ever  heard  of  in  the  great  Com- 
mercial Emporium  that  was  to  be.  How  suitable  was  this 
name  !  Emporium  would  not  have  been  sufficiently  dis- 
tinctive for  a  town  in  which  "the  merchants"  are  all  in 
all ;  in  which  they  must  have  the  post-office  ;  in  which  they 
support  the  nation  by  paying  all  the  revenue  ;  in  which 
the  sun  must  shine  and  the  dew  fall  to  suit  their  wants  ; 
and  in  which  the  winds  themselves  may  be  recreant  to 
their  duty,  when  they  happen  to  be  foul !  Like  the  Holy 
Catholic  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Trading  Commer- 
cial Trafficking  Emporium  should  have  been  the  style  of 
such  a  place  ;  and  I  hope,  ere  long,  some  of  the  "  Manor 
Born"  genii  of  that  great  town  will  see  the  matter  recti- 
fied. 

"  By  the  way,  Captain  Wallingford,"  cut  in  Jane,  at  one 
of  Sarah's  breathing  intervals,  that  reminded  me  strongly 
of  the  colloquial  Frenchman's  "  s'il  crache  il  est  perdu" 
"you  know  something  of  poor  Mrs.  Bradfort,  I  believe?" 

I  assented  by  a  bow. 

"  It  was  just  as  we  told  you,"  cried  Sarah,  taking  her  re- 
venge. "  The  poor  woman  is  dead !  and,  no  doubt,  of  that 
cancer.  What  a  frightful  disease !  and  how  accurate  has 
our  information  been  in  all  that  affair  !" 

"  I  think  her  will  the  most  extraordinary  of  all,"  added 
Mr..  Brigham,  who,  as  a  man,  kept  an  eye  more  to  the 
main  chance.  "  I  suppose  you  have  heard  all  about  her 
will,  Captain  Wallingford?" 

I  reminded  the  gentleman  that  this  was  the  first  I  had 
ever  heard  of  the  lady's  death. 

"  She  has  left  every  dollar  to  young  Mr.  Hardinge,  her 
cousin's  son,"  added  Jane,  "cutting  off  that  handsome, 
genteel  young  lady,  his  sister,  as  well  as  her  father,  with- 
out a  cent  " — in  1803  they  just  began  to  speak  of  cents,  in- 
stead of  farthings — "and  everybody  says  it  was  so  cruel,1  * 


392  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  That  is  not  the  worst  of  it,"  put  in  Sarah.  "  They  db 
say  that  Miss  Merton,  the  English  lady  that  made  so  much 
noise  in  New  York — let  me  see,  Mr.  Brigham,  what  earl's 
granddaughter  did  we  hear  she  was  ?" 

This  was  a  most  injudicious  question,  as  it  gave  the  hus- 
band an  opportunity  to  take  the  word  out  of  her  mouth. 

"  Lord  Cumberland's,  I  believe,  or  some  such  person  ; 
but  no  matter  whose.  It  is  quite  certain  General  Merton, 
her  father,  consents  to  let  her  marry  Mr.  Hardinge,  now 
Mrs.  Bradfort's  will  is  known  ;  and,  as  for  the  sister,  he 
declares  he  will  never  give  her  a  dollar." 

"  He  will  have  sixteen  thousand  dollars  a  year,"  said 
Jane,  with  emphasis. 

"  Six,  my  dear,  six"  returned  the  brother,  who  had  rea- 
sonably accurate  notions  touching  dollars  and  cents,  or  he 
never  would  have  been  travelling  in  Italy  ;  "  six  thousand 
dollars  a  year  was  just  Mrs.  Bradfort's  income,  as  my  old 
school-fellow  Upham  told  me,  and  there  isn't  another  man 
in  York  who  can  tell  fortunes  as  true  as  himself.  He  makes 
a  business  of  it,  and  don't  fail  one  time  in  twenty." 

"And  is  it  quite  certain  that  Mr.  Rupert  Hardinge  gets 
all  the  fortune  of  Mrs.  Bradfort  ?"  I  asked,  with  a  strong 
effort  to  seem  composed. 

"Not  the  least  doubt  of  it  in  the  world.  Everybody  is 
talking  about  it ;  and  there  cannot  well  be  a  mistake,  you 
know,  as  it  was  thought  the  sister  would  be  an  heiress,  and 
people  generally  take  care  to  be  pretty  certain  about  that 
class.  But,  of  course,  a  young  man  of  that  fortune  wrill 
be  snapped  up,  as  a  swallow  catches  a  fly.  I've  bet  Sarah 
a  pair  of  gloves  we  hear  of  his  marriage  in  three  months." 

The  Brighams  talked  an  hour  longer,  and  made  me 
promise  to  visit  them  at  their  hotel,  a  place  I  could  not 
succeed  in  finding.  That  evening  I  left  Florence  for  Leg- 
horn, writing  a  note  of  apology,  in  order  not  to  be  rude. 
Of  course,  I  did  not  believe  half  these  people  had  told  me  ; 
but  a  part,  I  made  no  doubt,  was  true.  Mrs.  Bradfort  was 
dead,  out  of  all  question  ;  and  I  thought  it  possible  she 
might  not  so  far  have  learned  to  distinguish  between  the 
merit  of  Lucy,  and  that  of  Rupert,  to  leave  her  entire  fort- 
une to  the  last.  As  for  the  declaration  of  the  brother 
that  he  would  give  his  sister  nothing,  that  seemed  to  me 
to  be  rather  strong  even  for  Rupert.  I  knew  the  dear  girl 
too  well,  and  was  certain  she  would  not  repine  ;  and  I  was 
burnmg  with  the  desire  to  be  in  the  field,  now  she  was 
again  penniless. 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  393 

What  a  change  was  this  !  Here  were  the  Hardinges, 
those  whom  I  had  known  as  poor  almost  as  dependents 
on  my  own  family,  suddenly  enriched.  I  knew  Mrs.  Brad- 
fort  had  a  large  six  thousand  a  year  besides  her  own  dwell- 
ing house,  which  stood  in  Wall  Street,  a  part  of  the  com- 
mercial emporium  that  was  just  beginning  to  be  the  focus 
of  banking,  and  all  other  moneyed  operations,  and  which 
even  then  promised  to  become  a  fortune  of  itself.  It  is 
true,  that  old  Daniel  M'Cormick  still  held  his  levees  on  his 
venerable  stoop,  where  all  the  heavy  men  in  town  used  to 
congregate,  and  joke,  and  buy  and  sell,  and  abuse  Boney  ; 
and  that  the  Winthrops,  the  Wilkeses,  the  Jaunceys,  the 
Verplancks,  the  Whites,  the  Ludlows,  and  other  families 
of  mark,  then  had  their  town  residences  in  this  well-known 
street  ;  but  coming  events  were  beginning  "  to  cast  their 
shadows  before,"  and  it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  this  single 
dwelling  might  at  least  double  Rupert's  income,  under  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  country  and  the  town.  Though 
Lucy  was  still  poor,  Rupert  was  now  rich. 

If  family  connection,  that  all-important  and  magical  in- 
fluence, could  make  so  broad  a  distinction  between  us, 
while  I  was  comparatively  wealthy  and  Lucy  had  nothing, 
what,  to  regard  the  worst  side  of  the  picture,  might  I  not 
expect  from  it  when  the  golden  scale  preponderated  on 
her  side  ?  That  Andrew  Drewett  would  still  marry  her,  I 
began  to  fear  again.  Well,  why  not  ?  I  had  never  men- 
tioned love  to  the  sweet  girl,  fondly,  ardently  as  I  was  at- 
tached to  her ;  and  what  reason  had  I  for  supposing  that 
one  in  her  situation  could  reserve  her  affections  for  a 
truant  sailor?  I  am  afraid  I  was  unjust  enough  to  regret 
that  this  piece  of  good  fortune  should  have  befallen  Ru- 
pert. He  must  do  something  for  his  sister,  and  every  dol- 
lar seemed  to  raise  a  new  barrier  between  us. 

From  that  hour  I  was  all  impatience  to  get  home.  Had 
not  the  freight  been  engaged,  I  think  I  should  have  sailed 
in  ballast.  By  urging  the  merchants,  however,  we  got  to 
sea  May  i5th,  with  a  full  cargo,  a  portion  of  which  I  had 
purchased  on  my  own  account,  with  the  money  earned  by 
the  ship  within  the  last  ten  months.  Nothing  occurred 
worthy  of  notice  until  the  Dawn  neared  the  Straits  of  Gib- 
raltar. Here  we  were  boarded  by  an  English  frigate,  and 
first  learned  the  declaration  of  a  new  war  between  France 
and  England  ;  a  contest  that,  in  the  end,  involved  in  it  all 
the  rest  of  Christendom.  Hostilities  had  already  com- 
menced, the  First  Consul  having  thrown  aside  the  mask 


394  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

just  three  days  after  we  left  port.  The  frigate  treated  us 
well,  it  being  too  soon  for  the  abuses  that  followed,  and 
we  got  through  the  pass  without  further  molestation. 

As  soon  as  in  the  Atlantic  I  took  care  to  avoid  every- 
thing we  saw,  and  nothing  got  near  us  until  we  had  ac- 
tually made  the  Highlands  of  Navesink.  An  English 
sloop-of-war,  however,  had  stood  into  the  angles  of  the 
coast  formed  by  Long  Island  and  the  Jersey  shore,  giving 
us  a  race  for  the  Hook.  I  did  not  know  whether  I  ought 
to  be  afraid  of  this  cruiser  or  not,  but  my  mind  was  made 
up  not  to  be  boarded  if  it  could  be  helped.  We  succeeded 
in  passing  ahead,  and  entered  the  Hook  while  he  was  still 
a  mile  outside  of  the  bar.  I  got  a  pilot  on  the  bar,  as  was 
then  very  usual,  and  stood  up  toward  the  town  with  stud- 
ding-sails set,  it  being  just  a  twelvemonth,  almost  to  an 
hour,  from  the  day  when  I  passed  up  the  bay  in  the  Crisis. 
The  pilot  took  the  ship  in  near  Coenties'  Slip,  Marble's 
favorite  berth,  and  we  had  her  secured  and  her  sails  un- 
bent before  the  sun  set. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"With  look  like  patient  Job's,  eschewing  evil ; 
With  motions  graceful  as  a  bird's  in  air  ; 
Thou  art,  in  sober  truth,  the  veriest  devil 
That  ere  clinched  fingers  in  a  captive's  hair." — HALLECK. 

THERE  was  about  an  hour  of  daylight,  when  I  left  the 
counting-house  of  the  consignees,  and  pursued  my  way 
up  Wall  Street,  to  Broadway.  I  was  on  my  way  to  the 
City  Hotel,  then,  as  now,  one  of  the  best  inns  of  the  town. 
On  Trinity  Church  walk,  just  as  I  quitted  the  Wall  Street 
crossing,  whom  should  I  come  plump  upon  in  turning, 
but  Rupert  Hardinge  ?  He  was  walking  down  the  street 
in  some  little  haste,  and  was  evidently  much  surprised,  per- 
haps I  might  say  startled,  at  seeing  me.  Nevertheless, 
Rupert  was  not  easily  disconcerted,  and  his  manner  at 
once  became  warm,  if  not  entirely  free  from  embarrass- 
ment. He  was  in  deep  mourning;  though  otherwise 
dressed  in  the  height  of  the  fashion. 

"  Wallingford  !  "  he  exclaimed — it  was  the  first  time  he 
did  not  call  me  "Miles" — "  Wallingford  !  my  fine  fellow, 
what  cloud  did  you  drop  from  ?  We  have  had  so  many 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  39$ 

reports  concerning  you,  that  your  appearance  is  as  much  a 
matter  of  surprise  as  would  be  that  of  Bonaparte,  himself. 
Of  course  your  ship  is  in  ? " 

"  Of  course,"  I  answered,  taking  his  offered  hand  ;  "you 
know  I  am  wedded  to  her,  for  better,  for  worse,  until  death 
or  shipwreck  doth  us  part." 

"Ay,  so  I've  always  told  the  ladies — 'there  is  no  other 
matrimony  in  Wallingford,'  I've  said  often,  *  than  that  which 
will  make  him  a  ship's  husband.'  But  you  look  confound- 
edly well — the  sea  agrees  with  you,  famously." 

u  I  make  no  complaint  of  my  health — but  tell  me  of  that 
of  our  friends  and  families.  Your  father " 

"Is  up  at  Clawbonny,  just  now — you  know  how  it  is 
with  him.  No  change  of  circumstances  will  ever  make 
him  regard  his  little  smoke-house-looking  church  as  any- 
thing but  a  cathedral,  and  his  parish  as  a  diocese.  Since 
the  great  change  in  our  circumstances,  all  this  is  useless, 
and  I  often  think — you  know  one  wouldn't  like  to  say  as 
much  to  him — but  I  often  think,  he  might  just  as  well  give 
up  preaching,  altogether." 

"  Well,  this  is  good,  so  far — now  for  the  rest  of  you,  all. 
You  meet  my  impatience  too  coldly." 

"  Yes,  you  were  always  an  impatient  fellow.  Why,  I  sup- 
pose you  need  hardly  be  told  that  I  have  been  admitted  to 
the  bar." 

•  "  That  I  can  very  well  imagine — you  must  have  found 
your  sea-training  of  great  service  on  the  examination." 

"  Ay  !  my  dear  Wallingford — what  a  simpleton  I  was  I 
But  one  is  so  apt  to  take  up  strange  conceits  in  boyhood, 
that  he  is  compelled  to  look  back  at  them  in  wonder,  in 
after  life.  But,  which  way  are  you  walking  ?  " — slipping 
an  arm  in  mine — "  if  up,  I'll  take  a  short  turn  with  you. 
There's  scarce  a  soul  in  town,  at  this  season  ;  but  you  will 
see  prodigiously  fine  girls  in  Broadway,  at  this  hour,  not- 
withstanding— those  that  belong  to  the  other  sets  you 
know  ;  those  that  belong  to  families  that  can't  get  into  the 
country  among  the  leaves.  Yes,  as  I  was  saying,  one  scarce 
knows  himself,  after  twenty.  Now  I  can  hardly  recall  a 
taste,  or  an  inclination,  that  I  cherished  in  my  teens,  that 
has  not  flown  to  the  winds.  Nothing  is  permanent  in  boy- 
hood—we grow  in  our  persons,  and  our  minds,  sentiments, 
affections,  views,  hopes,  wishes,  and  ambition  all  take  new 
directions." 

"  This  is  not  very  flattering,  Rupert,  to  one  whose  ac- 
quaintance with  you  may  be  said  to  be  altogether  boyish." 


396  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  Oh !  of  course  I  don't  mean  that.  Habit  keeps  all 
right  in  such  matters  ;  and  I  dare  say  I  shall  always  be  as 
much  attached  to  you  as  I  was  in  childhood.  Still,  we  are 
on  diverging  lines,  now,  and  cannot  forever  remain  boys." 

"You  have  told  me  nothing  of  the  rest,"  I  said,  half 
choked,  in  my  eagerness  to  hear  of  the  girls,  and  yet  un- 
accountably afraid  to  ask.  I  believe  I  dreaded  to  hear  that 
Lucy  was  married.  "  How,  and  where  is  Grace  ? " 

"  Oh  !  Grace  ! — yes,  I  forgot  her,  to  my  shame,  as  you 
would  naturally  wish  to  inquire.  Why,  my  clear  captain, 
to  be  as  frank  as  one  ought  with  so  old  an  acquaintance, 
your  sister  is  not  in  a  good  way,  I'm  much  afraid  ;  though 
I've  not  seen  her  in  an  age.  She  was  down  among  us  in 
the  autumn,  but  left  town  for  the  holidays,  for  them  she 
insisted  on  keeping  at  Clawbonny,  where  she  said  the 
family  had  always  kept  them,  and  away  she  went.  Since 
then,  she  has  not  returned  ;  but  I  fear  she  is  far  from  well. 
You  know  what  a  fragile  creature  Grace  ever  has  been — 
so  American  !  Ah  !  Wallingford,  our  females  have  no  con- 
stitutions— charming  as  angels,  delicate  as  fairies,  and  all 
that  ;  but  not  to  be  compared  to  the  English  women  in 
constitutions." 

I  felt  a  torrent  of  fire  rushing  through  my  blood,  and  it 
was  with  difficulty  I  refrained  from  hurling  the  heartless 
scoundrel  who  leaned  on  my  arm,  into  the  ditch.  A  mo- 
ment of  reflection,  however,  warned  me  of  the  precipice 
on  which  I  stood.  He  was  Mr.  Hardinge's  son,  Lucy's 
brother  ;  and  I  had  no  proofs  that  he  had  ever  induced 
Grace  to  think  he  loved  her.  It  was  so  easy  for  those  who 
had  been  educated  as  we  four  had  been,  to  be  deceived  on 
such  a  point,  that  I  felt  it  unsafe  to  do  anything  precipi- 
tately. Friendship,  habit,  as  Rupert  expressed  it,  might  so 
easily  be  mistaken  for  the  fruits  of  passion,  that  one  might 
well  be  deceived.  Then  it  was  all-important  to  Grace's 
self-respect,  to  her  feelings,  in  some  measure  to  her  char- 
acter, to  be  careful,  that  I  suppressed  my  wrath,  though 
it  nearly  choked  me. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  this,"  I  answered,  after  a  long  pause, 
the  deep  regret  I  felt  at  having  such  an  account  of  my 
sister's  health  contributing  to  make  my  manner  seem  nat- 
ural;  "very,  very  sorry  to  hear  it.  Grace  is  one  that  re- 
quires the  tenderest  care  and  watching  ;  and  I  have  been 
making  passage  after  passage  in  pursuit  of  money,  when 
I  am  afraid  I  should  have  been  at  Clawbonny,  discharging 
the  duties  of  a  brother.  I  can  never  forgive  myself !  " 


A  FLO  A  7"  AND  ASHOKE.  397 

"  Money  is  a  very  good  thing,  captain,"  answered  Ru- 
pert, with  a  smile  that  appeared  to  mean  more  than  the 
tongue  expressed — "  a  surprisingly  good  thing  is  money  ! 
But  you  must  not  exaggerate  Grace's  illness,  which  I  dare 
say  is  merely  constitutional,  and  will  lead  to  nothing.  I 
hope  your  many  voyages  have  produced  their  fruits  ?  " 

"  And  Lucy,"  I  resumed,  disregarding  his  question  con- 
cerning my  own  success  as  an  owner,  "  where  and  how  is 
she  ?  " 

"  Miss  Hardinge  is  in  town — in  her  own — that  is,  in  our 
house — in  Wall  Street,  though  she  goes  to  the  place  in  the 
morning.  No  one  who  can,  likes  to  remain  among  these 
hot  bricks,  that  has  a  pleasant  country-house  to  fly  to,  and 
open  to  receive  him.  But  I  forgot — I  have  supposed  you 
to  know  what  it  is  very  likely  you  have  never  heard  ?" 

"  I  learned  the  death  of  Mrs.  Bradfort  while  in  Italy,  and, 
seeing  you  in  black,  at  once  supposed  it  was  for  her." 

"  Yes,  that's  just  it.  An  excellent  woman  has  been  taken 
from  us,  and,  had  she  been  my  own  mother,  I  could  not 
have  received  greater  kindnesses  from  her.  Her  end,  my 
dear  Wallingford,  was  admitted  by  all  the  clergy  to  be  one 
of  the  most  edifying  known  in  the  place  for  years." 

"And  Mrs.  Bradfort  has  left  you  her  heir?  It  is  now 
time  to  congratulate  you  on  your  good  fortune.  As  I  un- 
derstand her  estate  came  through  females  to  her,  and  from 
a  common  ancestor  of  hers  and  yours,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  reason  why  you  should  not  be  gratified  by  the 
bequest.  But  Lucy — I  hope  she  was  not  altogether  for- 
gotten ? " 

Rupert  fidgeted,  and  I  could  see  that  he  was  on  tenter- 
hooks. As  I  afterward  discovered,  he  wished  to  conceal 
the  real  facts  from  the  world  ;  and  yet  he  could  not  but 
foresee  that  I  would  probably  learn  them  from  his  father. 
Under  all  the  circumstances,  therefore,  he  fancied  it  best 
to  make  me  a  confidant.  We  were  strolling  between  Trinity 
and  Paul's  church  walks,  then  the  most  fashionable  prom- 
enade in  town  ;  and,  before  he  would  lay  open  his  secret, 
my  companion  led  me  over  by  the  Oswego  Market,  and 
down  Maiden  Lane,  lest  he  might  betray  himself  to  the 
more  fashionable  stocks  and  stones.  He  did  not  open  his 
lips  until  clear  of  the  market,  when  he  laid  bare  his  budget 
of  griefs  in  something  that  more  resembled  his  old  confi- 
dential manner  than  he  had  seen  fit  to  exhibit  in  the  earlier 
part  of  our  interview. 

"You  must  know,  Miles,"   lie  commenced,   "that  Mrs. 


398  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Bradfort  was  a  very  peculiar  woman — a  very  peculiar  sort 
of  a  person,  indeed.  An  excellent  lady,  I  am  ready  to  allow, 
and  one  that  made  a  remarkably  edifying  end — but  one 
whose  peculiarities,  I  have  understood,  she  inherited  with 
her  fortune.  Women  do  get  the  oddest  conceits  into  their 
heads,  you  know,  and  American  women  before  all  others  ; 
a  republic  being  anything  but  favorable  to  the  continua- 
tions of  property  in  the  same  line.  Miss  Merton,  who  is  a 
girl  of  excellent  sense,  as  you  well  know  yourself,  Miles, 
says,  now  in  England  I  should  have  succeeded,  quite  as  a 
matter  of  course,  to  all  Mrs.  Bradfort's  real  estate." 

"  You,  as  a  lawyer,  a  common-law  lawyer,  can  scarcely 
require  the  opinion  of  an  English-woman  to  tell  you  what 
the  English  laws  would  do  in  a  question  of  descent." 

"  Oh  !  they've  a  plaguey  sight  of  statutes  in  that  country 
as  well  as  ourselves.  Between  the  two,  the  common  law  is 
getting  to  be  a  very  uncommon  sort  of  a  law.  But,  to  cut 
the  matter  short,  Mrs.  Bradfort  made  a  will " 

"  Dividing  her  property  equally  between  you  and  Lucy, 
I  dare  say,  to  Miss  Merton's  great  dissatisfaction." 

"  Why,  not  just  so,  Miles,  not  exactly  so  ;  a  very  capri- 
cious, peculiar  woman  was  Mrs.  Bradfort — ' 

I  have  often  remarked,  when  a  person  has  succeeded  in 
throwing  dust  into  another's  eyes,  but  is  discarded  on  being 
found  out,  that  the  rejected  of  principle  is  very  apt  to  accuse 
his  former  dupe  of  being  capricious,  when  in  fact  he  has 
only  been  deceived.  As  I  said  nothing,  however,  leaving 
Rupert  to  flounder  on  in  the  best  manner  he  could,  the 
latter,  after  a  pause,  proceeded. 

"  But  her  end  was  very  admirable,"  he  said,  "  and  to  the 
last  degree  edifying.  You  must  know  she  made  a  will,  and 
in  that  will  she  left  everything,  even  to  the  town  and. 
country-houses,  to — my  sister." 

I  was  thunder-struck  !  Here  were  all  my  hopes  blown 
again  to  the  winds.  After  a  long  pause,  I  resumed  the  dis- 
course. 

"  And  whom  did  she  leave  as  executor?"  I  asked,  in- 
stantly foreseeing  the  consequences  should  that  office  be 
devolved  on  Rupert  himself. 

"  My  father.  The  old  gentleman  has  had  his  hands  full 
between  your  father  and  mother  and  Mrs.  Bradfort.  Fort- 
unately thee  state  of  the  last  is  in  a  good  condition  and  is 
easily  managed,  Almost  entirely  in  stores  and  houses  in 
the  best  part  of  the  town,  well  insured,  a  few  thousands  in 
stocks,  and  as  much  in  bonds  and  mortgages,  the  savings 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  399 

from  the  income,  and  something  like  a  year's  rents  in  bank. 
A  good  seven  thousand  a  year,  with  enough  surplus  to  pay 
for  repairs,  collections,  and  other  charges." 

"And  all  this  then,  is  Lucy's!"  I  exclaimed,  feeling 
something  like  the  bitterness  of  knowing  that  such  an 
heiress  was  not  for  me. 

"  Temporarily,  though  of  course  I  consider  Lucy  as  only 
my  trustee  for  half  of  it.  You  know  how  it  is  with  the 
women  ;  they  fancy  all  us  young  men  spendthrifts,  and  so 
between  the  two  they  have  reasoned  in  this  way — '  Rupert 
is  a  good  fellow  at  bottom,  but  Rupert  is  young,  and  he 
will  make  the  money  fly  ;  now,  I'll  give  it  all  to  you,  Lucy, 
in  my  will,  but  of  course  you'll  take  care  of  your  brother, 
and  let  him  have  half,  or  perhaps  two-thirds,  being  a  male, 
at  the  proper  time,  which  will  be  as  soon  as  you  come  of 
age  and  can  convey.'  You  understand'Lucy  is  but  nineteen, 
and  cannot  convey  these  two  years." 

"  And  Lucy  admits  this  to  be  true  ?  You  have  proof  of 
all  this  ? " 

"  Proof!  I'd  take  my  own  affidavit  of  it.  You  see  it  is 
reasonable,  and  what  I  had  a  right  to  expect.  Everything 
tends  to  confirm  it.  Between  ourselves  I  had  quite  $2,000 
of  debt,  and  yet  you  see  the  good  lady  did  not  leave  me  a 
dollar  to  pay  even  my  honest  creditors,  a  circumstance 
that  so  pious  a  woman,  and  one  who  made  so  edifying  an 
end,  would  never  think  of  doing  without  ulterior  views. 
Considering  Lucy  as  my  trustee  explains  the  whole  thing." 

"I  thought  Mrs.  Bradfort  made  you  an  allowance,  Ru- 
pert ;  some  $600  a  year,  besides  keeping  you  in  her  own 
house  ?" 

"  A  thousand  ;  but  what  is  $1,000  a  year  to  a  fashiona- 
ble man  in  a  town  like  this.  First  and  last,  the  excellent 
old  lady  gave  me  about  $5,000,  all  of  which  confirms  the 
idea  that  at  the  bottom  she  intended  me  for  her  heir. 
What  woman  in  her  senses  would  think  of  giving  $5,000 
to  a  relative  to  whom  she  did  not  contemplate  giving 
more?  The  thing  is  clear  on  its  face,  and  I  should  cer- 
tainly go  into  chancery  with  anybody  but  Lucy." 

"  And  Lucy  !  what  says  she  to  your  views  on  the  subject 
of  Mrs.  Bradfort's  intentions  ?  " 

"  Why,  you  have  some  acquaintance  with  Lucy — used 
to  be  intimate  with  her,  as  one  might  say,  when  children, 
and  know  something  of  her  character."  This  to  me,  who 
fairly  worshipped  the  earth  on  which  the  dear  girl  trod  ! 
"  She  never  indulges  in  professions,  and  likes  to  take  people 


400  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

by  surprise  when  she  contemplates  doing  them  a  service'* 
— this  was  just  as  far  from  Lucy's  natural  and  honest 
mode  of  dealing  as  it  was  possible  to  be — "  and  so  she 
has  been  as  mum  as  one  who  has  lost  the  faculty  of 
speech.  However,  she  never  speaks  of  her  affairs  to 
others  ;  that  is  a  good  sign,  and  indicates  an  intention  to 
consider  herself  as  my  trustee  ;  and,  what  is  better  still, 
and  more  plainly  denotes  what  her  conscience  dictates  in 
the  premises,  she  has  empowered  her  father  to  pay  all  my 
debts  ;  the  current  income  and  loose  cash  being  at  her 
disposal*  at  once.  It  would  have  been  better  had  she 
given  me  the  money,  to  satisfy  these  creditors  with  it,  for 
I  knew  which  had  waited  the  longest,  and  were  best  en- 
titled to  receive  the  dollars  at  once  ;  but,  it's  something  to 
have  all  their  receipts  in  my  pocket,  and  to  start  fair 
again.  Thank  Heaven,  that  much  is  already  done.  To 
do  Lucy  justice,  moreover,  she  allows  me  $1,500  a  year, 
ad  interim.  Now,  Miles,  I've  conversed  with  you,  as  with 
an  old  friend,  and  because  I  knew  my  father  would  tell  you 
the  whole,  when  you  got  up  to  Clawbonny  ;  but  you  will 
take  it  all  in  strict  confidence.  It  gives  a  fashionable 
young  fellow  so  silly  an  air,  to  be  thought  dependent  on  a 
sister  ;  and  she  three  years  younger  than  himself  !  So  I 
have  hinted  the  actual  state  of  the  case  round  among  my 
friends  ;  but,  it  is  generally  believed  that  I  am  in  posses- 
sion already,  and  that  Lucy  is  dependent  on  me,  instead 
of  my  being  dependent  on  her.  The  idea,  moreover,  is 
capital  for  keeping  off  fortune  hunters,  as  you  will  see  at 
a  glance." 

"And  will  the  report  satisfy  a  certain  Mr.  Andrew 
Drewett?"  I  asked,  struggling  to  assume  a  composure  I 
was  far  from  feeling.  "  He  was  all  attention  when  I  sailed, 
and  I  almost  expected  to  hear  there  was  no  longer  a  Lucy 
Hardinge." 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  Miles,  I  thought  so,  too,  until  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Bradfort.  The  mourning,  however,  most 
opportunely  came  to  put  a  stop  to  anything  of  the  sort, 
were  it  even  contemplated.  It  would  be  so  awkward,  you 
will  understand,  to  have  a  brother-in-law  before  everything 
is  settled,  and  the  trust  is  accounted  for.  Au  reste — I  am 
very  well  satisfied  with  Andrew,  and  let  him  know  I  am 
his  friend  ;  he  is  well  connected  ;  fashionable  ;  has  a  pretty 
little  fortune  ;  and,  as  I  sometimes  tell  Lucy,  that  he  is  in- 
tended for  her,  as  Mrs.  Bradfort,  no  doubt,  foresaw,  inas- 
much as  his  estate,  added  to  just  one-third  of  that  of  ou* 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  401 

dear  departed  cousin,  would  just  make  up  the  present  in- 
come. On  my  honor,  now,  I  do  not  think  the  difference 
would  be  $500  per  annum." 

"And  how  does  your  sister  receive  your  hints  ? " 

"  Oh !  famously — just  as  all  girls  do,  you  know. 
She  blushes,  and  sometimes  she  looks  vexed  ;  then  she 
smiles,  and  puts  up  her  lip,  and  says  'Nonsense!'  and 
'What  folly !  Rupert,  I'm  surprised  at  you  !' and  all  that 
sort  of  stuff,  which  deceives  nobody,  you'll  understand, 
not  even  her  poor,  simple,  silly  brother.  But,  Miles,  I 
must  quit  you  now,  for  I  have  an  engagement  to  accom- 
pany a  party  to  the  theatre,  and  was  on  my  way  to  join 
them  when  we  met.  Cooper  plays,  and  you  know  what 
a  lion  he  is  ;  one  would  not  wish  to  lose  a  syllable  of  his 
Othello." 

"  Stop,  Rupert ! — one  word  more  before  we  part.  From 
your  conversation,  I  gather  that  the  Mertons  are  still 
here  ?" 

"  The  Mertons  !  Why,  certainly  ;  established  in  the  land, 
and  among  its  tip-top  people.  The  colonel  finds  his  health 
benefited  by  the  climate,  and  he  has  managed  to  get  some 
appointment  which  keeps  him  among  us.  He  has  Boston 
relatives,  moreover,  and  I  believe  is  fishing  up  some  claims 
to  property  in  that  quarter.  The  Mertons  here,  indeed  ! 
what  would  New  York  be  without  the  Mertons  ?" 

"  And  my  old  friend  the  major  is  promoted,  too — you 
called  him  colonel,  I  think  ?  " 

"  Did  I  ?  I  believe  he  is  oftener  called  General  Merton, 
than  anything  else.  You  must  be  mistaken  about  his  being 
only  a  major,  Miles  ;  everybody  here  calls  him  either  colo- 
nel or  general." 

"Never  mind  ;  I  hope  it  is  as  you  say.  Good-by,  Ru- 
pert, I'll  not  betray  you,  and- 


"  Well — you  were  about  to  say- 


"  Why,  mention  me  to  Lucy  ;  you  know  we  were  acquaint- 
ed when  children.  Tell  her  I  wish  her  all  happiness  in 
her  new  position,  to  which  I  do  not  doubt  she  will  do  full 
credit ;  and  that  I  shall  endeavor  to  see  her  before  I  sail 
again." 

"  You  will  not  be  at  the  theatre  this  evening  ?  Cooper  is 
well  worth  seeing — a  most  famous  Othello  !  '*" 

"  I  think  not.  Do  not  forget  to  mention  me  to  your 
sister  ;  and  so,  once  more,  adieu  !  " 

We  parted ;  Rupert  to  go  toward  Broadway,  at  a  great 
pace,  and  I  to  lounge  along,  uncertain  whither  to  proceed. 
26 


402  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

I  had  sent  Neb  to  inquire  if  the  Wallingford  were  down, 
and  understood  she  would  leave  the  basin  at  sunrise.  It 
was  now  my  intention  to  go  up  in  her  ;  for,  though  I 
attached  no  great  importance  to  any  of  Rupert's  facts,  his 
report  concerning  my  sister's  health  rendered  me  exceeding- 
ly uneasy.  Insensibly  I  continued  my  course  down  Maiden 
Lane,  and  soon  found  myself  near  the  ship.  I  went  on 
board,  had  an  explanation  with  Marble,  gave  some  orders 
to  Neb,  and  went  ashore  again,  all  in  the  course  of  the 
next  half  hour.  By  a  sort  of  secret  attraction,  I  was  led 
toward  the  Park,  and  soon  found  myself  at  the  door  of  the 
theatre.  Mrs.  Bradfort  had  now  been  dead  long  enough 
to  put  Lucy  in  second  mourning,  and  I  fancied  I  might 
get  a  view  of  her  in  the  party  that  Rupert  was  to  accom- 
pany. Buying  a  ticket,  I  entered  and  made  my  way  up 
into  the  Shakespeare  box.  Had  I  been  better  acquainted 
with  the  place,  with  the  object  in  view,  I  should  have  gone 
into  the  pit 

Notwithstanding  the  lateness  of  the  season,  it  was  a  very 
full  house.  Cooper's,  in  that  day,  was  a  name  that  filled 
every  mouth,  and  he  seldom  failed  to  fill  every  theatre  in 
which  he  appeared.  With  many  first-rate  qualifications 
for  his  art,  and  a  very  respectable  conception  of  his  charac- 
ters, he  threw  everything  like  competition  behind  him  : 
though  there  were  a  few,  as  there  ever  will  be  among  the 
superlatively  intellectual,  who  affected  to  see  excellences 
in  Fennel,  and  others,  to  which  this  great  actor  could  not 
aspire.  The  public  decided  against  these  select  few,  and, 
as  is  invariably  the  case  when  the  appeal  is  made  to  human 
feelings,  the  public  decided  right.  Puffery  will  force  into 
notice,  and  sustain  a  false  judgment,  in  such  matters,  for  a 
brief  space  ;  but  nature  soon  asserts  her  sway,  and  it  is  by 
natural  decisions  that  such  points  are  ever  the  most  justly 
determined.  Whatever  appeals  to  human  sympathies  will 
be  answered  by  human  sympathies.  Popularity  too  often 
gains  its  ascendency  behind  the  hypocrite's  mask  in 
religion  ;  it  is  usually  a  magnificent  mystification  in 
politics  ;  it  frequently  becomes  the  patriot's  stalking  horse, 
on  which  he  rides  to  power ;  in  social  life,  it  is  the  reward 
of  empty  smiles,  unmeaning  bows,  and  hollow  squeezes  of 
the  hand  ;  but  with  the  player,  the  poet,  and  all  whose 
pursuits  bring  them  directly  in  contact  with  the  passions, 
the  imagination,  and  the  heart,  it  is  the  unerring  test  of 
merit,  with  certain  qualifications  connected  with  the  mind 
and  the  higher  finish  of  pure  art.  It  may  be  questioned  if 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  403 

Cooper  were  not  the  greatest  actor  of  his  day,  in  a  certain 
range  of  his  own  characters. 

I  have  said  that  the  house  was  full.  I  got  a  good  place, 
however  ;  though  it  was  not  in  the  front  row.  Of  course, 
I  could  only  see  the  side  boxes  beneath,  and  not  even  quite 
all  of  them.  My  eyes  ran  eagerly  over  them,  and  I  soon 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  fine,  curling  hair  of  Rupert.  He 
sat  by  the  side  of  Emily  Merton,  the  major — I  knew  he 
was  a  colonel  or  general  only  by  means  of  a  regular  Man- 
hattan promotion,  which  is  so  apt  to  make  hundreds  of 
counts,  copper  captains,  and  travelling  prodigies  of  those 
who  are  very  small  folk  at  home — the  major  sat  next,  and, 
at  his  side,  I  saw  a  lady,  whom  I  at  once  supposed  to  be 
Lucy.  Every  nerve  in  my  system  thrilled,  as  I  caught 
even  this  indistinct  vi^w  of  the  dear  creature.  I  could 
just  see  the  upper  part  of  her  face,  as  it  was  occasionally 
turned  toward  the  major  ;  and  once  I  caught  that  honest 
smile  of  hers,  which  I  knew  had  never  intentionally  de- 
ceived. 

The  front  seat  of  the  box  had  two  vacant  places.  The 
bench  would  hold  six,  while  it  had  yet  only  four.  The 
audience,  however,  was  still  assembling,  and,  presently,  a 
stir  in  Lucy's  box  denoted  the  arrival  of  company.  The 
whole  party  moved,  and  Andrew  Drewett  handed  an  elderly 
Jady  in,  his  mother,  as  I  afterward  ascertained,  and  took 
the  other  place  himself.  I  watched  the  salutations  that 
were  exchanged,  and  understood  that  the  new  comers  had 
been  expected.  The  places  had  been  reserved  for  them, 
and  old  Mrs.  Drewett  was  doubtless  the  chaperone  ;  though 
one  having  a  brother  and  the  other  a  father  with  her,  the 
two  young  ladies  had  not  hesitated  about  preceding  the 
elderly  lady.  They  had  come  from  different  quarters  of 
the  town,  and  had  agreed  to  meet  at  the  theatre.  Old  Mrs. 
Drewett  was  very  particular  in  shaking  hands  with  Lucy, 
though  I  had  not  the  misery  of  seeing  her  son  go  through 
the  same  ceremony.  Still  he  was  sufficiently  pointed  in 
his  salutations  ;  and,  during  the  movements,  I  perceived 
he  managed  to  get  next  to  Lucy,  leaving  the  major  to 
entertain  his  mother.  All  this  was  natural,  and  what 
might  have  been  expected  ;  yet  it  gave  me  a  pang  that  I 
cannot  describe. 

I  sat,  for  half  an  hour,  perfectly  inattentive  tc  the  play, 
meditating  on  the  nature  of  my  real  position  toward  Lucy. 
I  recalled  the  days  of  childhood  and  early  youth  ;  the 
night  of  my  first  departure  from  home  ;  my  return,  and 


404  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  incidents  accompanying  my  second  departure  ;  the  af- 
fair of  the  locket,  and  all  that  I  had  supposed  Lucy  herself 
to  feel,  on  those  several  occasions.  Could  it  be  possible  I 
had  so  much  deceived  myself,  and  that  the  interest  the 
dear  girl  had  certainly  manifested  in  me  had  been  nothing 
but  the  fruits  of  her  naturally  warm  and  honest  heart — her 
strong  disposition  to  frankness — habit,  as  Rupert  had  so 
gently  hinted  in  reference  to  ourselves? 

Then  I  could  not  conceal  from  myself  the  bitter  fact  that 
I  was,  now,  no  equal  match  for  Lucy,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  While  she  was  poor,  and  I  comparatively  rich,  the 
inequality  in  social  station  might  have  been  overlooked  ; 
it  existed  certainly,  but  was  not  so  very  marked  that  it 
might  not,  even  in  that  day,  be  readily  forgotten  ;  but  now, 
Lucy  was  an  heiress,  had  much  more  than  double  my  own 
fortune — had  a  fortune,  indeed  ;  while  I  was  barely  in  easy 
circumstances,  as  persons  of  the  higher  classes  regarded 
wealth.  The  whole  matter  seemed  reversed.  It  was  clear 
that  a  sailor  like  myself,  with  no  peculiar  advantages, 
those  of  a  tolerable  education  excepted,  and  who  was 
necessarily  so  much  absent,  had  not  the  same  chances  of 
preferring  his  suit  as  one  of  your  town  idlers  ;  a  nominal 
lawyer,  for  instance,  who  dropped  in  at  his  office  for  an 
hour  or  two,  just  after  breakfast,  and  promenaded  Broad- 
way the  rest  of  the  time,  until  dinner  ;  or  a  man  of  entire 
leisure,  like  Andrew  Drewett,  who  belonged  to  the  City 
Library  set,  and  had  no  other  connection  with  business 
than  to  see  that  his  rents  were  collected  and  his  dividends 
paid.  The  more  I  reflected,  the  more  humble  I  became, 
the  less  my  chances  seemed,  and  I  determined  to  quit  the 
theatre  at  once.  The  reader  will  remember  that  I  was 
New  York  born  and  bred,  a  state  of  society  in  which  few 
natives  acted  on  the  principle  that  "  there  was  nothing  too 
high  to  be  aspired  to,  nothing  too  low  to  be  done."  I  ad- 
mitted I  had  superiors,  and  was  willing  to  defer  to  the 
facts  and  opinions  of  the  world  as  I  knew  it. 

In  the  lobby  of  the  building,  I  experienced  a  pang  at 
the  idea  of  quitting  the  place  without  getting  one  look  at 
the  face  of  Lucy.  I  was  in  an  humble  mood,  it  is  true,  but 
that  did  not  necessarily  infer  a  total  .self-denial.  I  de- 
termined, therefore,  to  pass  into  the  pit,  with  my  box-check, 
feast  my  eyes  by  one  long  gaze  at  the  dear  creature's  in 
genuous  countenance,  and  carry  away  the  impression,  as  a 
lasting  memorial  of  her  whom  I  so  well  loved,  and  whom 
I  felt  persuaded  I  should  ever  continue  to  love.  After 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  405 

this  indulgence,  I  would  studiously  avoid  her,  in  order  to 
release  my  thoughts  as  much  as  possible  from  the  perfect 
thraldom  in  which  they  had  existed  ever  since  I  had  heard 
of  Mrs.  Bradfort's  death.  Previously  to  that  time  I  am 
afraid  I  had  counted  a  little  more  than  was  becoming  on 
the  ease  of  my  own  circumstances,  and  Lucy's  comparative 
poverty.  Not  that  I  had  ever  supposed  her  to  be  in  the 
least  mercenary — this  I  knew  to  be  utterly,  totally  false — 
but  because  the  good  town  of  Manhattan,  even  in  1803, 
was  tant  soit  peu  addicted  to  dollars,  and  Lucy's  charms 
would  not  be  likely  to  attract  so  many  suitors,  in  the 
modest  setting  of  a  poor  country  clergyman's  means  as  in 
the  golden  frame  by  which  they  had  been  surrounded  by 
Mrs.  Bradfort's  testamentary  devise,  even  supposing  Ru- 
pert to  come  in  for  quite  one-half. 

I  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  a  convenient  place  in  the 
pit ;  one  from  which  I  got  a  front  and  near  view  of  the 
whole  six,  as  they  sat  ranged  side  by  side.  Of  the  major 
and  old  Mrs.  Drewett  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  much.  The 
latter  looked  as  all  dowager-like  widows  of  that  day  used 
to  appear — respectable,  staid,  and  richly  attired.  The  good 
lady  had  come  on  the  stage  during  the  Revolution,  and 
had  a  slightly  military  air — a  parade  in  her  graces,  that  was 
not  altogether  unknown  to  the  eleves  of  that  school.  I 
dare  say  she  could  use  such  words  as  "  martinets,"  "  mo- 
hairs," "  brigadiers,"  and  other  terms  familiar  to  her  class. 
Alas  !  how  completely  all  these  little  traces  of  the  past  are 
disappearing  from  our  habits  and  manners  ! 

As  for  the  major,  he  appeared  much  better  in  health, 
and  altogether  altered  in  mien.  I  could  readily  detect  the 
influence  of  the  world  on  him.  He  was  evidently  a  so 
much  greater  man  in  New  York  than  he  had  been  when  I 
found  him  in  London,  that  it  is  not  wonderful  he  felt 
the  difference.  Between  the  acts,  I  remarked  that  all 
the  principal  persons  in  the  front  rows  were  desirous 
of  exchanging  nods  with  the  "British  officer,"  a  proof 
that  he  was  circulating  freely  in  the  best  set,  and  had 
reached  a  point  when  "  not  to  know  him,  argues  yourself 
unknown."  * 

*  The  miserable  moral  dependence  of  this  country  on  Great  Britain, 
forty  years  since,  cannot  well  be  brought  home  to  the  present  generation. 
It  is  still  100  great,  but  has  not  a  tithe  of  its  former  force.  The  writer 
has  himself  known  an  Italian  prince,  a  man  of  family  and  of  high  person- 
al merit,  pass  unnoticed  before  a  society  that  was  eager  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  most  of  the  "agents"  of  the  Birmingham  button  dealers; 


406  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Emily  certainly  looked  well  and  happy.  I  could  see 
that  she  was  delighted  with  Rupert's  flattery,  and  I  confess 
I  cared  very  little  for  his  change  of  sentiment  or  his  suc- 
cess. That  both  Major  and  Emily  Merton  were  different 
persons  in  the  midst  of  the  world  and  in  the  solitudes  of 
the  Pacific,  was  as  evident  as  it  was  that  I  was  a  different 
personage  in  command  of  the  Crisis  and  in  the  pit  of 
the  Park  Theatre.  I  dare  say,  at  that  moment,  Miss  Mer- 
ton had  nearly  forgotten  that  such  a  man  as  Miles  Walling- 
ford  existed,  though  I  think  she  sometimes  recalled  the 
string  of  magnificent  pearls  that  were  to  ornament  the  neck 
of  his  wife,  should  he  ever  find  any  one  to  have  him. 

But  Lucy,  dear,  upright,  warm-hearted,  truth-telling, 
beloved  Lucy!  all  this  time  I  forget  to  speak  of  her. 
There  she  sat  in  maiden  loveliness,  her  beauty  still  more 
developed,  her  eye  as  beaming,  lustrous,  feeling,  as  ever, 
her  blush  as  sensitive,  her  smile  as  sweet,  and  her  move- 
ments as  natural  and  graceful.  The  simplicity  of  her  half 
mourning,  too,  added  to  her  beauty,  which  was  of  a  char- 
acter to  require  no  further  aid  from  dress,  than  such  as 
was  dependent  purely  on  taste.  As  I  gazed  at  her,  in- 
thralled,  I  fancied  nothing  was  wanting  to  complete  the 
appearance  but  my  own  necklace.  Powerful,  robust  man 
as  I  was,  with  my  frame  hardened  by  exposure  and  trials, 
I  could  have  sat  down  and  wept,  after  gazing  some  time  at 
the  precious  creature,  under  the  feeling  produced  by  the 
conviction  that  I  was  never  to  renew  my  intercourse  with 
her,  on  terms  of  intimacy  at  least.  The  thought  that  from 

and  this  simply  because  one  came  from  Italy  and  the  other  from  England. 
The  following  anecdote,  which  is  quite  as  true  as  any  other  fact  in  this 
work,  furnishes  a  good  example  of  what  is  meant.  It  is  now  a  quarter  of 
a  century  since  the  writer's  first  book  appeared.  Two  or  three  months 
after  the  publication,  he  was  walking  down  Broadway  with  a  friend,  when  a 
man  of  much  distinction  in  the'New  York  city  circles  was  passing  up  on 
the  other  sidewalk.  The  gentleman  in  question  caught  the  writer's  eye, 
bowed,  and  crossed  the  street,  to  shake  hands  and  inquire  after  the  author's 
health.  The  difference  in  years  made  this  attention  marked.  "You  are 

in  high  favor,"  observed  the  friend,  as  the  two  walked  away,  "  to  have 

pay  you  such  a  compliment — your   book  must  have   done   this."      "Now 

mark  my  words — I   have  been  puffed  in  some  English  magazine  and 

knows  it."  The  two  were  on  their  way  to  the  author's  publishers,  and,  on 
entering  the  door,  honest  Charles  Wiley  put  a  puff  on  the  book  in  question 
into  the  writer's  hand.  What  rendered  the  whole  more  striking,  was  the 
fact  that  .the  paragraph  was  as  flagrant  a  puff  as  was  ever  written,  and  had 
probably  been  paid  for,  by  the  English  publisher.  The  gentleman  in 
question  was  a  man  of  talents  and  merit,  but  he  had  been  born  half  a 
century  too  soon  to  enjoy  entire  mental  independence  in  a  country  that 
had  so  recently  been  a  colony. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  407 

day  to  day  we  were  to  become  more  and  more  strangers, 
was  almost  too  much  to  be  borne.  As  it  was,  scalding  tears 
forced  themselves  to  my  eyes,  though  I  succeeded  in  con- 
cealing the  weakness  from  those  around  me.  At  length 
the  tragedy  terminated,  the  curtain  dropped,  and  the 
audience  began  to  move  about.  The  pit,  which  had  just 
before  been  crowded,  was  now  nearly  empty,  and  I  was 
afraid  of  being  seen.  Still,  I  could  not  tear  myself  away, 
but  remained  after  nine-tenths  of  those  around  me  had 
gone  into  the  lobbies. 

It  was  easy  now  to  see  the  change  which  had  come  over 
Lucy's  position,  in  the  attentions  she  received.  All  the 
ladies  in  the  principal  boxes  had  nods  and  smiles  for  her, 
and  half  the  fashionable-looking  young  men  in  the  house 
crowded  round  her  box,  or  actually  entered  it  to  pay  their 
compliments.  I  fancied  Andrew  Drewett  had  a  self-satis- 
fied air  that  seemed  to  say,  "  you  are  paying  your  homage 
indirectly  to  myself,  in  paying  it  to  this  young  lady."  As 
for  Lucy,  my  jealous  watchfulness  could  not  detect  the 
smallest  alteration  in  her  deportment,  so  far  as  simplicity 
and  nature  were  concerned.  She  appeared  in  a  trifling 
degree  more  womanly,  perhaps,  than  when  I  saw  her  last 
being  now  in  her  twentieth  year,  but  the  attentions  she  re- 
ceived made  no  visible  change  in  her  manners.  I  had 
become  lost  in  the  scene,  and  was  standing  in  a  musing 
attitude,  my  side  face  toward  the  box,  when  I  heard  a 
suppressed  exclamation  in  Lucy's  voice.  I  was  too  near 
her  to  be  mistaken,  and  it  caused  the  blood  to  rush  to  my 
heart  in  a  torrent.  Turning,  I  saw  the  dear  giri,  with  her 
hand  extended  over  the  front  of  the  box,  her  face  suffused 
with  blushes,  and  her  eyes  riveted  on  myself.  I  was  recog- 
nized, and  the  surprise  had  produced  a  display  of  all  that 
o\&  friendship,  certainly,  that  had  once  existed  between  us, 
in  the  simplicity  and  truth  of  childhood. 

"Miles  Wallingford  !"  she  said,  as  I  advanced  to  shake 
the  offered  hand,  and  as  soon  as  I  was  near  enough  to  per- 
mit her  to  speak  without  attracting  too  much  attention — 
"you  have  arrived,  and  we  knew  nothing  of  it  ! " 

It  was  plain  Rupert  had  said  nothing  of  having  seen  me, 
or  of  our  interview  in  the  street.  He  seemed  a  little 
ashamed,  and  leaned  forward  to  say, 

"  I  declare  I  forgot  to  mention,  Lucy,  that  I  met  Captain 
Wallingford  as  I  was  going  to  join  the  colonel  and  Miss 
Merton.  Oh  !  we  have  had  a  long  talk  together,  and  it 
will  save  you  a  history  of  past  events."  i 


408  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"I  may,  nevertheless,  say,"  I  rejoined,  "  how  happy  1 
am  to  see  Miss  Hardinge  looking  so  well,  and  to  be  able  to 
pay  my  compliments  to  my  old  passengers." 

Of  course  I  shook  hands  with  the  major  and  Emily, 
bowed  to  Drewett,  was  named  to  his  mother,  and  was  in- 
vited to  enter  the  box,  as  it  was  not  quite  in  rule  to  be 
conversing  between  the  pit  and  the  front  rows.  I  forgot 
my  prudent  resolutions,  and  was  behind  Lucy  in  three 
minutes.  Andrew  Drewett  had  the  civility  to  offer  me  his 
place,  though  it  was  with  an  air  that  said  plain  enough, 
"what  do  /care  for  him?  he  is  a  ship-master,  and  I  am  a 
man  of  fashion  and  fortune,  and  can  resume  my  seat  at  any 
moment,  while  the  poor  fellow  can  only  catch  his  chances, 
as  he  occasionally  comes  into  port "  At  least,  I  fancied  his 
manner  said  something  like  this. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Drewett,"  said  Lucy,  in  her  sweetest 
manner.  "  Mr.  Wallingford  and  I  are  very,  very  old  friends  ; 
you  know  he  is  Grace's  brother,  and  you  have  been  at 
Clawbonny  " — Drewett  bowed,  civilly  enough — "and  I  have 
a  thousand  things  to  say  to  him.  So,  Miles,  take  this  seat, 
and  let  me  hear  all  about  your  voyage." 

As  half  the  audience  went  away  as  soon  as  the  tragedy 
ended,  the  second  seat  of  the  box  was  vacated,  and  the 
other  gentlemen  getting  on  it,  to  stretch  their  limbs,  I  had 
abundance  of  room  to  sit  at  Lucy's  side,  half  facing  her,  at 
the  same  time.  As  she  insisted  on  hearing  my  story,  be- 
fore we  proceeded  to  anything  else,  I  was  obliged  to  gratify 
her. 

"By  the  way,  Major  Merton,"  I  cried,  as  the  tale  was 
closed,  "an  old  friend  of  yours,  Moses  Marble  by  name, 
has  come  to  life  again,  and  is  at  this  moment  in  New  York." 

I  then  related  the  manner  in  which  I  had  fallen  in  with 
my  old  mate.  This  was  a  most  unfortunate  self-interrup- 
tion for  me,  giving  the  major  a  fair  opportunity  for  cutting 
into  the  conversation.  The  orchestra,  moreover,  giving 
notice  that  the  curtain  would  soon  rise  for  the  after-piece, 
the  old  gentleman  soon  got  me  into  the  lobby  to  hear  the 
particulars.  I  was  supremely  vexed,  and  I  thought  Lucy 
appeared  sorry ;  but  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  then  we 
could  not  converse  while  the  piece  was  going  on. 

"  I  suppose  you  care  little  for  this  silly  farce,"  observed 
the  major,  looking  in  at  one  of  the  windows,  after  I  had 
gone  over  Marble's  affair,  in  detail.  "  If  not,  we  will  con- 
tinue our  walk,  and  wait  for  the  ladies  to  come  out, 
Drewett  and  Hardinge  will  take  good  care  of  them." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  409 

I  assented,  and  we  continued  to  walk  the  lobby  till  the 
end  of  the  act.  Major  Merton  was  always  gentleman-like  ; 
and  he  even  behaved  to  me  as  if  he  remembered  the  many 
obligations  he  was  under.  He  now  communicated  several 
little  facts  connected  with  his  own  circumstances,  alluding 
to  the  probability  of  his  remaining  in  America  a  few  years. 
Our  chat  continued  some  time,  my  looks  frequently  turn- 
ing toward  the  door  of  the  box,  when  my  companion  sud- 
denly observed  : 

"  Your  old  acquaintance,  the  Hardinges,  have  had  a 
lucky  windfall — one,  I  fancy,  they  hardly  expected  a  few 
years  since." 

*'  Probablv  not !  though  the  estate  has  fallen  into  ex- 
cellent hands,"  I  answered.  "  I  am  surprised,  however, 
that  Mrs.  Bradfort  did  not  leave  the  property  to  the  old 
gentleman,  as  it  once  belonged  to  their  common  grand- 
father, and  he  properly  stood  next  in  succession." 

"  I  fancy  she  thought  the  good  parson  would  not  know 
what  to  do  with  it.  Now,  Rupert  Hardinge  is  clever,  and 
spirited,  and  in  a  way  to  make  a  figure  in  the  world  ;  and 
it  is  probably  in  better  hands  than  if  it  had  been  left  first 
to  the  old  gentleman." 

"  The  old  gentleman  has  been  a  faithful  steward  to  me, 
and  I  doubt  not  would  have  proved  equally  so  to  his  own 
children.  But,  does  Rupert  get  all  Mrs.  Bradfort's  prop- 
erty ? " 

"I  believe  not;  there  is  some  sort  of  a  trust,  I  have 
heard  him  say  ;  and  I  rather  fancy  that  his  sister  has  some 
direct,  or  reversionary  interest.  Perhaps  she  is  named  as 
the  heir,  if  he  die  without  issue.  There  was  a  silly  story, 
that  Mrs.  Bradfort  had  left  everything  to  Lucy  ;  but  I  have 
it  from  the  best  authority  that  that  is  not  true."  The  idea 
of  Rupert  Hardinge  being  the  "best  authority"  for  any- 
thing ;  a  fellow  who  never  knew  what  unadulterated  truth 
was,  from  the  time  he  was  in  petticoats,  or  could  talk  ! 
"  As  I  know  there  is  a  trust,  though  one  of  no  great  mo- 
ment, I  presume  Lucy  has  some  contingent  interest,  sub- 
ject, most  probably,  to  her  marrying  with  her  brother's 
approbation,  or  some  such  provision.  The  old  lady  was 
sagacious,  and  no  doubt  did  all  that  was  necessary." 

It  is  wonderful  how  people  daily  deceive  themselves  on 
the  subject  of  property;  those  who  care  the  most  about  it 
appearing  to  make  the  greatest  blunders.  In  the  way  of 
bequests,  in  particular,  the  lies  that  are  told  are  marvel- 
lous. It  is  now  many  years  since  I  learned  to  take  nc  heed 


410  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

of  rumors  on  such  subjects,  and  least  of  all,  rumors  that 
come  from  the  class  of  the  money-gripers.  Such  people 
refer  everything  to  dollars,  and  seldom  converse  a  minute 
without  using  the  word.  Here,  however,  was  Major  Mer- 
ton  evidently  Rupert's  dupe ;  though  with  what  probable 
consequences  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  foresee.  It  was 
clearly  not  my  business  to  undeceive  him  ;  and  the  conver. 
sation  getting  to  be  embarrassing,  I  was  not  sorry  to  hear 
the  movement  which  announced  the  end  of  the  act.  At 
the  box  door,  to  my  great  regret,  we  met  Mrs.  Drewett  re- 
tiring, the  ladies  finding  the  farce  dull,  and  not  worth  the 
time  lost  in  listening  to  it.  Rupert  gave  me  an  uneasy 
glance,  and  he  even  dragged  me  aside  to  whisper,  "Miles, 
what  I  told  you  this  evening,  is  strictly  a  family  secret, 
and  was  intrusted  to  a  friend." 

"  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  your  private  concerns,  Ru- 
pert," I  answered,  "only,  let  me  expect  you  to  act  honor- 
ably, especially  when  women  are  concerned." 

"Everything  will  come  right,  depend  on  it;  the  truth 
will  set  everything  right,  and  all  will  come  out  just  as  I 
predicted." 

I  saw  Lucy  looking  anxiously  around,  while  Drewett  had 
gone  to  order  the  carriages  to  advance,  and  I  hoped  it 
might  be  for  me.  In  a  moment  I  was  by  her  side;  at  the 
next,  Mr.  Andrew  Drewett  offered  his  arm,  saying,  her  car- 
riage "stopped  the  way."  We  moved  into  the  outer  lobby 
in  a  body,  and  then  it  was  found  that  Mrs.  Drewett's  car- 
riage was  up  first,  while  Lucy's  was  in  the  rear.  Yes,  Lucy's 
carriage  ! — the  dear  girl  having  come  into  immediate  pos- 
session of  her  relative's  houses,  furniture,  horses,  carriages, 
and  everything  else,  without  reserve,  just  as  they  had  been 
left  behind  by  the  last  incumbent,  when  she  departed  from 
the  scene  of  life  to  lie  down  in  the  grave.  Mrs.  Bradfort's 
arms  were  still  on  the  chariot,  I  observed,  its  owner  refus- 
ing all  Rupert's  solicitations  to  supplant  them  by  those  of 
Hardinge.  The  latter  took  his  revenge,  however,  by  telling 
everybody  how  generous  he  was  in  keeping  a  carriage  for 
his  sister. 

The  major  handed  Mrs.  Drewett  in,  and  her  son  was 
compelled  to  say  good-night,  to  see  his  mother  home. 
This  gave  me  one  blessed  minute  with  Lucy,  by  herself. 
She  spoke  of  Grace  ;  said  they  had  now  been  separated 
months,  longer  than  they  ever  had  been  before  in  their 
lives,  and  that  all  her  own  persuasions  could  not  induce 
my  sister  to  rejoin  her  in  town,  while  her  own  wish  to  visit 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  4H 

Clawbonny  had  been  constantly  disappointed,  Rupert  in- 
sisting that  her  presence  was  necessary  for  so  many  ar- 
rangements about  business. 

"  Grace  is  not  as  humble  as  I  was  in  old  times,  Miles," 
said  the  dear  girl,  looking  me  in  the  face  half  sadly,  half 
reproachfully,  the  light  of  the  lamp  falling  full  on  her 
tearful,  tender  eyes,  "  and  I  hope  you  are  not  about  to 
imitate  her  bad  example.  She  wishes  us  to  know  she  has 
Clawbonny  for  a  home,  but  I  never  hesitated  to  admit  how 
poor  we  were,  while  you  alone  were  rich." 

"  God  bless  you,  Lucy !  "  I  whispered,  squeezing  her 
hand  with  fervor.  "  It  cannot  be  that — have  you  heard 
anything  of  Grace's  health  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  she  is  well,  I  know — Rupert  tells  me  that,  and 
her  letters  are  cheerful  and  kind  as  ever,  without  a  word 
of  complaint.  But  I  must  see  her  soon.  Grace  Walling- 
ford  and  Lucy  Hardinge  were  not  born  to  live  asunder. 
Here  is  the  carriage  ;  I  shall  see  you  in  the  morning,  Miles, 
at  breakfast,  say  eight  o'clock  precisely." 

"  It  will  be  impossible.  I  sail  for  Clawbonny  with  the 
first  of  the  flood,  and  that  will  make  at  four.  I  shall  sleep 
in  the  sloop." 

Major  Merton  put  Lucy  into  the  carriage,  the  good 
nights  were  passed,  and  I  was  left  standing  on  the  lowest 
step  of  the  building,  gazing  after  the  carriage,  Rupert 
walking  swiftly  away. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

"Hear  me  a  little  ; 
For  I  have  only  been  silent  so  long, 
And  given  way  unto  this  course  of  fortune, 
By  noting  of  the  lady  :  I  have  mark'd 
A  thousand  blushing  apparitions  start 
Into  her  face  ;  a  thousand  innocent  shames 
In  angel  whiteness  bear  away  those  blushes." 

— SHAKESPEARE. 

I  REACHED  the  Wallingford  before  eleven,  where  I  found 
Neb  in  attendance  with  my  trunks  and  other  effects.  Being 
now  on  board  my  own  craft,  I  gave  orders  to  profit  by  a 
favorable  turn  in  the  wind,  and  to  get  under  way  at  once 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  flood.  When  I  left  the  deck  the 
sloop  was  above  the  State  Prison,  a  point  toward  which 


4i2  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

the  town  itself  had  made  considerable  progress  since  the 
time  I  first  introduced  it  to  the  reader.  Notwithstanding 
this  early  start,  we  did  not  enter  the  creek  until  about 
eight  in  the  morning  of  the  second  day. 

No  sooner  was  the  vessel  near  enough,  than  my  foot 
was  on  the  wharf,  and  I  began  to  ascend  the  hill.  From 
the  summit  of  the  latter  I  saw  my  late  guardian  hurrying 
along  the  road,  it  afterward  appearing  that  a  stray  paper 
from  town  had  announced  the  arrival  of  the  Dawn,  and 
that  I  was  expected  to  come  up  in  the  sloop.  I  was  re- 
ceived with  extended  hands,  was  kissed  just  as  if  I  had 
still  been  a  boy,  and  heard  the  guileless  old  man  murmur- 
ing his  blessings  on  me,  and  a  prayer  of  thankfulness. 
Nothing  ever  changed  good  Mr.  Hardinge,  who,  now  that 
lie  could  command  the  whole  income  of  his  daughter,  was 
just  as  well  satisfied  to  live  on  the  three  or  four  hundreds 
he  got  from  his  glebe  and  his  parish,  as  he  ever  had  been 
in  his  life. 

"Welcome  back,  my  dear  boy,  welcome  back!"  added 
Mr.  Hardinge,  his  voice  and  manner  still  retaining  their 
fervor.  "  I  said  you  must — you  would  be  on  board,  as  soon 
as  they  reported  the  sloop  in  sight,  for  I  judged  your  heart 
by  my  own.  Ah !  Miles,  will  the  time  ever  come  when 
Clawbonny  will  be  good  enough  for  you  ?  You  have  al- 
ready as  much  money  as  you  can  want,  and  more  will  scarce 
contribute  to  your  happiness." 

"  Speaking  of  money,  my  dear  sir,"  I  answered,  "while  I 
have  to  regret  the  loss  of  your  respectable  kinswoman,  I 
may  be  permitted  to  congratulate  you  on  the  accession  to 
an  old  family  property.  I  understand  you  inherit,  in  your 
family,  all  of  Mrs.  Bradfort's  estate — one  valuable  in  amount, 
and  highly  acceptable  no  doubt,  as  having  belonged  to 
your  ancestors." 

"  No  doubt — no  doubt — it  is  just  as  you  say  ;  and  I  hope 
these  unexpected  riches  will  leave  us  all  as  devout  servants 
of  God  as  I  humbly  trust  they  found  us.  The  property,  how- 
ever, is  not  mine,  but  Lucy's  ;  I  need  not  have  any  reserve 
with  you,  though  Rupert  has  hinted  it  might  be  prudent 
not  to  let  the  precise  state  of  the  case  be  known,  since  it 
might  bring  a  swarm  of  interested  fortune-hunters  about 
the  dear  girl,  and  has  proposed  that  we  rather  favor  the 
notion  the  estate  is  to  be  divided  among  us.  This  I  can- 
not do  directly,  you  will  perceive,  as  it  would  be  decep- 
tion ;  but  one  may  be  silent.  With  you,  however,  it  is  a 
different  matter,  and  so  I  tell  you  the  truth  at  once.  I  art. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  413 

made  executor,  and  act,  of  course  ;  and  this  makes  me  the 
more  glad  to  see  you,  for  I  find  so  much  business  with 
pounds,  shillings,  and  pence,  draws  my  mind  off  from  the 
duties  of  my  holy  office,  and  that  I  am  in  danger  of  be- 
coming selfish  and  mercenary.  A  selfish  priest,  Miles,  is 
as  odious  a  thing  as  a  mercenary  woman  !  " 

"  Little  danger  of  your  ever  becoming  anything  so 
worldly,  my  dear  sir.  But  Grace — you  have  not  mentioned 
my  beloved  sister  ?  " 

I  saw  Mr.  Hardinge's  countenance  suddenly  change. 
The-expression  of  joy  instantly  deserted  it,  and  it  wore  an 
air  of  uncertainty  and  sadness.  A  less  observant  man  than 
the  good  divine,  in  all  the  ordinary  concerns  of  life,  did 
not  exist ;  but  it  was  apparent  that  he  now  saw  something 
to  trouble  him. 

''Yes,  Grace,"  he  answered,  doubtingly  ;  "the  dear  girl 
is  here,  and  all  alone,  and  not  as  blithe  and  amusing  as 
formerly.  I  am  glad  of  your  return  on  her  account,  too, 
Miles.  She  is  not  well,  I  fear  ;  I  would  have  sent  for  a 
physician  last  week,  or  the  moment  I  saw  her  ;  but  she  in- 
sists on  it,  there  is  no  need  of  one.  She  is  frightfully  beau- 
tiful, Miles  !  You  know  how  it  is  with  Grace — her  coun- 
tenance always  seemed  more  fitted  for  heaven  than  earth  ; 
and  now  it  always  reminds  me  of  a  seraph's  that  was  griev- 
ing over  the  sins  of  men  !  " 

"  I  fear,  sir,  that  Rupert's  account,  then,  is  true,  and  that 
Grace  is  seriously  ill." 

"  I  hope  not,  boy — I  fervently  pray  not  !  She  is  not  as 
usual — that  is  true  ;  but  her  mind,  her  thoughts,  all  her  in- 
clinations, and,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  her  energies,  seemed 
turned  to  heaven.  There  has  been  an  awakening  in  the 
spirit  of  Grace  that  is  truly  wonderful.  She  reads  devout 
books,  meditates,  and,  I  make  no  doubt,  prays,  from  morn 
till  night.  This  is  the  secret  of  her  withdrawal  from  the 
world,  and  her  refusing  of  all  Lucy's  invitations.  You 
know  how  the  girls  love  each  other — but  Grace  declines 
going  to  Lucy,  though  she  knows  that  Lucy  cannot  come 
to  her." 

I  now  understood  it  all.  A  weight  like  that  of  a  moun- 
tain fell  upon  my  heart,  and  I  walked  on  some  distance 
without  speaking.  To  me,  the  words  of  my  excellent 
guardian  sounded  like  the  knell  of  a  sister  I  almost  wor- 
shipped. 

"  And  Grace — does  she  expect  me  now  ?  "  I  at  length 
ventured  to  say,  though  the  words  were  uttered  in  tones  so 


414  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

tremulous,  that  even  the  usually  unobservant  divine  per- 
ceived the  change. 

"  She  does,  and  delighted  she  was  to  hear  it.  The  only 
thing  of  a  worldly  nature  that  I  have  heard  her  express  of 
late,  was  some  anxious,  sisterly  wish  for  your  speedy  re- 
turn. Grace  loves  you,  Miles,  next  to  her  God  !  " 

Oh  !  how  I  wished  this  were  true,  but,  alas  !  alas  !  I  knew 
it  was  far  otherwise  ! 

"  I  see  you  are  disturbed,  my  dear  boy,  on  account  of 
what  I  have  said,"  resumed  Mr.  Hardinge  ;  "  probably  from 
serious  apprehensions  about  your  sister's  health.  She  is 
not  well,  I  allow  ;  but  it  is  the  effect  of  mental  ailments. 
The  precious  creature  has  had  too  vivid  views  of  her  own 
sinful  nature,  and  has  suffered  deeply,  I  fear.  I  trust  my 
conversation  and  prayers  have  not  been  without  their  ef- 
fect, through  the  divine  aid,  and  that  she  is  now  more 
cheerful — nay,  she  has  assured  me  within  half  an  hour,  if 
it  turned  out  that  you  were  in  the  sloop,  she  should  be 
happy ! " 

For  my  life,  I  could  not  have  conversed  longer  on  the 
painful  subject  ;  I  made  no  reply.  As  we  had  still  a  con- 
siderable distance  to  walk,  I  was  glad  to  turn  the  conver- 
sation to  other  subjects,  lest  I  should  become  unmanned, 
and  sit  down  to  weep  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

"  Does  Lucy  intend  to  visit  Clawbonny  this  summer?" 
I  asked,  though  it  seemed  strange  to  me  to  suppose  that 
the  farm  was  not  actually  Lucy's  home.  I  am  afraid  I  felt 
a  jealous  dislike  to  the  idea  that  the  dear  creature  should 
have  houses  and  lands  of  her  own ;  or  any  that  were  not 
to  be  derived  through  me. 

"I  hope  so,"  answered  her  father,  "though  her  new  du- 
ties do  not  leave  Lucy  as  much  her  own  mistress  as  I  could 
wish.  You  saw  her  and  her  brother,  Miles,  I  take  it  for 
granted  ? " 

"  I  met  Rupert  in  the  street,  sir,  and  had  a  short  inter- 
view with  the  Mertons  and  Lucy  at  the  theatre.  Young 
Mr.  and  old  Mrs.  Drewett  were  of  the  party." 

The  good  divine  turned  short  round  to  me,  and  looked 
as  conscious  and  knowing  as  one  of  his  singleness  of  mind 
and  simplicity  of  habits  could  look.  Had  a  knife  pene- 
trated my  flesh,  I  could  not  have  winced  more  than  I  did  ; 
still,  I  affected  a  manner  that  was  very  foreign  to  my 
feelings. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  this  young  Mr.  Drewett,  boy  ? ' 
asked  Mr.  Hardinge,  with  an  air  of  confidential  interests. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  415 

and  an  earnestness  of  manner  that,  with  him,  was  in- 
separable  from  all  that  concerned  his  daughter.  "  Do  you 
approve  ? " 

"  I  believe  I  understand  you,  sir  ;  you  mean  me  to  infer 
that  Mr.  Drewett  is  a  suitor  for  Miss  Hardinge's  hand." 

"  It  would  be  improper  to  say  this  much  even  to  you, 
Miles,  did  not  Drewett  take  good  care,  himself,  to  let  ev- 
erybody know  it." 

"  Possibly  with  a  view  to  keep  off  other  pretenders,"  I 
rejoined,  with  a  bitterness  I  could  not  control. 

Now  Mr.  Hardinge  was  one  of  the  last  men  in  the  world 
to  suspect  evil.  He  looked  surprised,  therefore,  at  my  re- 
mark, and  I  was  probably  not  much  out  of  the  way  in  fan- 
cying .that  he  looked  displeased. 

"That  is  not  right,  my  dear  boy,"  he  said  gravely.  "We 
should  try  to  think  the  best,  and  not  the  worst,  of  our  fel- 
low-creatures." Excellent  old  man,  how  faithfully  didst 
thou  practice  on  thy  precept !  "  It  is  a  wise  rule,  and  a 
safe  one  ;  more  particularly  in  connection  with  our  own 
weaknesses.  Then  it  is  but  natural  that  Drewett  should 
wish  to  secure  Lucy  ;  and  if  he  adopt  no  means  less  manly 
than  the  frank  avowal  of  his  own  attachment,  surely  there 
is  no  ground  of  complaint." 

I  was  rebuked  ;  and,  what  is  more,  I  felt  that  the  rebuke 
was  merited.  As  some  atonement  for  my  error,  I  hastened 
to  add  : 

"  Very  truly,  sir  ;  I  admit  the  unfairness  of  my  remark, 
and  can  only  atone  for  it  by  adding,  it  is  quite  apparent 
Mr.  Drewett  is  not  influenced  by  interested  motives,  since 
he  certainly  was  attentive  to  Miss  Hardinge  previously  to 
Mrs.  Bradfort's  death,  and  when  he  could  not  possibly  have 
anticipated  the  nature  of  her  will." 

"Quite  true,  Miles,  and  very  properly  and  justly  re- 
marked. Now,  to  you,  who  have  known  Lucy  from  child- 
hood, and  who  regard  her  much  as  Rupert  does,  it  may 
not  seem  so  very  natural  that  a  young  man  can  love  her 
warmly  and  strongly,  for  herself,  alone  ;  such  is  apt  to 
be  the  effect  of  brotherly  feeling  ;  but  I  can  assure  you.. 
Lucy  is  really  a  charming,  as  we  all  know,  she  is  a  most, 
excellent  girl ! " 

"To  whom  are  you  speaking  thus,  sir?  I  can  assure 
you,  nothing  is  easier  than  for  me  to  conceive  how  possible 
it  is  for  any  man  to  love  your  daughter.  As  respects 
Grace,  I  confess  there  is  a  difference  ;  for  I  affirm  she 
has  always  seemed  to  me  too  saintly,  too  much  allied  to 


4i6  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

heaven  already,  to  be  subject,  herself,  to  the  passions  of 
earth." 

"That  is  what  I  have  just  been  telling  you,  and  we  must 
endeavor  to  overcome  and  humanize — if  I  may  so  express 
it — Grace's  propensity.  There  is  nothing  more  dangerous 
to  a  healthful  frame  of  mind,  in  a  religious  point  of  view, 
Miles,  than  excitement — it  is  disease,  and  not  faith,  nor 
charity,  nor  hope,  nor  humility,  nor  anything  that  is  com- 
manded, but  our  native  weaknesses  taking  a  wrong  direc- 
tion, under  a  physical  impulse,  rather  than  the  fruits  of 
repentance,  and  the  succor  afforded  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
We  nowhere  read  of  any  excitement,  and  howlings,  and 
waitings  among  the  Apostles." 

How  could  I  enlighten  the  good  old  man  on  the  subject 
of  my  sister's  malady  ?  That  Grace,  with  her  well-tempered 
mind,  was  the  victim  of  religious  exaggeration,  I  did  not 
for  a  moment  believe  ;  but  that  she  had  had  her  heart 
blighted,  her  affections  withered,  her  hopes  deceived,  by 
Rupert's  levity  and  interestedness,  his  worldly-mindeclness 
and  vanity,  I  could  foresee,  and  was  prepared  to  learn  ; 
though  these  were  facts  not  to  be  communicated  to  the 
father  of  the  offender.  I  made  no  answer,  but  managed  to 
turn  the  conversation  toward  the  farm,  and  those  interests 
about  which  I  could  affect  an  interest  that  I  was  very  far 
from  feeling  just  at  that  moment.  This  induced  the  divine 
to  inquire  into  the  result  of  my  late  voyage,  and  enabled 
me  to  collect  sufficient  fortitude  to  meet  Grace  with  the 
semblance  of  firmness  at  least. 

Mr.  Hardinge  made  a  preconcerted  signal,  as  soon  as  he 
came  in  view  of  the  house,  that  apprised  its  inmates  of  my 
arrival ;  and  we  knew,  while  still  half  a  mile  from  the  build- 
ings, that  the  news  had  produced  a  great  commotion.  All 
the  blacks  met  us  on  the  little  lawn — for  the  girls,  since 
reaching  womanhood,  had  made  this  change  in  the  old 
door-yard — and  I  had  to  go  through  the  process  of  shaking 
hands  with  every  one  of  them.  This  was  done  amid  hearty 
bursts  of  laughter,  the  mode  in  which  the  negroes  of  that 
day  almost  always  betrayed  their  joy,  and  many  a  "welcome 
home,  Masser  Mile  !"  and  "where  a  Neb  got  to  dis  time, 
Masser  Mile? "was  asked  by  more  than  one-,  and  great 
was  the  satisfaction  when  I  told  his  generation  and  race 
that  the  faithful  fellow  would  be  up  with  the  cart  that  was 
to  convey  my  luggage.  But  Grace  awaited  me.  I  broke 
through  the  throng,  and  entered  the  house.  In  the  door  I 
was  met  by  Chloe,  a  girl  about  my  own  sister's  age,  and  a 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  417 

sort  of  cousin  of  Neb's  by  the  half-blood,  who  had  been 
preferred  of  late  years  to  functions  somewhat  resembling 
those  of  a  lady's  maid.  I  say  of  the  half-blood,  for,  to  own 
the  truth,  few  of  the  New  York  blacks,  in  that  day,  could 
have  taken  from  their  brothers  and  sisters,  under  the  old 
dictum  of  the  common  law,  which  declared  that  none  but 
heirs  of  the  whole  blood  should  inherit.  Chloe  met  me  in 
the  door-way,  and  greeted  me  with  one  of  her  sweetest 
smiles,  as  she  courtesied,  and  really  looked  as  pleased  as 
all  my  slaves  did,  at  seeing  their  young  master  again.  How 
they  touched  my  heart,  at  times,  by  their  manner  of  talking 
about  "  ole  Masser,  and  ole  Missus,"  always  subjects  of  re- 
gret umong  negroes  who  had  been  well  treated  by  them. 
Metaphysicians  may  reason  as  subtly  as  they  can  about  the 
races  and  colors,  and  on  the  aptitude  of  the  black  to  ac- 
quire ;  but  no  one  can  ever  persuade  me  out  of  the  belief 
of  their  extraordinary  aptitude  to  love.  As  between  them- 
selves and  their  masters,  their  own  children  and  those  of 
the  race  to  which  they  were  subject;  1  have  often  seen 
instances  which  have  partaken  of  the  attachment  of  the 
dog  to  the  human  family ;  and  cases  in  which  the  children 
of  their  masters  have  been  preferred  to  those  of  their  own 
flesh  and  blood,  were  of  constant  occurrence. 

"  I  hope  you  been  werry  well,  sah,  Masser  Mile,"  said 
Chloe,  who  had  some  extra  refinement,  as  the  growth  of 
her  position. 

"  Perfectly,  my  good  girl,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
looking  so  well — you  really  are  growing  handsome,  Chloe." 

"  Oh  !  Masser  Mile — you  so  droll ! — now  you  stay  home, 
sah,  long  time  ?" 

"  I  am  afraid  not,  Chloe,  but  one  never  knows.  Where 
shall  I  find  my  sister?" 

"  Miss  Grace  tell  me  come  here,  Masser  Mile,  and  say 
she  wish  to  see  you  in  de  family  room.  She  wait  dere,  now, 
some  time." 

"  Thank  you,  Chloe  ;  and  do  you  see  that  no  one  inter- 
rupts us.  I  have  not  seen  my  sister  for  near  a  year." 

"  Sartain,  sah  ;  all  as  you  say."  Then  the  girl,  whose 
face  shone  like  a  black  bottle  that  had  just  been  dipped  in 
water,  showed  her  brilliant  teeth,  from  ear  to  ear,  laughed 
outright,  looked  foolish,  after  which  she  looked  earnest, 
when  the  secret  burst  out  of  her  heart,  in  the  melodious 
voice  of  a  young  negress,  that  did  not  know  whether  to 
laugh  or  cry:  "  Where  Neb,  Masser  Mile  ?  what  he  do  now, 
de/>/-ler?" 


4i8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

"  He  will  k'ss  ^ou  in  ten  minutes,  Chloe  ;  so  put  the  best 
face  on  the  matter  you  are  able." 

"  Dat  he  won't — de  sauce-box — Miss  Grace  teach  me 
better  dan  dat" 

I  waited  to  hear  no  more,  but  proceeded  toward  the  tri- 
angular little  room,  with  steps  so  hurried  and  yet  so  ner- 
vous, that  I  do  not  remember  ever  before  to  have  laid  my 
hand  on  a  lock  in  a  manner  so  tremulous — I  found  myself 
obliged  to  pause,  ere  I  could  muster  resolution  to  open  the 
door,  a  hope  coming  over  me  that  the  impatience  of  Grace 
would  save  me  the  trouble,  and  that  I  should  find  her  in 
my  arms  before  I  should  be  called  on  to  exercise  any  more 
fortitude.  All  was  still  as  death,  however,  within  the  room, 
and  I  opened  the  door,  as  if  I  expected  to  find  one  of  the 
bodies  I  had  formerly  seen  in  its  coffin,  in  this  last  abiding 
place  above  ground,  of  one  dead.  My  sister  was  on  the 
causeuse>  literally  unable  to  rise  from  debility  and  agitation. 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  shock  her  appearance 
gave  me.  I  was  prepared  for  a  change,  but  not  one  that 
placed  her,  as  my  heart  instantly  announced,  so  near  the 
grave  ! 

Grace  extended  both  arms,  and  I  threw  myself  at  her 
side,  drew  her  within  my  embrace,  and  folded  her  to  my 
heart,  with  the  tenderness  with  which  one  would  have  em- 
braced an  infant.  In  this  situation  we  both  wept  violently, 
and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  say  that  I  sobbed  like  a  child.  I 
dare  say  five  minutes  passed  in  this  way,  without  either  of 
us  speaking  a  word. 

"  A  merciful  and  all-gracious  God  be  praised  !  You  are 
restored  to  me  in  time,  Miles  !  "  murmured  my  sister,  at 
length.  "  I  was  afraid  it  might  be  too  late." 

"  Grace  !  Grace  !  what  means  this,  love  ?  My  precious, 
my  only,  my  most  dearly  beloved  sister,  why  do  I  find  you 
thus?'' 

"  Is  it  necessary  to  speak,  Miles  ? — cannot  you  see  ? — do 
you  not  see,  and  understand  it  all  ?" 

The  fervent  pressure  I  gave  my  sister,  announced  how 
plainly  I  comprehended  the  whole  history.  That  Grace 
could  ever  love,  and  forget,  I  did  not  believe  ;  but,  that 
her  tenderness  for  Rupert — one  whom  I  knew  for  so  friv- 
olous and  selfish  a  being,  should  reduce  her  to  this  ter« 
rible  state,  I  had  not  indeed  foreseen  as  a  thing  possible. 
Little  did  I  then  understand  how  confidingly  a  woman 
loves,  and  how  apt  she  is  to  endow  the  being  of  her  choice 
with  all  the  qualities  she  could  wish  him  to  possess.  In 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  413 

the  anguish  of  my  soul  I  muttered,  loud  enough  to  be 
heard, ""  the  heartless  villain  !  " 

Grace  instantly  rose  from  my  arms.  At  that  moment  she 
looked  more  like  a  creature  of  heaven,  than  one  that  was 
still  connected  with  this  wicked  world.  Her  beauty  could 
scarcely  be  called  impaired,  though  I  dreaded  that  she 
would  be  snatched  away  from  me  in  the  course  of  the  in- 
terview ;  so  frail  and  weak  did  it  appear  was  her  hold  ol 
life.  In  some  respects  I  never  saw  her  more  lovely  than 
she  seemed  on  this  very  occasion.  This  was  when  the 
hectic  of  disease  imparted  to  the  sweetest  and  most  saint- 
like eyes  that  were  ever  set  in  the  human  countenance  a 
species  of  holy  illumination.  Her  countenance,  now,  was 
pale  and  colorless,  however,  and  her  look  sorrowful  and 
filled  with  reproach. 

"  Brother,"  she  said,  solemnly,  "  this  must  not  be.  It  is 
not  what  God  commands — it  is  not  what  I  expected  from 
you— what  I  have  a  right  to  expect  from  one  whom  I  am  as- 
sured loves  me,  though  none  other  of  earth  can  be  said  to 
do  so." 

"  It  is  not  easy,  my  sister,  for  a  man  to  forget  or  forgive 
the  wretch  who  has  so  long  misled  you — misled  us  all,  and 
then  turned  to  another,  under  the  impulse  of  mere  vanity." 

"Miles,  my  kind  and  manly  brother,  listen  to  me," 
Grace  rejoined,  fervently  pressing  one  of  my  hands  in  both 
of  hers,  and  scarcely  able  to  command  herself,  through 
alarm.  "  All  thoughts  of  anger,  of  resentment,  of  pride 
even,  must  be  forotten.  You  owe  it  to  my  sex,  to  the 
dreadful  imputations  that  might  otherwise  rest  on  my  name 
— had  I  anything  to  reproach  myself  with  as  a  wroman.  I 
could  submit  to  any  punishment ;  but  surely,  surely,  it  is 
not  a  sin  so  unpardonable  to  be  unable  to  command  the 
affections,  that  I  deserve  to  have  my  name,  after  I  shall 
be  dead,  mixed  up  with  rumors  connected  with  such  a 
quarrel.  You  have  lived  as  brothers,  too — then,  there  is 
good,  excellent,  truthful,  pious  Mr.  Hardinge,  who  is  yet 
•my  guardian,  you  know ;  and  Lucy,  dear,  true-hearted, 
faithful  Lucy — 

"Why  is  not  dear,  true-hearted,  faithful  Lucy,  here, 
watching  over  you,  Grace,  at  this  very  moment?"  I  de- 
manded, huskily. 

"She  knows  nothing  of  my  situation — it  is  a  secret,  as 
well  as  its  cause,  from  all  but  God,  myself  and  you.  Ah  ! 
I  knew  it  would  be  impossible -to  deceive  your  love,  Miles! 
which  has  ever  been  to  me  all  that  a  sister  could  desire." 


420  AFLOAT  AN'D   ASHORE. 

"  And  Lucy  !  how  has  her  affection  been  deceived  ?  Has 
she  too,  eyes  only  for  those  she  has  recently  learned  to 
admire  ? " 

"You  do  her  injustice,  brother.  Lucy  has  not  seen  me 
since  the  great  change  that  I  can  myself  see  has  come  over 
me.  Another  time  I  will  tell  you  all.  At  present  I  can 
only  say,  that  as  soon  as  I  had  certain  explanations  with 
Rupert,  I  left  town,  and  have  studiously  concealed  from 
dear  Lucy  the  state  of  my  declining  health.  I  write  to 
her  weekly,  and  get  answers ;  everything  passing  be- 
tween us  as  cheerfully,  and,  apparently,  as  happily  as  ever. 
No,  do  not  blame  Lucy  ;  who,  I  am  certain,  would  quit 
everything  and  everybody  to  come  to  me,  had  she  the 
smallest  notion  of  the  truth.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe 
she  thinks  I  would  rather  not  have  her  at  Clawbonny,  just 
at  this  moment,  much  as  she  knows  I  love  her  ;  for,  one  of 
Lucy's  observation  and  opportunities  cannot  but  suspect 
the  truth.  Let  me  lie  on  your  breast,  brother  ;  it  wearies 
me  to  talk  so  much." 

I  sat  holding  this  beloved  sister  in  my  arms  fully  an 
hour,  neither  of  us  speaking.  I  was  afraid  of  injuring  her, 
by  further  excitement,  and  she  was  glad  to  take  refuge  in 
silence,  from  the  feelings  of  maiden  shame  that  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  mingled  with  such  a  dialogue.  As  my 
cheek  leaned  on  her  silken  hair,  I  could  see  large  tears 
rolling  down  the  pallid  cheeks  ;  but  the  occasional  pressure 
of  the  hands,  told  me  how  much  she  was  gladdened  by  my 
presence.  After  some  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  the  exhaust- 
ed girl  dropped  into  feverish  and  disturbed  slumbers,  that 
I  would  have  remained  motionless  throughout  the  night  to 
maintain.  I  am  persuaded  it  was  quite  an  hour  before  this 
scene  terminated.  Grace  then  arose,  and  said,  with  one 
of  her  most  angelic  smiles  : 

"  You  see  how  it  is  with  me,  Miles — feeble  as  an  infant, 
and  almost  as  troublesome.  You  must  bear  with  me,  for 
you  will  be  my  nurse.  One  promise  I  must  have,  dearest, 
before  we  leave  this  room." 

"  It  is  yours,  my  sister,  let  it  be  what  it  may  ;  I  can  now 
refuse  you  nothing,"  said  I,  melted  to  feminine  tender- 
ness. "And  yet,  Grace,  since  you  exact  a  promise,  /have 
a  mind  to  attach  a  condition." 

"What  condition,  Miles,  can  you  attach,  that  I  will  re- 
fuse ?  I  consent  to  everything,  without  even  knowing  your 
wishes." 

"  Then  I  promise  not  to  call  Rupert  to  an  account  fof 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  4*1 

his  conduct — not  to  question  him — nay,  even  not  to  re- 
proach him,"  I  rejoined,  enlarging  my  pledges,  as  I  saw 
by  Grace's  eyes  that  she  exacted  still  more. 

The  last  promise,  however,  appeared  fully  to  satisfy  her. 
She  kissed  my  hand,  and  I  felt  hot  tears  falling  on  it. 

"Now  name  your  conditions,  dearest  brother,"  she  said, 
after  a  little  time  taken  to  recover  herself  ;  "  name  them, 
and  see  how  gladly  I  shall  accept  them  all." 

*'  I  have  but  one — it  is  this.  I  must  take  the  complete 
direction  of  the  care  of  you — must  have  power  to  send  for 
what  physician  I  please,  what  friends  I  please,  what  advice 
or  regimen  I  please  !" 

"  Oh  !  Miles,  you  could  not — cannot  think  of  sending  for 
him  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not  ;  his  presence  would  drive  me  from  the 
house.  With  that  one  exception,  then,  my  condition  is 
allowed  ? " 

Grace  made  a  sign  of  assent,  and  sunk  on  my  bosom 
again,  nearly  exhausted  with  the  scene  through  which  she 
had  just  gone.  I  perceived  it  would  not  do  to  dwell  any 
longer  on  the  subject  we  had  been  alluding  to,  rather  than 
discussing  ;  and  for  another  hour  did  I  sit  sustaining  that 
beloved  form,  declining  to  speak,  and  commanding  silence 
on  her  part.  At  the  end  of  this  second  little  sleep  Grace 
was  more  refreshed  than  she  had  been  after  her  first 
troubled  repose,  and  she  declared  herself  able  to  walk 
to  her  room,  where  she  wished  to  lie  on  her  own  bed 
until  the  hour  of  dinner.  I  summoned  Chloe,  and,  to- 
gether, we  led  the  invalid  to  her  chamber.  As  we  threaded 
the  long  passages,  my  sister's  head  rested  on  my  bosom, 
her  eyes  were  turned  affectionately  upward  to  my  face, 
and  several  times  I  felt  the  gentle  pressure  of  her  emaci- 
ated hands,  given  in  the  fervor  of  devoted  sisterly  love. 

I  needed  an  hour  to  compose  myself  after  this  interview. 
In  the  privacy  of  my  own  room  I  wrept  like  a  child  over 
the  wreck  of  a  being  1  had  left  so  beautiful  and  perfect, 
though  even  then  the  canker  of  doubt  had  begun  to  take 
root."  I  had  yet  her  explanations  to  hear,  and  resolved  to 
command  myself  so  far  as  to  receive  them  in  a  manner  not 
to  increase  the  pain  Grace  must  feel  in  making  them.  As 
soon  as  sufficiently  calm,  I  sat  down  to  write  letters. 
One  was  to  Marble.  I  desired  him  to  let  the  second  mate 
see  the  ship  discharged,  and  to  come  up  to  me  by  the  return 
of  the  sloop.  I  wished  to  see  him  in  person,  as  I  did  not 
think  I  could  be  able  to  go  out  in  the  vessel  on  her  nexS 


422  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

voyage,  and  I  intended  him  to  sail  in  her  as  master.  It  was 
necessary  we  should  consult  together  personally.  I  did 
not  conceal  the  reason  of  this  determination,  though  I  said 
nothing  of  the  cause  of  my  sister's  state.  Marble  had  a 
list  of  physicians  given  him,  and  he  was  to  bring  up  with 
him  the  one  he  could  obtain,  commencing  with  the  first 
named  and  following  in  the  order  given.  I  had  earned  ten 
thousand  dollars,  net,  by  the  labor  of  the  past  year,  and  I 
determined  every  dollar  of  it  should  be  devoted  to  obtain- 
ing the  best  advice  the  country  then  afforded.  I  had  sent 
for  such  men  as  Hosack,  Post,  Bayley,  M'Knight,  More, 
etc.,  and  even  thought  of  procuring  Rush  from  Philadel- 
phia, but  was  deterred  from  making  the  attempt  by  the 
distance  and  the  pressing  nature  of  the  emergency.  In 
1803,  Philadelphia  was  about  three  days'  journey  from 
Clawbonny,  even  allowing  for  a  favorable  time  on  the 
river,  with  a  moderately  unfavorable,  five  or  six,  whereas 
the  distance  can  now  be  passed,  including  the  chances  of 
meeting  the  departures  and  arrivals  of  the  different  lines, 
in  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hours.  Such  is  one  of  the  pro- 
digious effects  of  an  improved  civilization  ;  and  in  all  that 
relates  to  motion,  and  which  falls  short  of  luxury,  or  great 
personal  comfort,  this  country  takes  a  high  place  in  the 
scale  of  nations.  That  it  is  as  much  in  arrears  in  other 
great  essentials,  however,  particularly  in  wrhat  relates  to 
tavern  comforts,  no  man  who  is  familiar  with  the  better 
civilization  of  Europe  can  deny.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that 
we  have  gone  backward  in  this  last  particular  within  the 
present  century,  and  all  owing  to  the  gregarious  habits  of 
the  population.  But,  to  return  to  my  painful  theme,  from 
which,  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  1  am  only  too  ready 
to  escape. 

I  was  on  the  point  of  writing  to  Lucy,  but  hesitated.  I 
hardly  knew  whether  to  summon  her  to  Clawbonny  or  not. 
That  she  would  come,  and  that  instantly,  the  moment  she 
was  apprised  of  Grace's  condition,  I  did  not  in  the  least 
doubt.  I  was  not  so  mad  as  to  do  her  character  injustice, 
because  I  had  my  doubts  about  being  loved  as  I  had  once 
hoped  to  be.  That  Lucy  was  attached  to  me,  in  one  sense, 
I  did  not  in  the  least  doubt  ;  this  her  late  reception  of  me 
sufficiently  proved,  and  I  could  not  question  her  continued 
affection  for  Grace  after  all  the  latter  had  just  told  me. 
Even  did  Lucy  prefer  Andrew  Drewett,  it  was  no  proof 
she  was  not  just  as  kind-hearted,  as  ready  to  be  of  service, 
and  as  true  in  her  friendship,  as  she  ever  had  been.  Still, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  423 

she  was  Rupert's  sister,  must  have  penetration  enough  to 
understand  the  cause  of  Grace's  illness,  and  might  not  en- 
ter as  fully  into  her  wrongs  as  one  could  wish  in  a  person 
that  was  to  watch  the  sick  pillow.  I  resolved  to  learn 
more  that  day,  before  this  portion  of  my  duty  was  dis- 
charged. 

Neb  was  summoned  and  sent  to  the  wharf  with  an  order 
to  get  the  Wallingford  ready  to  sail  for  town  at  the  first 
favorable  moment.  The  sloop  was  merely  to  be  in  ballast, 
and  was  to  return  to  Clawbonny  with  no  unnecessary  delay. 
There  was  an  eminent  but  retired  physician  of  the  name 
of  Bard,  who  had  a  country  residence  on  the  other  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  and  within  a  few  hours'  sail  from  Claw- 
bonny.  I  knew  his  character,  though  I  was  not  acquainted 
with  him  personally.  Few  of  us  of  the  right  bank,  indeed, 
belonged  to  the  circles  of  the  left  in  that  day  ;  the  increas- 
ing wealth  and  population  of  the  country  have  since  brought 
the  western  side  into  more  notice.  I  wrote  also  to  Dr. 
Bard,  inclosing  a  check  for  a  suitable  fee,  made  a  strong 
appeal  to  his  feelings — which  would  have  been  quite  suffi- 
cient with  such  a  man — and  ordered  Neb  to  go  out  in  the 
Grace  and  Lucy  immediately  to  deliver  the  message.  Just 
as  this  arrangement  was  completed,  Chloe  came  to  sum- 
mon me  to  my  sister's  room. 

I  found  Grace  still  lying  on  her  bed,  but  stronger,  and 
materially  refreshed.  For  a  moment  I  began  to  think  my 
fears  had  exaggerated  the  danger,  and  that  I  was  not  to 
lose  my  sister.  A  few  minutes  of  close  observation,  how- 
ever, convinced  me  that  the  first  impression  was  the  true 
one.  I  am  not  skilled  in  the  theories  of  the  science,  if 
there  be  any  great  science  about  it,  andean  hardly  explain 
even  now  the  true  physical  condition  of  Grace.  She  had 
pent  up  her  sufferings  in  her  own  bosom  for  six  cruel 
months  in  the  solitude  of  a  country-house,  living  most  of 
the  time  entirely  alone,  and  this,  they  tell  me,  is  what  few 
even  of  the  most  robust  frames  can  do  with  impunity. 
Frail  as  she  had  ever  seemed,  her  lungs  were  sound,  and 
she  spoke  easily  and  with  almost  all  her  original  force,  so 
that  her  wasting  away  was  not  the  consequence  of  anything 
pulmonary.  I  rather  think  the  physical  effects  were  to  be 
traced  to  the  unhealthy  action  of  the  fluids,  which  were 
deranged  through  the  stomach  a.nd  spleen.  'The  insensi- 
ble perspiration  was  aifected  also,  I  believe,  the  pores  of 
the  skin  failing  to  do  their  duty.  I  dare  say  there  is  not  a 
graduate  of  the  thousand  and  ope  medical  colleges  of  the 


424  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

country  who  is  not  prepared  to  laugh  at  this  theory,  while 
unable,  quite  likely,  to  produce  a  better — so  much  easier 
is  it  to  pull  down  than  to  build  up  ;  but  my  object  is  merely 
to  give  the  reader  a  general  idea  of  my  poor  sister's  situa- 
tion. In  outward  appearance,  her  countenance  denoted 
that  expression  which  the  French  so  well  describe  by  the 
customary  term  of  "fatigue"  rather  than  any  other  positive 
indication  of  disease — Grace's  frame  was  so  delicate  by 
nature,  that  a  little  failing  away  was  not  as  perceptible  in 
her  as  it  would  have  been  in  most  persons,  though  her 
beautiful  little  hands  wanted  that  fulness  which  had  ren- 
dered their  taper  fingers  and  roseate  tint  formerly  so  very 
faultless.  There  must  have  been  a  good  deal  of  fever,  as 
her  color  was  often  higher  than  was  formerly  usual.  It 
was  this  circumstance  that  continued  to  render  her  beauty 
unearthly,  without  its  being  accompanied  by  the  emacia- 
tion so  common  in  the  latter  stages  of  pulmonary  disease, 
though  its  tendency  was  strongly  to  undermine  her  strength. 

Grace,  without  rising  from  her  pillow,  now  asked  me  for 
an  outline  bf  my  late  voyage.  She  heard  me,  I  make  no 
doubt,  with  real  interest,  for  all  that  concerned  me  in  a 
measure  concerned  her.  Her  smile  was  sweetness  itself, 
as  she  listened  to  my  successes  ;  and  the  interest  she  mani- 
fested in  Marble,  with  whose  previous  history  she  was  well 
acquainted,  was  not  less  than  I  had  felt  myself,  in  hearing 
his  own  account  of  his  adventures.  All  this  delighted  me, 
as  it  went  to  prove  that  I  had  beguiled  the  sufferer  from 
brooding  over  her  own  sorrows  ;  and  what  might  not  be 
hoped  for,  could  we  lead  her  back  to  mingle  in  the  ordi- 
nary concerns  of  life,  and  surround  her  with  the  few  friends 
she  so  tenderly  loved,  and  whose  absence,  perhaps,  had 
largely  contributed  to  reducing  her  to  her  present  state  ? 
This  thought  recalled  Lucy  to  my  mind,  and  the  wish  I  had 
to  ascertain  how  far  it  might  be  agreeable  to  the  latter,  to 
be  summoned  to  Clawbonny.  I  determined  to  lead  the 
conversation  to  this  subject. 

"You  have  told  me,  Grace,"  I  said,  "  that  you  send  and 
receive  letters  weekly,  to  and  from  Lucy? " 

"  Each  time  the  Wallingford  goes  and  comes  ;  and  that 
you  know,  is  weekly.  I  suppose  the  reason  I  got  no  lettei 
to-day  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  sloop  sailed  before 
her  time.  The  Lord  High  Admiral  was  on  board ;  and, 
like  wind  and  tide,  he  waits  for  no  man  ! " 

"  Bless  you — bless  you,  dearest  sister — this  gayety  re- 
moves a  mountain  from  my  heart!" 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  425 

Grace  looked  pleased  at  first  ;  then,  as  she  gazed  wist- 
fully into  my  face,  I  could  see  her  own  expression  change 
to  one  of  melancholy  concern.  Large  tears  started  from 
her  eyes,  and  three  or  four  followed  each  other  down  her 
cheeks.  All  this  said,  plainer  than  words,  that,  though  a 
fond  brother  might  be  momentarily  deceived,  she  herself 
foresaw  the  end.  I  bowed  my  head  to  the  pillow,  stifled 
the  groans  that  oppressed  me,  and  kissed  the  tears  from 
her  cheeks.  To  put  an  end  to  these  distressing  scenes,  I 
determined  to  be  more  business-like  in  future,  and  sup- 
press all  feeling,  as  much  as  possible. 

"The  Lord  High  Admiral,"  I  resumed,  "is  a  species  of 
Turk  on  board  ship,  as  honest  Moses  Marble  will  tell  you, 
when  you  see  him,  Grace.  But  now  for  Lucy  and  her 
letters — I  dare  say  the  last  are  filled  with  tender  secrets, 
touching  such  persons  as  Andrew  Drewett,  and  others  of 
her  admirers,  which  render  it  improper  to  show  any  of 
them  to  me  ? " 

Grace  looked  at  me,  with  earnestness,  as  if  to  ascertain 
whether  I  was  really  as  unconcerned  as  I  affected  to  be. 
Then  she  seemed  to  muse,  picking  the  cotton  of  the  spot- 
less counterpane  on  which  she  was  lying,  like  one  at  a  loss 
what  to  say  or  think. 

"  I  see  how  it  is,"  I  resumed,  forcing  a  smile  ;  "the  hint 
has  been  indiscreet.  A  rough  son  of  Neptune  is  not  the 
proper  confidant  for  the  secrets  of  Miss  Lucy  Hardinge. 
Perhaps  you  are  right  ;  fidelity  to  each  other  being  indis- 
pensable in  your  sex." 

"  It  is  not  that,  Miles.  I  doubt  if  Lucy  ever  wrote  me 
a  line  that  you  might  not  see  ;  in  proof  of  which,  you 
shall  have  the  package  of  her  letters,  with  full  permission 
to  read  every  one  of  them.  It  will  be  like  reading  the 
correspondence  of  another  sister." 

I  fancied  Grace  laid  an  emphasis  on  the  last  word  she 
used  ;  and  I  started  at  its  unwelcome  sound — unwelcome, 
as  applied  to  Lucy  Hardinge,  to  a  degree  that  I  cannot  ex- 
press. I  had  observed  that  Lucy  never  used  any  of  these 
terms,  as  connected  with  me,  and  it  was  one  of  the  reasons 
why  I  had  indulged  in  the  folly  of  supposing  that  she  was 
conscious  of  a  tenderer  sentiment.  But  Lucy  was  so  nat- 
ural, so  totally  free  from  exaggeration,  so  just  and  true  in 
all  her  feelings,  that  one  could  not  expect  from  her  most 
of  the  acts  of  girlish  weakness.  As  for  Grace,  she  called 
Chloe,  gave  her  the  keys  of  her  secretary,  and  told  her  to 
bring  me  the  package  she  described. 


426  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE 

"  Go  and  look  over  them,  Miles,"  said  my  sister,  as  I  re- 
ceived the  letters  ;  "  there  must  be  more  than  twenty  of 
them,  and  you  can  read  half  before  the  dinner  hour.  I 
will  meet  you  at  table  ;  and  let  me  implore  you  not  to 
alarm  good  Mr.  Hardinge.  He  does  not  believe  me  se- 
riously ill  ;  and  it  cannot  benefit  him  or  me  to  cause  him 
pain." 

I  promised  discretion,  and  hastened  to  my  own  room 
with  the  precious  bundle  of  Lucy's  letters.  Shall  I  own 
the  truth  ?  I  kissed  the  papers,  fervently,  before  they 
were  loosened,  and  it  seemed  to  me  I  possessed  a  treasure, 
in  holding  in  my  hand  so  many  of  the  dear  girl's  epistles. 
I  commenced  in  the  order  of  the  date,  and  began  to  read 
with  eagerness.  It  was  impossible  for  Lucy  Hardinge  to 
write  to  one  she  loved,  and  not  exhibit  the  truth  and 
nature  of  her  feelings.  These  appeared  in  every  paragraph 
in  which  it  was  proper  to  make  any  allusions  of  the  sort. 
But  the  letters  had  other  charms.  It  was  apparent  through- 
out that  the  writer  was  ignorant  that  she  wrote  to  an  in- 
valid, though  she  could  not  but  know  that  she  wrote 
to  a  recluse.  Her  aim  evidently  was  to  amuse  Grace,  of 
whose  mental  sufferings  she  could  not  well  be  ignorant. 
Lucy  was  a  keen  observer,  and  her  epistles  were  filled  with 
amusing  comments  on  the  follies  that  were  daily  committed 
in  New  York,  as  well  as  in  Paris  or  London.  I  was  de- 
lighted with  the  delicate  pungency  of  her  satire,  which, 
however,  was  totally  removed  from  vulgar  scandal.  There 
was  nothing  in  these  letters  that  might  not  have  been  ut- 
tered in  a  drawing-room,  to  any  but  the  persons  concerned  ; 
and  yet  they  were  filled  with  a  humor  that  rose  often  to 
wit,  relieved  by  a  tact  and  taste  that  a  man  never  could 
have  attained.  Throughout,  it  was  apparent  to  me,  Lucy, 
in  order  to  amuse  Grace,  was  giving  full  scope  to  a  natural 
talent — one  that  far  surpassed  the  same  capacity  in  her 
brother,  being  as  true  as  his  was  meretricious  and  Jesuiti- 
cal— which  she  had  hitherto  concealed  from  us  all,  merely 
because  she  had  not  seen  an  occasion  fit  for  its  use.  Allu- 
sions in  the  letters,  themselves,  proved  that  Grace  had 
commented  on  this  unexpected  display  of  observant  humor, 
and  had  expressed  her  surprise  at  its  existence.  It  was 
then  as  novel  to  my  sister  as  it  was  to  myself.  I  was 
struck  also  with  the  fact  that  Rupert's  name  did  not  ap- 
pear once  in  all  these  letters.  They  embraced  just  twenty - 
seven  weeks,  between  the  earliest  and  the  latest  date  ;  anc? 
there  were  nine-and-twenty  letters,  two  having  been  sen! 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  427 

by  privrate  conveyances  ;  her  father's,  most  probably,  he 
occasionally  making  the  journey  by  land  ;  yet  no  one  of 
them  contained  the  slightest  allusion  to  her  brother,  or  to 
either  of  the  Mertons.  This  was  enough  to  let  me  know 
how  well  Lucy  understood  the  reason  of  Grace's  with- 
drawal to  Clawbonny. 

"  And  how  is  it  with  Miles  Wallingford's  name  ?  "  some 
of  my  fair  readers  may  be  ready  to  ask.  I  went  carefully 
through  the  package  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  and  I 
set  aside  two,  as  the  only  exceptions  in  which  my  name  did 
not  appear.  On  examining  these  two  with  jealous  care,  I 
found  each  had  a  postscript,  one  of  which  was  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect  :  "  I  see  by  the  papers  that  Miles  has  sailed 
for  Malta,  having  at  last  left  those  stubborn  Turks.  I  am 
glad  of  this,  as  one  would  not  wish  to  have  the  excellent 
fellow  shut  up  in  the  Seven  Towers,  however  honorable  it 
may  have  been."  The  other  postscript  contained  this: 
"  Dear  Miles  has  got  to  Leghorn,  my  father  tells  me,  and 
may  be  expected  home  this  summer.  How  great  happiness 
this  will  bring  you,  dearest  Grace,  I  can  well  under- 
stand ;  and  I  need  scarcely  say  that  no  one  will  rejoice 
more  to  see  him  again  than  his  late  guardian  and  my- 
self." 

That  the  papers  were  often  looked  over  to  catch  reports 
of  my  movements  in  Europe,  by  means  of  ships  arriving 
from  different  parts  of  the  world,  was  apparent  enough  ; 
but  I  scarce  knew  what  to  make  of  the  natural  and  simply 
affectionate  manner  in  which  my  name  was  introduced.  It 
might  proceed  from  a  wish  to  gratify  Grace,  and  a  desire 
to  let  the  sister  know  all  that  she  herself  possessed  touch- 
ing the  brother's  movements.  Then  Andrew  Drevvett's 
name  occurred  very  frequently,  though  it  was  generally  in 
connection  with  that  of  his  mother,  who  had  evidently  con- 
stituted herself  a  sort  of  regular  chaperone  for  Lucy,  more 
especially  during  the  time  she  was  kept  out  of  the  gay 
world  by  her  mourning.  I  read  several  of  these  passages 
with  the  most  scrupulous  attention,  in  order  to  detect  the 
feeling  with  which  they  had  been  written  ;  but  the  most 
practised  art  could  not  have  more  successfully  concealed 
any  secret  of  this  sort,  than  Lucy's  nature.  This  often 
proves  to  be  the  case  ;  the  just-minded  and  true  among  men 
daily  becoming  the  profoundest  mysteries  to  a  vicious, 
cunning,  deceptive,  and  selfish  world.  An  honest  man,  in- 
deed, is  ever  a  paradox  to  all  but  those  who  see  things  with 
his  own  eyes.  This  is  the  reason  that  improper  motives  are 


428  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

so  often  imputed  to  the  simplest  and  seemingly  most  honest 
deeds. 

The  result  was,  to  write,  entreating  Lucy  to  come  to 
Clawbonny  ;  first  taking  care  to  secure  her  father's  assent, 
to  aid  my  request.  This  was  done  in  a  way  not  to  awaken 
any  alarm,  and  yet  with  sufficient  strength  to  render  it  tol- 
erably certain  she  would  come.  On  deliberate  reflection, 
and  after  seeing  my  sister  at  table,  where  she  ate  nothing 
but  a  light  vegetable  diet,  and  passing  the  evening  with 
her,  I  thought  I  could  not  do  less  in  justice  to  the  invalid 
or  her  friend.  I  took  the  course  with  great  regret  on  sev- 
eral accounts  ;  and,  among  others,  from  a  reluctance  to 
appear  to  draw  Lucy  away  from  the  society  of  my  rival, 
into  my  own.  Yet  what  right  had  I  to  call  myself  the  rival 
or  competitor  of  a  man  who  had  openly  professed  an  at- 
tachment, where  I  had  never  breathed  a  syllable  myself 
that  might  not  readily  be  mistaken  for  the  language  of  that 
friendship,  which  time,  and  habit,  and  a  respect  for  each 
other's  qualities,  so  easily  awaken  among  the  young  of  dif- 
ferent sexes  ?  I  had  been  educated  almost  as  Lucy's 
brother ;  and  why  should  she  not  feel  toward  me  as  one  ? 

Neb  went  out  in  the  boat  as  soon  as  he  got  his  orders, 
and  the  Wallingford  sailed  again  in  ballast  that  very  night. 
She  did  not  remain  at  the  wharf  an  hour  after  her  wheat 
was  out.  I  felt  easier  when  these  duties  were  discharged, 
and  was  better  prepared  to  pass  the  night  in  peace. 
Grace's  manner  and  appearance,  too,  contributed  to  this 
calm,  for  she  seemed  to  revive,  and  to  experience  some 
degree  of  earthly  happiness,  in  having  her  brother  near 
her.  When  Mr.  Hardinge  read  prayers  that  night,  she 
came  to  the  chair  where  I  stood,  took  my  hand  in  hers, 
and  knelt  at  my  side.  I  was  touched  to  tears  by  this  act 
of  affection,  which  spoke  as  much  of  the  tenderness  of  the 
sainted  and  departed  spirit,  lingering  around  those  it  had 
loved  on  earth,  as  of  the  affection  of  the  world.  I  folded 
the  dear  girl  to  my  bosom  as  I  left  her  at  the  door  of  her 
own  room  that  night,  and  went  to  my  own  pillow  with  a 
heavy  heart.  Seamen  pray  little  ;  less  than  they  ought, 
amid  the  rude  scenes  of  their  hazardous  lives.  Still,  I  had 
not  quite  forgotten  the  lessons  of  childhood,  and  some- 
times I  practised  on  them.  That  night  I  prayed  fervently, 
beseeching  God  to  spare  my  sister,  if  in  his  wisdom  it 
were  meet ;  and  I  humbly  invoked  his  blessings  on  the 
excellent  divine,  and  on  Lucy,  by  name.  I  am  not 
ashamed  to  own  it,  let  who  may  deride  the  act. 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  429 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"  Wherever  sorrow  is,  relief  would  be  ; 
If  you  do  sorrow  at  my  grief  in  love, 
By  giving  love,  your  sorrow  and  my  grief 
Were  both  extermin'd." — As  You  Like  It. 

I  SAW  but  little  of  Grace,  during  the  early  part  of  the 
succeeding  day.  She  had  uniformly  breakfasted  in  her 
own  room,  of  late,  and,  in  the  short  visit  I  paid  her  there, 
I  tound  her  composed,  with  an  appearance  of  renewed 
strength  that  encouraged  me  greatly,  as  to  the  future. 
Mr.  Hardinge  insisted  on  rendering  an  account  of  his 
stewardship,  that  morning,  and  I  let  the  good  divine  have 
his  own  way  ;  though  had  he  asked  me  for  a  receipt  in 
full,  I  would  cheerfully  have  given  it  to  him,  without  ex- 
amining a  single  item.  There  was  a  singular  peculiarity 
about  Mr.  Hardinge.  No  one  could  live  less  for  the 
world  generally  ;  no  one  was  less  qualified  to  superintend 
extensive  worldly  interests,  that  required  care,  or  thought ; 
and  no  one  would  have  been  a  more  unsafe  executor  in 
matters  that  were  intricate  or  involved  ;  still,  in  the  mere 
business  of  accounts,  he  was  as  methodical  and  exact  as 
the  most  faithful  banker.  Rigidly  honest,  and  with  a 
strict  regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  living  moreover  on 
a  mere  pittance,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  this  con- 
scientious divine  never  contracted  a  debt  he  could  not 
pay.  What  rendered  this  caution  more  worthy  of  remark 
was  the  fact  that  he  had  a  spendthrift  son  ;  but  even  Ru- 
pert could  never  lure  him  into  any  weakness  of  this  sort. 
I  question  if  his  actual  cash  receipts,  independently  of  the 
profits  of  his  little  glebe,  exceeded  $300  in  any  one  year  ; 
yet  he  and  his  children  were  ever  well  dressed,  and  I 
knew  from  observation  that  his  table  was  always  suf- 
ficiently supplied.  He  got  a  few  presents  occasionally, 
from  his  parishioners,  it  is  true  ;  but  they  did  not  amount 
to  any  sum  of  moment.  It  was  method,  and  a  determina- 
tion not  to  anticipate  his  income,  that  placed  him  so  much 
above  the  world,  while  he  had  a  family  to  support  ; 
whereas,  now  that  Mrs.  Bradfort's  fortune  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  children,  he  assured  me  he  felt  himself 
quite  rich,  though  he  scrupulously  refused  to  appropriate 
one  dollar  of  the  handsome  income  that  passed  through 


430  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

his  hands  as  executor,  to  his  own  uses.  Tt  was  all  Lucy's, 
who  was  entitled  to  receive  this  income  even  in  her  minor- 
ity, and  to  her  he  paid  every  cent,  quarterly  ;  the  sister 
providing  for  Rupert's  ample  wants. 

Of  course  I  found  everything  exact  to  a  farthing;  the 
necessary  papers  were  signed,  the  power  of  attorney  was 
cancelled,  and  I  entered  fully  into  the  possession  of  my 
own.  An  unexpected  rise  in  the  value  of  flour  had  raised 
my  shore  receipts  that  year  to  the  handsome  sum  of  nine 
thousand  dollars.  This  was  not  properly  income,  however, 
but  profits,  principally  obtained  through  the  labor  of  the 
mill.  By  putting  all  my  loose  cash  together,  I  found  I 
could  command  fully  $30,000,  in  addition  to  the  price  of 
the  ship.  This  sum  was  making  me  a  man  quite  at  my 
ease,  and,  properly  managed,  it  opened  a  way  to  wealth. 
How  gladly  \vould  I  have  given  every  cent  of  it,  to  see 
Grace  as  healthy  and  happy  as  she  was  when  I  left  her  at 
Mrs.  Bradfort's,  to  sail  in  the  Crisis  ! 

After  settling  the  figures,  Mr.  Hardinge  and  I  mounted 
our  horses,  and  rode  over  the  property  to  take  a  look  at 
the  state  of  the  farm.  Our  road  took  us  near  the  little 
rectory  and  the  glebe  ;  and  here  the  simple-minded  divine 
broke  out  into  ecstasies  on  the  subject  of  the  beauties  of 
his  own  residence,  and  the  delight  with  which  he  should 
now  return  to  his  ancient  abode.  He  loved  Clawbonny  no 
less  than  formerly,  but  he  loved  the  rectory  more. 

"  I  was  born  in  that  humble,  snug,  quiet  old  stone-cot- 
tage, Miles,"  he  said,  "and  there  I  lived  for  years  a  happy 
husband  and  father,  and  I  hope  I  may  say  a  faithful  shep- 
herd of  my  little  flock.  St.  Michael's,  Clawbonny,  is  not 
Trinity,  New  York,  but  it  may  prove,  on  a  small  scale,  as 
to  numbers,  as  fitting  a  nursery  of  saints.  What  humble 
and  devout  Christians  have  I  known  to  kneel  at  its  little 
altar,  Miles,  among  whom  your  mother,  and  your  venera- 
ble old  grandmother,  were  two  of  the  best.  I  hope  the  day 
is  not  distant  when  I  shall  meet  there  another  Mrs.  Miles 
Wallingford.  Marry  young,  my  boy  ;  early  marriages 
prove  happier  than  late,  where  there  are  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence." 

"  You  would  not  have  me  marry  until  I  can  find  a 
woman  whom  I  shall  truly  love,  dear  sir  ?  " 

"  Heaven  forbid  !  I  would  rather  see  you  a  bachelor  to 
my  dying  day.  But  America  has  enough  females  that  a 
youth,  like  you,  could,  and  indeed  ought  to  love.  I  could 
direct  you  to  fifty  myself." 


AFLOAT  AMD   ASIIORP:.  431 

"Well,  sir,  your  recommendations  would  have  great 
weight  with  me.  I  wish  you  would  begin." 

"  That  I  will,  that  I  will,  if  you  wish  it,  my  dear  boy. 
Well,  there  is  a  Miss  Hervey,  Miss  Kate  Hervey,  in  town  ; 
a  girl  of  excellent  qualities,  and  who  would  just  suit  you, 
could  you  agree." 

"I  recollect  the  young  lady;  the  greatest  objection  I 
should  raise  to  her  is  a  want  of  personal  attractions.  Of 
all  Mrs.  Bradfort's  acquaintances,  I  think  she  was  among 
the  very  plainest." 

"What  is  beauty,  Miles?  In  marriage  very  different 
recommendations  are  to  be  looked  for  by  the  husband." 

"Yet,  I  have  understood  you  practised  on  another 
theory  ;  Mrs.  Hardinge,  even  as  I  recollect  her,  was  very 
handsome." 

"Yes,  that  is  true,"  answered  the  good  divine,  simply  ; 
"  she  was  so  ;  but  beauty  is  not  to  be  considered  as  an 
objection.  If  you  do  not  relish  the  idea  of  Kate  Hervey, 
what  do  you  say  to  Jane  Harwood — there  is  a  pretty  girl 
for  you." 

"  A  pretty  girl,  sir,  but  not  for  me.  But,  in  naming 
so  many  young  ladies,  why  do  you  overlook  your  own 
daughter  ? " 

I  said  this  with  a  sort  of  desperate  resolution,  tempted 
by  the  opportunity,  and  the  direction  the  discourse  had 
taken.  When  it  was  uttered,  I  repented  of  my  temerity, 
and  almost  trembled  to  hear  the  answer. 

"  Lucy  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hardinge,  turning  suddenly 
toward  me,  and  looking  so  intently  and  earnestly  in  my 
face,  that  I  saw  the  possibility  of  such  a  thing  then  struck 
him  for  the  first  time.  "  Sure  enough,  why  should  you 
not  marry  Lucy  ?  There  is  not  a  particle  of  relationship 
between  you,  after  all,  though  I  have  so  long  considered 
you  as  brother  and  sister.  I  wish  we  had  thought  of  this 
earlier,  Miles  ;  it  would  be  a  most  capital  connection — 
though  I  should  insist  on  your  quitting  the  sea.  Lucy  has 
too  affectionate  a  heart  to  be  always  in  distress  for  an  ab- 
sent husband.  I  wonder  the  possibility  of  this  thing  did 
not  strike  me,  before  it  was  too  late  ;  in  a  man  so  much 
accustomed  to  see  what  is  going  on  around  me,  to  over- 
look this  !  " 

The  words  "  too  late  "  sounded  to  me  like  the  doom  of 
fate  ;  and  had  my  simple-minded  companion  but  the  tithe 
of  the  observation  which  he  so  much  vaunted,  he  must 
have  seen  mv  agitation.  I  had  advanced  so  far,  however, 


432  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

that  I  determined  to  learn  the  worst,  whatever  pain  it 
might  cost  me. 

"  I  suppose,  sir,  the  very  circumstance  that  we  were 
brought  up  together  has  prevented  us  all  from  regarding 
the  thing  as  possible.  But  why  'too  late,'  my  excellent 
guardian,  if  we  who  are  the  most  interested  in  the  thing 
should  happen  to  think  otherwise  ?" 

"  Certainly  not  too  late,  if  you  include  Lucy  herself,  in 
your  conditions  ;  but  I  am  afraid,  Miles,  it  is  'too  late' 
for  Lucy." 

"  Am  I  to  understand,  then,  that  Miss  Hardinge  is  en- 
gaged to  Mr.  Drewett  ?  Are  her  affections  enlisted  in  his 
behalf  ?  " 

"  You  may  be  certain  of  one  thing,  boy,  and  that  is,  if 
Lucy  be  engaged,  her  affections  are  enlisted — so  conscien- 
tious a  young  woman  would  never  marry  without  giving 
her  heart  with  her  hand.  As  for  the  fact,  however,  I  know 
nothing,  except  by  inference.  I  do  suppose  a  mutual 
attachment  to  exist  between  her  and  Andrew  Drewett." 

"  Of  course,  with  good  reason,  sir.  Lucy  is  not  a  co- 
quette, or  a  girl  to  encourage  when  she  does  not  mean  to 
accept." 

"That's  all  I  know  of  the  matter.  Drewett  continues  to 
visit  ;  is  as  attentive  as  a  young  man  well  can  be,  where 
a  young  woman  is  as  scrupulous  as  is  Lucy  about  the 
proper  forms,  and  I  infer  they  understand  each  other.  I 
have  thought  of  speaking  to  Lucy  on  the  subject,  but  I 
do  not  wish  to  influence  her  judgment  in  a  case  where 
there  exists  no  objection.  Drewett  is  every  way  a  suita- 
ble match,  and  I  wish  things  to  take  their  own  course. 
There  is  one  little  circumstance,  however,  that  I  can  men- 
tion to  you  as  a  sort  of  son,  Miles,  and  which  I  consider 
conclusive  as  to  the  girl's  inclinations — I  have  remarked 
that  she  refuses  all  expedients  to  get  her  to  be  alone  with 
Drewett,  refuses  to  make  excursions  in  which  she  must  be 
driven  in  his  curricle,  or  to  go  anywhere  with  him,  even 
to  the  next  door.  So  particular  is  she,  that  she  contrives 
never  to  be  alone  with  him,  even  in  his  many  visits  to  the 
house." 

"  And  do  ydu  consider  that  as  a  proof  of  attachment  ? — 
of  her  being  engaged  ?  Does  your  own  experience,  sir, 
confirm  such  a  notion  ?  " 

"  What  else  can  it  be,  if  it  be  not  a  consciousness  of  a 
passion — of  an  attachment  that  she  is  afraid  every  one  will 
see  ?  You  do  not  understand  the  sex,  I  perceive,  Miles, 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  433 

or  the  fineness  of  their  natures  would  be  more  apparent  to 
you.  As  for  my  experience,  no  conclusion  can  be  drawn 
from  that,  as  I  and  my  dear  wife  were  thrown  together 
very  young,  lall  alone,  in  her  mother's  country-house,  and 
the  old  lady  being  bed-ridden,  there  was  no  opportunity 
for  the  bashful  maiden  to  betray  this  consciousness.  But, 
if  I  understand  human  nature,  such  is  the  secret  of  Lucy's 
feelings  toward  Andrew  Drewett.  It  is  of  no  great  mo- 
ment to  you,  Miles,  notwithstanding,  as  there  are  plenty 
more  young  women  to  be  had  in  the  world." 

"  True,  sir ;  but  there  is  only  one  Lucy  Hardinge ! "  I 
rejoined,  with  a  fervor  and  strength  of  utterance  that  be- 
trayed more  than  I  intended. 

My  late  guardian  actually  stopped  his  horse  this  time, 
to  look  at  me,  and  I  could  perceive  deep  concern  gather- 
ing around  his  usually  serene  and  placid  brow.  He  began 
to  penetrate  my  feelings,  and  I  believe  they  caused  him 
real  grief. 

"I  never  could  have  dreamed  of  this!"  Mr.  Hardinge 
at  length  exclaimed.  "  Do  you  really  love  Lucy,  my  dear 
Miles?" 

"  Better  than  I  do  my  own  life,  sir — I  almost  worship 
the  earth  she  treads  on — love  her  with  my  whole  heart, 
and  have  loved,  I  believe,  if  the  truth  were  known,  evei 
since  I  was  sixteen — perhaps  I  had  better  say,  twelve  years 
old." 

The  truth  escaped  me,  as  the  torrent  of  the  Mississippi 
breaks  through  the  levee,  and  a  passage  once  open  for  its 
exit,  it  cleared  a  way  for  itself,  until  the  current  of  my  feel- 
ings left  no  doubt  of  its  direction.  I  believe  I  was  a  little 
ashamed  of  my  own  weakness,  for  I  caused  my  horse  to 
walk  forward,  Mr.  Hardinge  accompanying  the  movement, 
for  a  considerable  distance,  in  a  profound,  and  I  doubt 
not,  a  painful  silence. 

"  This  has  taken  me  altogether  by  surprise,  Miles,"  my 
late  guardian  resumed  ;  "  altogether  by  surprise.  What 
would  I  not  give  could  this  have  been  known  a  year  or  two 
since  !  My  dear  boy,  I  feel  for  you,  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart,  for  I  can  understand  what  it  must  be  to  love 
a  girl  like  Lucy,  without  hope.  Why  did  you  not  let 
this  be  known  sooner — or,  why  did  you  insist  on  going 
to  sea,  having  so  strong  a  motive  for  remaining  at  home  ?  " 

"  I  was  too  young,  at  that  time,  sir,  to  act  on,  or  even  to 
understand  my  own  feelings.  On  my  return,  in  the  Crisis, 
I  found  Lucy  in  a  set  superior  to  that  in  which  I  was  born 
28 


434  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

and  educated,  and  it  would  have  been  a  poor  proof  of  my 
attachment  to  wish  to  bring  her  down  nearer  to  my  own 
level." 

"  I  understand  you,  Miles,  and  can  appreciate  the  gener- 
osity of  your  conduct  ;  though  I  am  afraid  it  would  have 
been  too  late  on  your  return  in  the  Crisis.  That  was  only 
a  twelvemonth  since,  and,  then,  I  rather  think,  Andrew 
Drewett  had  offered.  There  is  good  sense  in  your  feeling 
on  the  subject  of  marriages  in  unequal  conditions  in  life, 
for  they  certainly  lead  to  many  heart-burnings,  and  greatly 
lessen  the  chances  of  happiness.  One  thing  is  certain  ;  in 
all  such  cases,  if  the  inferior  cannot  rise  to  the  height  of 
the  superior,  the  superior  must  sink  to  the  level  of  the  in- 
ferior. Man  and  wife  cannot  continue  to  occupy  different 
social  positions  ;  and  as  for  the  nonsense  that  is  uttered  on 
such  subjects,  by  visionaries,  under  the  claim  of  its  being 
common  sense,  it  is  only  fit  for  pretending  theories,  and 
can  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  great  rules  of  practice. 
You  were  right  in  principle,  then,  Miles,  though  you  have 
greatly  exaggerated  the  facts  of  your  own  particular 
case." 

"  I  have  always  known,  sir,  and  have  ever  been  ready 
to  admit  that  the  Hardinges  have  belonged  to  a  different 
class  of  society  from  that  filled  by  the  Wallingfords." 

"This  is  true,  but  in  part  only  ;  and  by  no  means  true 
to  a  degree  that  need  have  drawn  any  impassable  line  be- 
tween you  and  Lucy.  You  forget  how  poor  we  then  were, 
and  how  substantial  a  benefit  the  care  of  Clawbonny  might 
have  been  to  my  dear  girl.  Besides,  you  are  of  reputable 
descent  and  position,  if  not  precisely  of  the  gentry  ;  and 
this  is  not  a  country,  or  an  age,  to  carry  notions  of  such  a 
nature  beyond  the  strict  bounds  of  reason.  You  and  Lucy 
were  educated  on  the  same  level ;  and,  after  all,  that  is  the 
great  essential  for  the  marriage  connection." 

There  was  great  good  sense  in  what  Mr.  Hardinge  said  : 
and  I  began  to  see  that  pride,  and  not  humility,  might  have 
interfered  with  my  happiness.  As  I  firmly  believed  it  was 
now  too  late,  however,  I  began  to  wish  the  subject  changed  ; 
for  I  felt  it  grating  on  some  of  my  most  sacred  feelings. 
With  a  view  to  divert  the  conversation  to  another  channel, 
therefore,  I  remarked  with  some  emphasis,  affecting  an  in- 
difference I  did  not  feel : 

"What  cannot  be  cured  must  be  endured,  sir;  and  I 
shall  endeavor  to  find  a  sailor's  happiness  hereafter  in  lov> 
ing  my  ship.  Besides,  were  Andrew  Drewett  entirely  out 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  435 

of  the  question,  it  is  now  '  too  late,'  in  another  sense,  since 
it  would  never  do  for  the  man  who,  himself  at  his  ease  in 
the  way  of  money,  hesitated  about  offering  when  his  mis- 
tress was  poor,  to  prove  his  love  by  proposing  to  Mrs. 
Bradfort's  heiress.  Still,  I  own  to  so  much  weakness  as  to 
wish  to  know,  before  we  close  the  subject  forever,  why 
Mr.  Drewett  and  your  daughter  do  not  marry,  if  they  are 
engaged  ?  Perhaps  it  is  owing  only  to  Lucy's  mourning  ?" 

"  I  have  myself  imputed  it  to  another  cause.  Rupert  \\ 
entirely  dependent  on  his  sister,  and  I  know  Lucy  so  wel< 
as  to  feel  certain — some  extraordinary  cause  not  interpos- 
ing— that  she  wishes  to  bestow  half  her  cousin's  fortune 
on  her  brother.  This  cannot  be  done  until  she  is  of  age, 
and  she  wants  near  two  years  of  attaining  her  majority." 

I  made  no  answer  ;  for  I  felt  how  likely  this  was  to  be 
true.  Lucy  was  not  a  girl  of  professions,  and  she  would 
be  very  apt  to  keep  a  resolution  of  this  nature  a  secret  in 
her  own  breast  until  ready  to  carry  it  into  execution.  No 
more  passed  between  Mr.  Hardinge  and  myself  on  the  sub- 
ject of  our  recent  conversation ;  though  I  could  see  my 
avowal  had  made  him  sad,  and  that  it  induced  him  to  treat 
me  with  more  affection,  even,  than  had  been  his  practice. 
Once  or  twice,  in  the  course  of  the  next  day  or  two,  I  over- 
heard him. soliloquizing — a  habit  to  which  he  was  a  good 
deal  addicted — during  which  he  would  murmur,  "What  a 
pity!" — "  How  much  to  be  regretted  !" — "  I  would  rather 
have  him  for  a  son  than  any  man  on  earth  !  "  and  other 
similar  expressions.  Of  course  these  involuntary  disclos- 
ures did  not  weaken  my  regard  for  my  late  guardian. 

About  noon  the  Grace  and  Lucy  came  in,  and  Neb  re- 
ported that  Dr.  Bard  was  not  at  home.  He  had  left  my 
letter,  however,  and  it  would  be  delivered  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. He  told  me  also  that  the  wind  had  been  favorable 
on  the  river,  and  that  the  Wallingford  must  reach  town 
that  day. 

Nothing  further  occurred,  worthy  of  notice.  I  passed 
the  afternoon  with  Grace,  in  the  little  room  ;  and  we  con- 
versed much  of  the  past,  of  our  parents  in  particular,  with- 
out adverting,  however,  to  her  situation,  any  further  than 
to  apprise  her  of  what  I  had  done.  I  thought  she  was  not 
sorry  to  learn  I  had  sentJor  Lucy,  now  that  I  was  with 
her,  and  it  was  no  longer  possible  her  illness  could  be  con- 
cealed. As  for  the  physicians,  when  they  were  mentioned, 
1  could  see  a  look  of  tender  concern  in  Grace's  eyes,  as  if 
she  regretted  that  I  still  clung  to  the  delusion  of  hoping 


436  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

to  see  her  health  restored.  Notwithstanding  these  little 
drawbacks,  we  passed  a  sweet  eventide  together.  For  more 
than  an  hour  Grace  lay  on  my  bosom,  occasionally  patting 
her  hand  on  my  cheeks,  as  the  child  caresses  its  mother. 
This  was  an  old  habit  of  hers,  and  it  was  one  I  was  equally 
delighted  and  pained  to  have  her  resume  now;  we  were  of 
the  age  and  stature  of  man  and  woman. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  Grace  insisted  on  my 
driving  her  to  church.  This  was  done,  accordingly,  in  a 
very  old-fashioned,  but  very  easy  Boston  chaise,  that  had 
belonged  to  my  mother,  and  with  very  careful  driving. 
The  congregation,  like  the  church  edifice  of  St.  Michael's, 
was  very  small,  being  confined,  with  some  twenty  or  thirty 
exceptions,  to  the  family  and  dependents  of  Clawbonny. 
Mr.  Hardinge's  little  flock  was  hedged  in  by  other  denom- 
inations on  every  side,  and  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  to 
break  through  the  barriers  that  surrounded  it.  Then  he  was 
not  possessed  with  the  spirit  of  proselytism,  contenting 
himself  with  aiding  in  the  spiritual  advancement  of  those 
whom  Providence  had  consigned  to  his  care.  On  the 
present  occasion,  however,  the  little  building  was  full,  and 
that  was  as  much  as  could  have  happened  had  it  been  as 
large  as  St.  Peter's  itself.  The  prayers  were  devoutly  and  fer- 
vently read,  and  the  sermon  was  plain  and  filled  with  piety. 

My  sister  professed  herself  in  no  manner  wearied  with  the 
exertion,  We  dined  with  Mr.  Hardinge,  at  the  rectory, 
which  was  quite  near  the  church  ;  and  the  irreverent,  busi- 
ness-like, make-weight  sort  of  look  of  going  into  one  ser- 
vice almost  as  soon  as  the  other  was  ended,  as  if  to  score 
off  so  much  preaching  and  praying  as  available  at  the  least 
trouble,  being  avoided,  by  having  the  evening  service  com- 
mence late,  she  was  enabled  to  remain  until  the  close  of 
the  day.  Mr.  Hardinge  rarely  preached  but  once  of  a 
Sunday.  He  considered  the  worship  of  God  and  the  offices 
of  the  church  as  the  proper  duties  of  the  day,  and  regard- 
ed his  own  wisdom  as  a  matter  of  secondary  importance. 
But  one  sermon  cost  him  as  much  labor,  and  study,  and 
anxiety  as  most  clergymen's  two.  His  preaching,  also,  had 
the  high  qualification  of  being  addressed  to  the  affections 
of  his  flock,  and  not  to  its  fears  and  interests.  He  con- 
stantly reminded  us  of  God's  lgpe,  and  of  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness ;  while  I  do  not  remember  to  have  heard  him  allude 
half  a  dozen  times  in  his  life  to  the  terrors  of  judgment  and 
punishment,  except  as  they  were  connected  with  that  dis- 
appointed love.  I  suppose  there  are  spirits  that  require 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  4J? 

these  allusions,  and  the  temptations  of  future  happiness,  to 
incite  their  feelings  ;  but  I  like  the  preacher  who  is  a 
Christian  because  he  feels  himself  drawn  to  holiness,  by  a 
power  that  is  of  itself  holy  ;  and  not  those  who  appeal  to 
their  people,  as  if  heaven  and  hell  were  a  mere  matter  of 
preference  and  avoidance,  on  the  ground  of  expediency.  I 
cannot  better  characterize  Mr.  Hardinge's  preaching,  than 
by  saying,  that  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  left  his 
church  with  a  sense  of  fear  toward  the  Creator  ;  though  I 
have  often  been  impressed  with  a  love  that  was  as  pro- 
found as  the  adoration  that  had  been  awakened. 

Another  calm  and  comparatively  happy  evening  was 
passed,  during  which  I  conversed  freely  with  Grace  of  my 
own  intentions,  endeavoring  to  revive  in  her  an  interest  in 
life,  by  renewing  old  impressions,  and  making  her  partici- 
pate in  my  feelings.  Had  I  been  with  her  from  the  hour 
spring  opened,  with  its  renewal  of  vegetation,  and  all  the 
joys  it  confers  on  the  innocent  and  happy,  I  have  often 
thought  since,  I  might  have  succeeded.  As  it  was,  she 
listened  with  attention,  and  apparently  with  pleasure,  for 
she  saw  it  served  to  relieve  my  mind.  We  did  not  separate 
until  I  insisted  Grace  should  retire,  and  Chloe  had  made 
more  than  one  remonstrance  about  her  young  mistress* 
exceeding  the  usual  time.  On  leaving  my  sister's  cham- 
ber, the  negress  followed  me  with  a  light,  lest  I  should 
fall,  among  the  intricate  turnings,  and  the  ups  and  downs 
of  the  old  building. 

"Well,  Chloe,"  I  said,  as  we  proceeded  together,  "how 
do  you  find  Neb  ?  Does  he  improve  by  this  running  about 
on  the  ocean  —  especially  do  you  think  he  is  tanned  ?  " 


"  Yes,  he  is  a  fellow,  sure  enough,  and  let  me  tell  you, 
Chloe,  a  very  capital  fellow,  too.  If  it  can  be  of  any  ad- 
vantage to  him  in  your  favor  to  know  the  truth,  I  will  just 
say,  a  more  useful  seaman  does  not  sail  the  ocean  than 
Neb,  and  that  I  consider  him  of  as  much  importance  as  the 
mainmast." 

"What  be  dat,  Masser  Mile  ?" 

"  I  see  nothing,  Chloe  —  there  are  no  spooks  at  Claw- 
bonny,  you  know." 

'  No,  sah  !     What  b'e  t'ing  Neb  like,  de/<?/-ler  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  ask  your  pardon  —  the  mainmast,  you  mean.  It 
is  the  most  important  spar  in  the  ship,  and  I  meant  that 
Neb  was  as  useful  as  that  mast.  In  battle,  too,  Neb  is  as 
brave  as  a  lion." 


438  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

Here  Chloe  could  stand  it  no  longer  ;  she  fairly  laughed 
outright,  in  pure,  natural  admiration  of  her  suitor's  quali- 
ties. When  this  was  performed,  she  ejaculated  once  more, 
"  De  feller  !  "  dropped  a  courtesy,  said  "  Good  night,  Mas- 
ser  Mile,"  and  left  me  at  my  own  door.  Alas !  alas  !  among 
the  improvements  of  this  age,  we  have  entirely  lost  the 
breed  of  the  careless,  good-natured,  affectionate,  faithful, 
hard-working,  and  yet  happy  blacks,  of  whom  more  or  less 
were  to  be  found  in  every  respectable  and  long-established 
family  of  the  state,  forty  years  ago. 

The  next  day  was  one  of  great  anxiety  to  me.  I  rose 
early,  and  the  first  thing  was  to  ascertain  the  direction  of 
the  wind.  In  midsummer  this  was  apt  to  be  southerly, 
and  so  it  proved  on  that  occasion.  Neb  was  sent  to  the 
point,  as  a  look-out  ;  he  returned  about  ten,  and  reported 
a  fleet  of  sloops  in  sight.  These  vessels  were  still  a  long 
distance  down  the  river,  but  they  were  advancing  at  a  tol- 
erable rate.  Whether  the  Wallingford  was  among  them, 
or  not,  was  more  than  could  yet  be  told.  I  sent  him  back 
to  his  station,  as  soon  as  he  had  eaten  ;  and  unable  to  re- 
main quiet  in  the  house,  myself,  I  mounted  my  horse,  and 
rode  out  into  the  fields.  Here,  as  usual,  I  experienced  the 
happiness  of  looking  at  objects  my  ancestors  loved  to  re- 
gard, and  which  always  have  had  a  strong  and  near  interest 
with  me. 

Perhaps  no  country  that  ever  yet  existed  has  been  so 
little  understood,  or  so  much  misrepresented,  as  this  Amer- 
ica of  ours.  It  is  as  little  understood,  I  was  on  the  point 
of  saying,  at  home  as  it  is  abroad,  and  almost  as  much 
misrepresented.  Certainly  its  possessors  are  a  good  deal 
addicted  to  valuing  themselves  on  distinctive  advantages 
that,  in  reality,  they  do  not  enjoy,  while  their  enemies  de- 
claim about  vices  and  evils  from  which  they  are  compara- 
tively free.  Facts  are  made  to  suit  theories,  and  thus  it  is 
that  we  see  well-intentioned,  and  otherwise  respectable 
writers,  constantly  running  into  extravagances,  in  order  to 
adapt  the  circumstances  to  the  supposed  logical  or  moral 
inference.  This  reasoning  backward  has  caused  Alison, 
with  all  his  knowledge  and  fair-mindedness,  to  fall  into 
several  egregious  errors,  as  I  have  discovered  while  recent- 
ly reading  his  great  work  on  Europe.  He  says  we  are  a 
migratory  race,  and  that  we  do  not  love  the  sticks  and 
stones  that  surround  us,  but  quit  the  paternal  roof  without 
regret,  and  consider  the  play-grounds  of  infancy  as  only 
so  much  land  for  the  market.  He  also  hazards  the  asser' 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  439 

tion,  that  there  is  not  such  a  thing  as  a  literal  farmer — • 
that  is,  a  tenant  who  farms  his  land  from  a  landlord — in  all 
America.  Now  as  a  rule,  and  comparing  the  habits  of 
America  with  those  of  older  countries,  in  which  land  is  not 
so  abundant,  this  may  be  true  ;  but  as  a  literal  fact,  nothing 
can  be  less.  Four-fifths  of  the  inhabited  portion  of  the 
American  territory  has  a  civilized  existence  of  half  a  cen- 
tury's duration  ;  and  there  has  not  been  time  to  create  the 
long-lived  attachments  named,  more  especially  in  the  re- 
gions that  are  undergoing  the  moral  fusion  that  is  always 
an  attendant  of  a  new  settlement.  That  thousands  of 
heartless  speculators  exist  among  us  who  do  regard  every- 
thing, even  to  the  graves  of  their  fathers,  as  only  so  much 
improvable  property,  is  as  undeniable  as  the  fact  that  they 
are  odious  to  all  men  of  any  moral  feeling  ;  but  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  are  to  be  found  in  the  country,  who 
do  reverence  their  family  possessions  from  a  sentiment  that 
is  creditable  to  human  nature.  I  will  not  mention  Claw- 
bonny,  and  its  history,  lest  I  might  be  suspected  of  being 
partial  ;  but  it  would  be  easy  for  me  to  point  out  a  hun- 
dred families,  embracing  all  classes,  from  the  great  propri- 
etor to  the  plain  yeoman,  who  own  and  reside  on  the 
estates  of  those  who  first  received  them  from  the  hand  of 
nature,  and  this  after  one  or  two  centuries  of  possession. 
What  will  Mr.  Alison  say,  for  instance,  of  the  Manor  of 
Rensselaer  ?  A  manor,  in  the  legal  sense,  it  is  no  longer, 
certainly,  the  new  institutions  destroying  all  the  feudal 
tenures  ;  but,  as  mere  property,  the  late  patron  transmitted 
it  as  regularly  to  his  posterity  as  any  estate  was  ever  trans- 
mitted in  Europe.  This  extensive  manor  lies  in  the  heart 
of  New  York,  a  state  about  as  large  and  about  as  populous 
as  Scotland,  and  it  embraces  no  less  than  three  cities  in  its 
bosom,  though  their  sites  are  not  included  in  its  ownership, 
having  been  exempted  by  earlier  grants.  It  is  of  more 
than  two  centuries'  existence,  and  it  extends  eight-and- 
forty  miles  east  and  west,  and  half  that  distance  north  and 
south.  Nearly  all  this  vast  property  is  held,  at  this  hour, 
of  the  Van  Rensselaers,  as  landlords,  and  is  farmed  by 
their  tenants,  there  being  several  thousands  of  the  latter. 
The  same  is  true,  on  a  smaller  scale,  of  the  Livingston,  the 
Van  Cortlandt,  the  Philipse,  the  Nicoll,  and  various  other 
old  New  York  estates,  though  several  were  lost  by  attain- 
der in  the  Revolution.  I  explain  these  things,  lest  any 
European  who  may  happen  to  read  this  book,  should  re- 
gard it  as  fiction  ;  for,  allowing  for  trifling  differences,  a 


440  AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE. 

hundred  Clawbonnys  are  to  be  found  on  the  two  banks  cf 
the  Hudson,  at  this  very  hour.* 

But  to  return  to  the  narrative. 

My  curiosity  increased  so  much  as  the  day  advanced 
that  I  rode  toward  the  point  to  look  for  the  sloop.  There 
she  was,  sure  enough,  and  there  was  Neb,  too,  galloping  a 
young  horse,  bare-back,  to  the  house  with  the  news.  I  met 
him  with  an  order  to  proceed  to  the  wharf  with  the  chaise, 
while  I  dashed  on  in  the  same  direction  myself,  almost  de- 
voured with  an  impatience  to  learn  the  success  of  my  dif- 
ferent missions  as  I  galloped  along.  I  could  see  the  upper 
part  of  the  Wallingford's  sails  gliding  through  the  leaves 
that  fringed  the  bank,  and  it  was  apparent  that  she  and  I 
would  reach  the  wharf  almost  at  the  same  instant.  Not- 
withstanding all  my  anxiety,  it  was  impossible  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  vessel's  deck. 

I  did  not  quit  the  saddle  until  the  planks  of  the  wharf 
were  under  the  horse's  hoofs.  Then  I  got  a  view  of  the 
sloop's  decks  for  the  first  time.  A  respectable  looking, 
tall,  slender,  middle-aged  man,  with  a  bright  dark  eye,  was 
on  the  quarter-deck,  and  I  bowed  to  him,  inferring  at  once 
that  he  was  one  of  the  medical  gentlemen  to  whom  I  had 
sent  the  message.  In  effect  it  was  Post,  the  second  named 
on  my  list,  the  first  not  being  able  to  come.  He  returned 
my  bow,  but  before  I  could  alight  and  go  on  board  to  re- 
ceive him,  Marble's  head  rose  from  the  cabin,  and  my  mate 
sprung  ashore  and  shook  me  cordially  by  the  hand. 

**  Here  I  am,  Miles,  my  boy,"  cried  Marble,  whom,  off 
duty,  I  had  earnestly  begged  to  treat  me  with  his  old  free- 
dom, and  who  took  me  at  my  word — "  Here  I  am,  Miles, 
my  boy,  and  further  from  salt  water  than  I  have  been 
in  five-and-twenty  years.  So  this  is  the  famous  Claw- 
bonny  !  I  cannot  say  much  for  the  port,  which  is  some- 

*  Even  the  American  may  learn  the  following  facts  with  some  surprise. 
It  is  now  about  five-and-twenty  years  since  the  writer,  as  tenant  by  the 
courtesy,  came  into  possession  of  two  farms,  lying  within  twenty-three  miles 
of  New  York,  in  each  of  which  there  had  been  three  generations  of  ten- 
ants, and  as  many  of  landlords,  "without  a  scrap  of  a  pen  having  passed  bc- 
tiveen  the  parties,  so  far  as  the  writer  could  ever  discover,  receipts  for  rent 
excepted  !  He  also  stands  in  nearly  the  same  relation  to  another  farm,  in 
the  same  county, on  which  a  lease  for  ninety  years  is  at  this  moment  run- 
ning, one  of  the  covenants  of  which  prescribes  that  the  tenant  shall  "fre- 
quent divine  service  according  to  the  Church  of  England,  when  opportunity 
offers."  What  an  evidence  of  the  nature  of  the  tyranny  from  which  our 
ancestors  escaped,  more  especially  when  it  is  seen  that  the  tenant  was 
obliged  to  submit  to  this  severe  exaction,  in  consideration  of  a  rent  that  is 
merely  nominal  ! 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  441 

what  crowded  while  it  contains  but  one  craft,  though  the 
river  outside  is  pretty  well,  as  rivers  go.  D'ye  know,  lad, 
that  I've  been  in  a  fever  all  the  way  up  lest  we  should  get 
ashore,  on  one  side  or  the  other  ?  your  having  land  on  both 
tacks  at  once  is  too  much  of  a  good  thing.  This  coming 
up  to  Clawbonny  has  put  me  in  mind  of  running  them 
straits,  though  we  have  had  rather  better  weather  this  pas- 
sage, and  a  clear  horizon.  What  d'ye  call  that  affair  up 
against  the  hillside  yonder,  with  the  jig-a-merree  that  is 
turning  in  the  water  ?  " 

"  That  is  a  mill,  my  friend,  and  the  jig-a-merree  is  the 
very  wheel  on  which  you  have  heard  me  say  my  father  was 
crushed." 

Marble  looked  sorrowfully  at  the  wheel,  squeezed  my 
hand,  as  if  to  express  sorrow  for  having  reminded  me  of  so 
painful  an  event,  and  then  I  heard  him  murmuring  to 
himself — "Well,  I  never  had  a  father  to  lose.  No  bloody 
mill  could  do  me  that  injury." 

"  That  gentleman  on  the  quarter-deck,"  I  remarked,  "  is 
a  physician  for  whom  I  sent  to  town,  I  suppose." 

"  Ay,  ay,  he's  some  such  matter,  I  do  suppose,  though 
I've  been  generalizing  so  much  about  this  here  river,  and 
the  manner  of  sailing  a  craft  of  that  rig,  I've  had  little  to 
say  to  him.  I'm  always  a  better  friend  to  the  cook  than  to 
the  surgeon.  But,  Miles,  my  lad,  there's  a  rare  'un  in  the 
ship's  after-cabin,  I  can  tell  you  !  " 

"  That  must  be  Lucy!"  and  I  did  not  stop  to  pay  my 
compliments  to  the  strange  gentleman,  but  almost  leaped 
into  the  vessel's  cabin. 

There  was  Lucy,  sure  enough,  attended  by  a  respectable- 
looking  elderly  black  female,  one  of  the  half  dozen  slaves 
that  had  become  hers  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Bradford. 
Neither  spoke,  but  we  shook  hands  with  frankness,  and  I 
understood  by  the  anxious  expression  of  my  companion's 
eye,  all  she  wished  to  know. 

"  I  really  think  she  seems  better,  and  certainly  she  is  far 
more  cheerful,  within  this  last  day  or  two,"  I  answered  to 
the  appeal.  "  Yesterday  she  was  twice  at  church,  and  this 
morning,  for  a  novelty,  she  breakfasted  with  me." 

"  God  be  praised  !  "  Lucy  exclaimed,  with  fervor.  Then 
she  sat  down  and  relieved  her  feelings  in  tears.  I  told  her 
to  expect  me  again,  in  a  few  minutes,  and  joined  the  phy- 
sician, who,  by  this  time,  was  apprised  of  my  presence. 
The  calm,  considerate  manner  of  Post  gave  me  a  confi- 
dence I  had  not  felt  for  some  days  ;  and  I  really  began  to 


442  AFLOAT  AND  AS  PI  ORE. 

hope  it  might  still  be  within  the  power  of  his  art  to  save 
the  sister  I  so  dearly  loved. 

Our  dispositions  for  quitting  the  sloop  were  soon  made, 
and  we  ascended  the  hill  together,  Lucy  leaning  on  my 
arm.  On  its  summit  was  the  chaise,  into  which  the  doctor 
and  Marble  were  persuaded  to  enter,  Lucy  preferring  to 
walk.  The  negress  was  to  proceed  in  the  vehicle  that  had 
been  sent  for  the  luggage,  and  Lucy  and  I  set  out,  arm 
and  arm,  to  walk  rather  more  than  a  mile  in  company,  and 
that,  too,  without  the  presence  of  a  third  person.  Such  an 
occurrence,  under  any  other  circumstances  than  those  in 
which  we  were  both  placed,  would  have  made  me  one  of 
the  happiest  men  on  earth ;  but,  in  the  actual  situation  in 
which  I  found  myself,  it  rendered  me  silent  and  uncom- 
fortable. Not  so  with  Lucy  ;  ever  natural,  and  keeping 
truth  incessantly  before  her  eyes,  the  dear  girl  took  my 
arm  without  the  least  embarrassment,  and  showed  no  sign 
of  impatience  or  of  doubt.  She  was  sad,  but  full  of  gen- 
tle confidence  in  her  own  sincerity  and  motives. 

"This  is  dear  Clawbonny  again  !"  she  exclaimed,  after 
we  had  walked  in  silence  a  short  distance.  "  How  beauti- 
ful are  the  fields,  how  fresh  the  woods,  how  sweet  the 
flowers.  Oh !  Miles,  a  day  in  such  a  spot  as  this  is  worth 
a  year  in  town  !  " 

."Why  then  do  you,  who  have  now  so  much  at  your 
command,  pass  more  than  half  your  time  between  the 
heated  bricks  of  Wall  Street,  when  you  know  how  happy 
we  should  all  be  to  see  you  here,  among  us  again  ! " 

"  I  have  not  been  certain  of  this ;  that  has  been  the  sole 
reason  of  my  absence.  Had  I  known  I  should  be  wel- 
come, nothing  would  have  induced  me  to  suffer  Grace  to 
pass  the  last  six  sad,  sad  months  by  herself." 

"  Known  that  you  should  be  welcome  !  Surely  you 
have  not  supposed,  Lucy,  that  /can  ever  regard  you  as 
anything  but  welcome  here." 

"  I  had  no  allusion  to  you — thought  not  of  you,  Miles, 
at  all,"  answered  Lucy,  with  the  quiet  manner  of  one  who 
felt  she  was  thinking,  acting,  and  speaking  no  more  than 
what  was  perfectly  right ;  "  my  mind  was  dwelling  alto- 
gether on  Grace." 

"  Is  it  possible  you  could  doubt  of  Grace's  willingness 
to  see  you  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  Lucy  ? " 

"  I  have  doubted  it ;  have  thought  I  was  acting  prudently 
and  well  in  staying  away  just  at  this  time,  though  I  no\v 
begin  to  fear  the  decision  has  been  hasty  and  unwise." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


443 


"  May  I  ask  why  Lucy  Hardinge  has  come  to  so  singular 
and  violent  an  opinion,  as  connected  with  her  bosom  friend, 
and  almost  sister,  Grace  Wallingford  ?" 

"  That  almost  sister  !  Oh  !  Miles,  what  is  there  I  possess 
which  I  would  not  give  that  there  might  be  perfect  confi-. 
dence  again  between  you  and  me  on  this  subject  ;  such 
confidence  as  existed  when  we  were  boy  and  girl — chil- 
dren,! might  say." 

"  And  what  prevents  it  ?  Certain  I  am,  the  alienation 
does  not,  cannot  come  from  me.  You  have  only  to  speak, 
Lucy,  to  have  an  attentive  listener  ;  to  ask  to  receive  the 
truest  answers.  What  can,  then,  prevent  the  confidence 
you  wish  ? " 

"  There  is  one  obstacle  ;  surely,  Miles,  you  can  readily 
imagine  what  I  mean  ? " 

"  Can  it  be  possible  Lucy  is  alluding  to  Andrew  Drew- 
ett  ?  "  I  thought  to  myself.  "  Has  she  discovered  my  at- 
tachment, and  does  she,  will  she,  can  she  regret  her  own 
engagement  ? "  A  lover  who  thought  thus  would  not  be 
apt  to  leave  the  question  long  in  doubt. 

"Deal  plainly  with  me,  I  implore  of  you,  Lucy,"  I  said, 
solemnly.  "  One  word  uttered  with  your  old  sincerity  and 
frankness  may  close  a  chasm  that  has  now  been  widening 
between  us  for  the  last  year  or  two.  What  is  the  obstacle 
you  mean  ? " 

"  I  have  seen  and  felt  the  alienation  to  which  you  allude 
quite  as  sensibly  as  you  can  have  done  yourself,  Miles," 
the  dear  girl  answered,  in  her  natural,  simple  manner ; 
''and  I  will  trust  all  to  your  generosity.  Need  I  say 
more,  to  explain  what  I  mean,  than  mention  the  name  of 
Rupert?" 

"What  of  him,  Lucy? — be  explicit;  vague  allusions 
may  be  worse  than  nothing." 

Lucy's  little  hand  was  on  my  arm,  and  she  had  drawn 
its  glove  on  account  of  the  heat.  I  felt  it  press  me  almost 
convulsively,  as  she  added  :  "  I  do,  I  must  think  you  have 
too  much  affection  and  gratitude  for  my  dear  father,  too 
much  regard  for  me,  ever  to  forget  that  you  and  Rupert 
once  lived  together  as  brothers  ?  " 

"  Grace  has  my  promise  already  on  that  subject.  I  shall 
never  take  the  world's  course  with  Rupert,  in  this  affair." 

I  heard  Lucy's  involuntary  sob,  as  if  she  gasped  for 
breath  ;  and,  turning,  I  saw  her  sweet  eyes  bent  on  my 
face  with  an  expression  of  thankfulness  that  could  not  be 
mistaken. 


444  AFLOAT  AMD  ASHORE. 

"  I  would  have  given  the  same  pledge  to  you,  Lucy,  and 
purely  on  your  own  account.  It  would  be  too  much  to 
cause  you  to  mourn  for  your  brother's " 

I  did  not  name  the  offence  lest  my  feelings  should  tempt 
me  to  use  too  strong  a  term. 

"This  is  all  I  ask — all  I  desire,  Miles,  bless  you — bless 
you  !  for  having  so  freely  given  me  this  assurance.  Now 
my  heart  is  relieved  from  this  burden,  I  am  ready  to  speak 
frankly  to  you  ;  still,  had  I  seen  Grace " 

"  Have  no  scruples  on  account  of  your  regard  for  wom- 
anly feeling — I  know  everything,  and  shall  not  attempt 
to  conceal  from  you,  that  disappointed  love  for  Rupert 
has  brought  my  sister  to  the  state  she  is  in.  This  might 
not  have  happened  had  either  of  us  been  with  her  ;  but, 
buried  as  she  has  been  alone  in  this  place,  her  wounded 
sensiblities  have  proved  too  strong  for  a  frame  that  is  so 
delicate." 

There  was  a  pause  for  a  minute  after  I  ended. 

"  I  have  long  feared  that  some  such  calamity  would  be- 
fall us,"  Lucy  answered  in  alow,  measured  tone.  "I  think 
you  do  not  understand  Grace  as  well  as  I  do,  Miles.  Her 
mind  and  feelings  have  a  stronger  influence  than  common 
over  her  body ;  and  I  fear  no  society  of  ours,  or  of  others 
could  have  saved  her  this  trial.  Still,  we  must  not  despair 
It  is  a  trial — that  is  just  the  word  ;  and  by  means  of  tender 
ness,  the  most  sedulous  care,  good  advice,  and  all  that 
we  two  can  do  to  aid,  there  must  yet  be  hope.  Now  there 
is  a  skilful  physician  here,  he  must  be  dealt  fairly  by,  and 
should  know  the  whole." 

"  I  intended  to  consult  you  on  this  subject — one  has 
such  a  reluctance  to  expose  Grace's  most  sacred  feelings  !  " 

"  Surely  it  need  not  go  quite  as  far  as  that,"  returned 
Lucy,  with  sensitive  quickness  ;  "  something — much — must 
be  left  to  conjecture  ;  but  Dr.  Post  must  know  that  the 
mind  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  evil  ;  though  I  fear  that  young 
ladies  can  seldom  admit  the  existence  of  such  a  complaint, 
without  having  it  attributed  to  a  weakness  of  this  nature." 

"  That  proceeds  from  the  certainty  that  your  sex  has  so 
much  heart,  Lucy  ;  your  very  existence  being  bound  up  in 
others." 

,  "Grace  is  one  of  peculiar  strength  of  affections — but, 
Miles,  we  will  talk  no  further  of  this  at  present.  I  scarce 
know  how  to  speak  of  my  brother's  affairs,  and  you  must 
give  me  time  to  raflect.  Now  we  are  at  Clawbonny  again 
we  cannot  long  continue  strangers  to  each  other." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  445 

This  was  said  so  sweetly,  I  could  have  knelt  and  kissed 
her  shoe-ties  ;  and  yet  so  simply,  as  not  to  induce  misin- 
terpretation. It  served  to  change  the  discourse,  however, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  way  we  talked  of  the  past.  Lucy 
spoke  of  her  cousin's  death,  relating  various  little  incidents 
to  show  how  much  Mrs.  Bradfort  was  attached  to  her,  and 
how  good  a  woman  she  was  ;  but  not  a  syllable  was  said  of 
the  will.  I  was  required,  in  my  turn,  to  finish  the  narra- 
tive of  my  last  voyage,  which  had  not  been  completed  at 
the  theatre.  When  Lucy  learned  that  the  rough  seaman 
who  had  come  in  the  sloop  was  Marble,  she  manifested 
great  interest  in  him,  declaring,  had  she  known  it  during 
the  passage,  that  she  would  have  introduced  herself.  All 
this  time,  Rupert's  name  was  not  mentioned  between  us  ; 
and  I  reached  the  house,  feeling  that  something  like  the 
interest  I  had  formerly  possessed  there,  had  been  awakened 
in  the  bosom  of  my  companion.  She  was,  at  teast,  firmly 
and  confidingly  my  friend. 

Chloe  met  Lucy  at  the  door  with  a  message — Miss 
Grace  wanted  to  see  Miss  Lucy,  alone.  I  dreaded  this  in- 
terview, and  looked  forward  to  being  present  at  it  ;  but 
Lucy  begged  me  to  confide  in  her,  and  I  felt  bound  to  com- 
ply. While  the  dear  girl  was  gone  to  my  sister's  room,  I 
sought  the  physician,  with  whom  I  had  a  brief,  but  explicit, 
conference.  I  told  this  gentleman  how  much  Grace  had 
been  alone,  permitting  sorrow  to  wear  upon  her  frame, 
and  gave  him  to  understand  that  the  seat  of  my  sister's 
malady  was  mental  suffering.  Post  was  a  cool,  discrim- 
inating man,  and  he  ventured  no  remark  until  he  had  seen 
his  patient ;  though  I  could  perceive,  by  the  keen  manner 
in  which  his  piercing  eye  was  fixed  on  mine,  that  all  I  said 
was  fully  noted. 

It  was  more  than  an  hour  before  Lucy  reappeared.  It 
was  obvious  at  a  glance  that  she  had  been  dreadfully  agi- 
tated, and  cruelly  surprised  at  the  condition  .in  which  she 
had  found  Grace.  It  was  not  that  disease,  in  any  of  its 
known  forms,  was  so  very  apparent ;  but  that  my  sister  re- 
sembled already  a  being  of  another  world,  in  the  beaming 
of  her  countenance — in  the  bright,  unearthly  expression 
of  her  eyes — and  in  the  ^lightness  and  delicacy  of  the  hold 
she  seemed,  generally,  to  have  on  life.  Grace  had  always 
something  of  this  about  her — much,  I  might  better  have 
said  ;  but  it  now  appeared  to  be  left  nearly  alone,  as  her 
thoughts  and  strength  gi/idually  receded  from  the  means 
of  existence. 


446  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

The  physician  returned  with  Lucy  to  my  sister's  room, 
where  he  passed  more  than  an  hour  ;  as  long  a  time,  indeed, 
he  afterward  told  me  himself,  as  he  thought,  could  be  done 
without  fatiguing  his  patient.  The  advice  he  gave  me  was 
cautious  and  discreet.  Certain  tonics  were  prescribed  ;  we 
«were  told  to  endeavor  to  divert  the  mind  of  our  precious 
charge  from  her  sources  of  uneasiness,  by  gentle  means 
and  prudent  expedients.  Change  of  scene  was  advised 
also,  could  it  be  done  without  producing  too  much  fatigue. 
I  suggested  the  Wallingford,  as  soon  as  this  project  was 
mentioned.  She  was  a  small  sloop,  it  is  true,  but  had  two 
very  comfortable  cabins  ;  my  father  having  had  one  of 
them  constructed  especially  in  reference  to  my  mother's 
occasional  visits  to  town.  The  vessel  did  little,  at  that 
season  of  the  year,  besides  transporting  flour  to  market, 
and  bringing  back  wheat.  In  the  autumn  she  carried 
wood,  and  the  products  of  the  neighborhood.  A  holiday 
might  be  granted  her,  and  no  harm  come  of  it.  Dr.  Post 
approved  the  idea,  saying  frankly  there  was  no  objection 
but  the  expense  ;  if  I  could  bear  that,  a  better  plan  could 
not  possibly  be  adopted. 

That  night  we  discussed  the  matter  in  the  family  circle, 
Mr.  Hardinge  having  come  from  the  rectory  to  join  us. 
Everybody  approved  of  the  scheme,  it  was  so  much  better 
than  leaving  Grace  to  pine  away  by  herself  in  the  solitude 
of  Clawbonny. 

"I  have  a  patient  at  the  Springs,"  said  Dr.  Post,  "who 
is  very  anxious  to  see  me  ;  and,  to  own  the  truth,  I  am  a 
little  desirous  of  drinking  the  waters  myself  for  a  week. 
Carry  me  to  Albany,  and  land  me  ;  after  which  you  can 
descend  the  river,  and  continue  your  voyage  to  as  many 
places,  and  for  as  long  a  time,  as  the  strength  of  Miss  Wal- 
lingford, and  your  own  inclinations,  shall  dictate." 

This  project  seemed  excellent  in  all  our  eyes  ;  even  Grace 
heard  it  with  a  smile,  placing  herself  entirely  in  our  hands, 
It  was  decided  to  put  it  in  practice. 


AFLOAT  AND   ASHORE.  447 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

"  And  she  sits  and  gazes  at  me, 
With  those  deep  and  tender  eyes, 
Like  the  stars,  so  still  and  saint-like, 
Looking  downward  from  the  skies." — LONGFELLOW. 

THE  next  morning  I  set  about  the  measures  necessary 
for  carrying  out  our  plan.  Marble  was  invited  to  be  of  the 
party,  the  arrangements  concerning  the  ship  allowing  of 
his  absence  for  a  few  days.  Once  engaged,  he  was  of  in- 
finite service,  entering  into  the  plan  as  my  mate.  The 
regular  skipper  was  glad  to  have  a  furlough,  and  I  retained 
on  board  no  one  of  the  proper  crew  but  the  river-pilot — a 
man  who  could  not  be  dispensed  with.  By  this  arrange- 
ment, we  cleared  the  cabin  from  company  that  was  not 
desirable  for  the  circumstances.  Neb,  and  three  of  the 
Clawbonny  blacks,  were  delighted  to  go  on  such  an  excur- 
sion, and  all  were  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  little  duty 
that  would  be  required  of  them.  Indeed,  Marble,  Neb, 
and  myself,  were  everyway  able  to  take  care  of  the  vessel. 
But  we  chose  to  have  plenty  of  physical  force  ;  and  a  cook 
was  indispensable.  Clawbonny  supplied  the  latter,  in  the 
person  of  old  Dido  of  that  ilk. 

By  noon  the  whole  party  were  ready  to  embark.  Grace 
was  driven  to  the  wharf,  and  she  walked  on  board  the 
sloop,  supported  by  Lucy  and  myself  ;  more,  however,  from 
solicitude  than  from  absolute  necessity.  Every  precaution, 
however,  was  taken«by  order  of  the  physician  to  prevent 
anything  like  excitement  ;  the  blacks,  in  particular,  who 
would  have  followed  "  Miss  Grace  "  to  the  water's  edge, 
being  ordered  to  remain  at  home.  Chloe,  to  her  manifest 
satisfaction,  was  permitted  to  accompany  her  "  young  mis- 
tress," and  great  was  her  delight.  How  often  that  day  did 
the  exclamation  of  "  de  feller  "  escape  her,  as  she  witnessed 
Neb's  exploits  in  different  parts  of  the  sloop.  It  was  some 
little  time  before  I  could  account  for  the  black's  superflu- 
ous activity,  imputing  it  to  zeal  in  my  sister's  service  ;  but, 
in  the  end,  I  discovered  Grace  had  to  share  the  glory  with 
Chloe. 

No  sooner  was  everybody  on  board  than  we  cast  off.  The 
jib  was  soon  up  ;  and  under  this  short  sail  we  moved  slowly 
out  of  the  creek,  with  a  pleasant  southerly  breeze.  As  we 


44 8  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

passed  the  point,  there  stood  the  whole  household  arrayed 
in  a  line,  from  the  tottering  gray-headed  and  muddy-look- 
ing negro  of  seventy,  down  to  the  glistening,  jet-black  tod- 
dling things  of  two  and  three.  The  distance  was  so  small, 
it  was  easy  to  trace  even  the  expressions  of  the  different 
countenances,  which  varied  according  to  the  experience, 
forebodings,  and  characters  of  the  different  individuals. 
Notwithstanding  the  sort  of  reverential  attachment  all  felt 
for  "  Miss  Grace,"  and  the  uncertainty  some  among  these 
unsophisticated  creatures  must  have  experienced  on  the 
subject  of  her  health,  it  was  not  in  nature  for  such  a  clus- 
ter of  "  niggers  "  to  exhibit  unhappiness  at  a  moment  when 
there  were  so  many  grounds  of  excitement.  The  people 
of  this  race  know  nothing  of  the  word,  perhaps  ;  but  they 
delight  in  the  thing  quite  as  much  as  if  they  did  nothing 
but  electioneer  all  their  lives.  Most  pliant  instruments 
wrould  their  untutored  feelings  make  in  the  hands  of  your 
demagogue  ;  and,  possibly,  it  may  have  some  little  influ- 
ence on  the  white  American  to  understand  how  strong  is 
his  resemblance  to  the  "  nigger,"  when  he  gives  himself  up 
to  the  mastery  of  this  much  approved  mental  power.  The 
day  was  glorious  ;  a  brighter  sun  never  shining  in  Italy,  or 
on  the  Grecian  islands  ;  the  air  balmy,  the  vessel  was  gay 
to  the  eyes,  having  been  painted  about  a  month  before, 
and  every  one  seemed  bent  on  a  holiday  ;  circumstances 
sufficient  in  themselves  to  make  this  light-hearted  race 
smiling  and  happy.  As  the  sloop  went  slowly  past,  the 
whole  line  doffed  their  hats,  or  courtesied,  showing  at  the 
same  time  a  row  of  ivory  that  shone  like  so  many  gay  win- 
dows in  their  sable  faces.  I  could  see  that  Grace  was 
touched  by  this  manifestation  of  interest ;  such  a  field-day 
in  the  Clawbonny  corps  not  having  occurred  since  the  first 
time  my  mother  went  to  town,  after  the  death  of  my  father. 
Fortunately,  everything  else  was  soothing  to  my  sister's 
spirits  ;  and,  so  long  as  she  could  sit  on  the  deck,  holding 
Lucy's  hand,  and  enjoy  the  changing  landscape,  with  her 
brother  within  call,  it  was  not  possible  she  should  be  alto- 
gether without  happiness. 

Rounding  the  point  as  we  entered  the  river,  the  Walling- 
ford  eased-off  sheet,  set  a  studding-sail  and  flying-topsail 
and  began  to  breast  the  Hudson,  on  her  way  toward  its 
sources. 

In  1803,  the  celebrated  river  we  were  navigating,  though 
it  had  all  the  natural  features  it  possesses  to-day,  was  by 
no  means  the  same  picture  of  moving  life.  The  steamboat 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  449 

did  not  appear  on  its  surface  until  four  years  later  ;  and 
the  journeys  up  and  down  its  waters  were  frequently  a 
week  in  length.  In  that  day,  the  passenger  did  not  hurry 
on  board,  just  as  a  bell  was  disturbing  the  neighborhood, 
hustling  his  way  through  a  rude  throng  of  porters,  cartmen, 
orange-women,  and  news-boys,  to  save  his  distance,  by  just 
a  minute  and  a  half,  but  his  luggage  was  often  sent  to  the 
vessel  the  day  before  ;  he  passed  his  morning  in  saying 
adieu,  and  when  he  repaired  to  the  vessel,  it  was  with 
gentleman-like  leisure,  often  to  pass  hours  on  board 
previously  to  sailing,  and  not  unfrequently  to  hear  the 
unwelcome  tidings  that  this  event  was  deferred  until  the 
next  day.  How  different,  too,  was  the  passage  from  cne 
in  a  steamboat  !  There  was  no  jostling  of  each  other,  no 
scrambling  for  places  at  table,  no  bolting  of  food,  no  im- 
pertinence manifested,  no  swearing  about  missing  the 
eastern  or  southern  boats,  or  Schenectady,  or  Saratoga,  or 
Boston  trains,  on  account  of  a  screw  being  loose,  nor  any 
other  unseemly  manifestation  that  anybody  was  in  a  hurry. 
On  the  contrary,  wine  and  fruit  were  provided,  as  if  the 
travellers  intended  to  enjoy  themselves  ;  and  a  journey  in 
that  day  was  a  festa.  No  more  embarked  than  could  be 
accommodated  ;  and  the  company  being  selected,  the  cabin 
was  taken  to  the  exclusion  of  all  unwelcome  intruders. 
Now,  the  man  who  should  order  a  bottle  of  wine  to  be 
placed  at  the  side  of  his  plate,  would  be  stared  at  as  a  fool  ; 
and  not  without  reason  altogether,  for,  did  it  escape  the 
claws  of  his  convives  and  the  waiters,  he  would  probably 
reach  the  end  of  his  journey  before  he  could  drink  it. 

In  1803,  not  only  did  the  dinner  pass  in  peace,  and  with 
gentleman-like  deliberation  ;  not  only  were  the  cooler  and 
the  fruit  taken  on  deck,  and  the  one  sipped  and  the  other 
eaten  at  leisure  in  the  course  of  an  afternoon,  but  in  the 
course  of  many  afternoons.  Passages  were  certainly  made 
in  twenty-four  hours  in  the  sloops  ;  but  these  were  the 
exceptions,  a  week  being  much  more  likely  to  be  the  time 
passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the 
river.  The  vessel  usually  got  aground,  once  at  least,  and 
frequently  several  times  in  a  trip  ;  and  often  a  day,  or  two, 
were  thus  delightfully  lost,  giving  the  stranger  an  oppor- 
tunity of  visiting  the  surrounding  country.  The  necessity 
of  anchoring,  with  a  foul  wind,  on  every  opposing  tide,  too, 
increased  these  occasions,  thus  lending  to  the  excursion 
something  of  the  character  of  an  exploring  expedition. 
No — no — a  man  would  learn  more  in  one  passage,  up  or 
29 


450 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 


down  the  Hudson,  forty  years  since,  than  can  be  obtained 
by  a  dozen  at  the  present  time.  I  have  a  true  seaman's 
dislike  for  a  steamboat,  and  sometimes  wish  they 'were 
struck  out  of  existence  ;  though  I  know  it  is  contrary  to 
all  the  principles  of  political  economy,  and  opposed  to 
what  is  called  the  march  of  improvement.  Of  one  thing, 
however,  I  feel  quite  certain  :  that  these  inventions,  coupled 
with  the  gregarious  manner  of  living  that  has  sprung  up 
in  the  large  taverns,  is,  as  one  of  our  writers  expresses  it, 
"  doing  wonders  for  the  manners  of  the  people  ; "  though, 
in  my  view  of  the  matter,  the  wonder  is  that  they  have  any 
left 

There  might  have  been  thirty  sail  in  sight,  when  the 
Wallingford  got  fairly  into  the  river,  some  turning  down 
on  a  young  ebb,  making  their  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  in  six 
hours,  and  others,  like  ourselves,  stealing  along  against  it 
at  about  the  same  rate.  Half  a  dozen  of  these  craft  were 
quite 'near  us,  and  the  decks  of  most  of  those  which  were 
steering  north  had  parties,  including  ladies,  evidently  pro- 
ceeding to  the  "  Springs."  I  desired  Marble  to  sheer  as 
close  to  these  different  vessels  as  was  convenient,  having  no 
other  object  in  view  than  amusement,  and  fancying  it 
might  aid  in  diverting  the  thoughts  of  my  sister  from  her 
own  sorrows,  to  the  faces  and  concerns  of  others.  The 
reader  will  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  that  the 
Wallingford,  constructed  under  the  orders  of  an  old  sailor, 
and  for  his  own  uses,  was  a  fast  vessel.  In  this  particular 
she  had  but  one  or  two  competitors  on  the  river  ;  packets 
belonging  to  Hudson,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Sing  Sing.  She 
was  now  only  in  fair  ballast-trim,  and  being  admirably  pro- 
vided with  sails,  in  the  light  wind  we  had,  she  actually  went 
four  feet  to  most  of  the  other  vessels  in  sight's  three.  My 
request  to  Marble — or  order,  as  he  chose  to  call  it — was 
easily  enough  complied  with,  and  we  were  soon  coming  up 
close  in  the  quarter  of  a  sloop  that  had  its  decks  crowded 
with  passengers  who  evidently  belonged  to  the  better  class  ; 
while  on  its  forecastle  were  several  horses  and  a  carriage  ; 
customary  accompaniments  to  such  a  scene  in  that  day. 

I  had  not  been  so  happy  in  a  long  time  as  I  felt  at  that 
moment.  Grace  was  better,  as  I  fancied,  at  least,  and  it 
was  certain  that  she  was  more  composed  and  less  nervous 
than  I  had  seen  her  since  my  return  ;  and  this  of  itself  was 
removing  the  weight  of  a  mountain  from  my  heart.  There 
was  Lucy,  too,  her  rounded  cheek  rosy  with  the  pleasure 
of  the  moment,  full  of  health,  and  with  eyes  that  nevej 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  451 

turned  on  me  that  they  did  not  beam  with  confidence  and 
kindness — the  sincerest  friendship,  if  not  love — while  every 
look,  movement,  syllable,  or  gesture,  that  was  directed 
toward  Grace,  betrayed  how  strongly  the  hearts  of  these 
two  precious  creatures  were  still  knit  together  in  sisterly 
affection.  My  guardian,  too,  seemed  happier  than  he  had 
been  since  our  conversation  on  the  state  of  my  own  feel- 
ings toward  his  daughter.  He  had  made  a  condition,  that 
we  should  all — the  doctor  excepted — return  to  Clawbonny 
in  time  for  service  on  the  ensuing  Sunday,  and  he  was  then 
actually  engaged  in  looking  over  an  old  sermon  for  the 
occasion,  though  not  a  minute  passed  in  which  he  did  not 
drop  the  manuscript  to  gaze  about  him,  in  deep  enjoyment 
of  the  landscape.  The  scene,  moreover,  was  so  full  of  re- 
pose, that  even  the  movements  of  the  different  vessels 
scarce  changed  its  Sabbath-like  character.  I  repeat,  that 
I  had  not  felt  so  perfectly  happy  since  I  held  my  last  con- 
versation with  the  Salem  Witches,  in  the  Duomo  of  Fi- 
renze. 

Marble  was  excessively  delighted  with  the  behavior  of 
the  Wallingford.  The  latter  was  a  sloop  somewhat  smaller 
than  common,though  her  accommodations  were  particularly 
commodious,  while  she  was  sparred  on  the  scale  of  a  flyer. 
Her  greatest  advantage  in  the  way  of  sailing,  however, 
would  have  been  no  great  recommendation  to  heron  a  wind; 
for  she  was  nearly  start  light,  and  might  not  have  been 
able  to  carry  full  sail  in  hard  November  weather,  even  on 
the  Hudson — a  river  on  which  serious  accidents  have  been 
known  to  occur.  There  was  little  danger  in  midsummer, 
however  ;  and  we  went  gliding  up  on  the  quarter  of  the 
Gull  of  Troy,  without  feeling  concern  of  any  sort. 

"  What  sloop  is  that  ? "  demanded  the  skipper  of  the 
Gull,  as  our  boom-end  came  within  a  fathom  of  his  rail, 
our  name  being  out  of  his  view. 

"The  Wallingford  of  Clawbonny,  just  out  of  port,  bound 
upon  a  party  of  pleasure." 

Now,  Clawbonny  was  not  then,  nor  is  it  now,  what 
might  be  called  a  legal  term.  There  was  no  such  place 
known  in  law,  beyond  the  right  which  usage  gives  :  and  I 
heard  a  low  laugh  among  the  passengers  of  the  Gull,  as 
they  heard  the  homely  appellation.  This  came  from  the 
equivocal  position  my  family  occupied,  midway  between 
the  gentry  and  yeomanry  of  the  state,  as  they  both  ex- 
isted in  1803.  Had  I  said  the  sloop  came  from  near 
Co'ldenham,  it  would  have  been  all  right ;  for  everybody 


452  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

who  was  then  anybody  in  New  York,  knew  who  the 
Coldens  were  ;  or  Morrisania,  the  Morrises  being  people  of 
mark  ;  or  twenty  other  places  on  the  river ;  but  the  Wal- 
lingfords  were  as  little  known  as  Clawbonny,  when  you  got 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from  the  spot  where  they  had  so 
long  lived.  This  is  just  the  difference  between  obscurity 
and  notoriety.  When  the  latter  extends  to  an  entire  na- 
tion, it  gives  an  individual,  or  a  family,  the  note  that  frees 
them  entirely  from  the  imputation  of  existing  under  the 
first  condition  ;  and  this  note,  favorably  diffused  through 
Christendom,  forms  a  reputation — transmitted  to  posterity, 
it  becomes  fame.  Unfortunately,  neither  we  nor  our  place 
had  even  reached  the  first  simple  step  in  this  scale  of  re- 
nown ;  and  poor  Clawbonny  was  laughed  at,  on  account 
of  something  Dutch  that  was  probably  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  sound — the  Anglo-Saxon  race  having  a  singular  ap- 
titude to  turn  up  their  noses  at  everything  but  their  own 
possessions,  and  everybody  but  themselves.  I  looked  at 
Lucy,  with  sensitive  quickness,  to  see  how  she  received 
tins  sneer  on  my  birthplace  ;  but,  with  her,  it  was  so  much 
a  matter  of  course  to  think  wrell  of  everything  connected 
with  the  spot,  its  name  as  well  as  its  more  essential  things, 
that  I  do  not  believe  she  perceived  this  little  sign  of  de- 
rision. 

While  the  passengers  of  the  Gull  felt  this  disposition  to 
smile,  it  was  very  different  with  her  skipper,  his  Dutch 
pilot,  whose  name  was  Abrahamus  Van  Valtenberg,  but 
who  was  familiarly  known  as  'Brom  Folleck,  for  so  the 
children  of  New  Netherlands  twisted  their  cognomens  in 
converting  them  into  English  ;  *  the  black  cook,  the 
mulatto  steward,  anc?  the  "all  hands,"  who  were  one  man 
and  a  boy.  There  had  been  generations  of  sloops  which 
bore  the  name  of  Wallingford,  as  well  as  generations  of 
men,  at  Clawbonny;  and  this  every  river- man  knew.  In 
point  of  fact,  we  counted  four  generations  of  men,  and  six 
of  sloops.  Now,  none  of  these  vessels  was  worthy  of  being 
mentioned,  but  this  which  my  father  had  caused  to  be 
built  ;  but  she  had  a  reputation  that  extended  to  everbody 

*  A  story  is  told  of  a  Scotchman  of  the  name  of  Farquharson,  who 
settled  among  the  High  Dutch  on  the  Mohawk,  some  time  previously  to 
the  Revolution  ;  where,  unable  to  pronounce  his  name,  the  worthy  farmers 
called  him  Feuerstein  (pronounced  Firestyne).  The  son  lived  and  died 
under  this  appellation  ;  but  the  grandson,  removing  to  a  part  of  the  country 
where  English  alone  was  spoken,  chose  to  anglicize  his  name  ;  and,  by 
giving  it  a  free  translation,  became  Mr.  Flint  ! 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  453 

on  the  river.  The  effect  of  all  this  was  to  induce  the 
skipper  of  the  Gull  to  raise  his  hat,  and  to  say: 

"That,  then,  I  suppose,  is  Mr.  Wallingford  himself — you 
are  welcome  back  on  the  river ;  I  remember  the  time  well, 
when  your  respected  father  would  make  that  boat  do  any- 
thing but  talk.  Nothing  but  the  new  paint,  which  is  dif- 
ferent from  the  last,  prevented  me  from  knowing-the  sloop. 
Had  I  taken  a  look  at  her  bows,  this  couldn't  have  hap- 
pened." 

This  speech  evidently  gave  me  and  my  vessel  an  esti- 
mation with  the  passengers  of  the  Gull  that  neither  had 
enjoyed  the  moment  before.  There  was  some  private  con- 
versation on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  other  vessel,  and, 
then,  a  highly  respectable  and  gentleman-like  looking  old 
man,  came  to  the  rail,  bowed,  and  commenced  a  dis- 
course. 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Captain  Wallingford,  I 
believe,"  he  remarked,  "with  whom  my  friends,  the  Mer- 
tons,  came  passengers  from  China.  They  have  often  ex- 
pressed their  sense  of  your  civilities,"  he  continued,  as  I 
bowed  in  acquiescence,  "and  declare  they  should  ever  wish 
to  sail  with  you,  were  they  again  compelled  to  go  to  sea.' 

Now,  this  was  viewing  my  relation  to  the  Mertons  in  any 
point  of  view  but  that  in  which  I  wished  it  to  be  viewed, 
or  indeed  was  just.  Still  it  was  natural  ;  and  the  gentle- 
man who  spoke,  a  man  of  standing  and  character,  no  doubt 
fancied  he  was  saying  that  which  must  prove  particularly 
acceptable  to  me  ;  another  proof  of  how  dangerous  it  is  to  at- 
tempt to  decide  on  other  men's  feelings  or  affairs.  I  could 
not  decline  the  discourse  ;  and,  while  the  Wallingford 
went  slowly  past  the  Gull,  I  was  compelled  to  endure  the 
torment  of  hearing  the  Mertons  mentioned,  again  and 
again,  in  the  hearing  of  Lucy  and  Grace  ;  on  the  nerves  of 
the  latter  of  whom  I  knew  it  must  be  a  severe  trial.  At 
length  we  got  rid  of  this  troublesome  neighbor,  though  not 
until  Lucy  and  her  father  were  recognized,  and  spoken  to 
by  several  of  the  ladies  in  the  other  party.  While  my  late 
guardian  and  his  daughter  were  thus  e'ngaged,  I  stole  a 
glance  at  my  sister.  She  was  pale  as  death,  and  seemed 
anxious  to  go  below,  whither  I  led  her,  most  happily,  I 
have  every  reason  to  think,  as  things  turned  out. 

When  the  Wallingford  had  left  the  Gull  some  little  dis- 
tance astern,  I  returned  to  the  deck,  and  Lucy  went  to 
take  my  place  by  the  side  of  Grace's  berth.  She  reap- 
peared, however,  in  a  very  few  minutes,  saying  that  my 


454  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

sister  felt  an  inclination  to  rest  herself,  and  might  fall 
asleep.  Feeble,  almost,  as  an  infant,  these  frequent  slum- 
bers had  become  necessary,  in  a  measure,  to  the  patient's 
powers.  Chloe  coming  up  soon  after  with  a  report  that 
her  young  mistress  seemed  to  be  in  a  doze,  we  all  remained 
on  deck,  in  order  not  to  disturb  her.  In  this  manner,  half 
an  hour  passed,  and  we  had  drawn  quite  near  to  another 
sloop  that  was  going  in  the  same  direction  with  ourselves. 
At  this  moment,  Mr.  Hardinge  was  deeply  immersed  in  his 
sermon,  and  I  perceived  that  Lucy  looked  at  him,  from 
time  to  time,  as  if  she  expected  to  catch  his  eye.  I  fancied 
something  distressed  her,  and  yet  it  was  not  easy  to  imagine 
exactly  what  it  could  be. 

"  Do  you  not  intend  to  go  nearer  the  other  sloop  ? " 
Lucy  at  length  inquired,  alluding  to  the  vessel  that  was 
almost  in  a  line  with  us  ;  but  to  which  I  had  ordered  Neb 
to  give  a  respectable  berth. 

"  I  thought  the  gossip  of  the  last  quite  sufficient ;  but, 
if  you  like  these  interviews,  certainly." 

Lucy  seemed  embarrassed  ;  she  colored  to  her  temples, 
paused  a  moment,  and  then  added,  affecting  to  laugh — 
and  it  was  so  seldom  Lucy  affected  anything,  but  this  time 
she  did  affect  to  laugh — as  she  said  : 

"  I  do  wish  to  go  near  that  sloop,  though  it  is  not  exactly 
for  the  reason  you  suppose." 

I  could  see  she  was  distressed,  though  it  was  not  yet 
easy  to  imagine  the  cause.  Lucy's  requests  were  laws  to 
me,  and  Neb  was  ordered  to  sheer  down  on  the  quarter  of 
this  second  sloop,  as  we  had  done  on  that  of  the  first.  As 
we  drew  near  her,  her  stern  told  us  that  she  was  called  the 
"  Orpheus  of  Sing  Sing,"  a  combination  of  names  that 
proved  some  wag  had  been  connected  with  the  christening. 
Her  decks  had  also  a  party  of  both  sexes  on  them,  though 
neither  carriage  nor  horses.  All  this  time,  Lucy  stood 
quite  near  me,  as  if  reluctant  to  move,  and  when 'we  were 
sufficiently  near  the  sloop,  she  pressed  still  nearer  to  my 
side,  in  the  way  in  which  her  sex  are  apt  to  appeal  to  those 
of  the  other  who  possess  their  confidence,  when  most  feel- 
ing the  necessity  of  support. 

"  Now,  Miles,"  she  said  in  an  undertone,  "you  must 
'speak  that  sloop"  as  you  call  it  ;  I  can  never  hold  a  loud 
conversation  of  this  sort  in  the  presence  of  so  many 
strangers." 

"  Very  willingly,  Lucy-  though  you  will  have  the  good- 
ness to  let  me  know  exactly  what  I  am  to  say." 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  455 

"  Certainly  ;  begin,  then,  in  your  sailor  fashion,  and 
when  that  is  done,  I  will  tell  you  what  to  add." 

"  Enough.  Orpheus,  there  !  "  I  called  out,  just  raising 
my  voice  sufficiently  to  be  heard. 

"  Ay,  ay  ;  what's  wanted  ?  "  answered  the  skipper,  taking 
a  pipe  from  his  mouth,  as  he  leaned  with  his  back  against 
his  own  tiller,  in  a  way  that  was  just  in  accordance  with 
the  sleepy  character  of  the  scene. 

I  looked  at  Lucy,  as  much  as  to  say,  "What  next  ?" 

"  Ask  him  if  Mrs.  Drewett  is  on  board  his  sloop — Mrs. 
Andrew  Drewett,  not  Mr. — the  old  lady,  I  mean,"  added 
the  dear  girl,  blushing  to  the  eyes. 

I  was  so  confounded — I  might  almost  add  appalled — 
that  it  was  with  great  difficulty  I  suppressed  an  exclama- 
tion. Command  myself  I  did,  however,  and  observing  that 
the  skipper  was  curiously  awaiting  my  next  question,  I 
put  it  : 

"  Is  Mrs.  Andrew  Drewett  among  your  passengers,  sir  ?  " 
I  inquired,  with  a  cold  distinctness. 

My  neighbor  nodded  his  head,  and  spoke  to  some  of  his 
passengers,  most  of  whom  were  on  the  main  deck,  seated 
on  chairs,  and  concealed  from  us,  as  yet,  by  the  Walling- 
ford's  mainsail,  her  boom  being  guyed  out  on  the  side  next 
the  Orpheus,  with  its  end  just  clear  of  her  quarter. 

"  She  is,  and  wishes  to  know  who  makes  the  inquiry  ? " 
returned  the  Sing  Sing  skipper,  in  the  sing-song  manner 
in  which  ordinary  folk  repeat  what  is  dictated. 

"  Say  that  Miss  Hardinge  has  a  message  to  Mrs.  Drewett 
from  Mrs.  Ogilvie,  who  is  on  board  that  other  sloop," 
added  Lucy,  in  a  low,  and,  as  I  thought,  tremulous  tone. 

I  was  nearly  choked;  but  made  out  to  communicate 
the  fact  as  directed.  In  an  instant  I  heard  the  foot  of  one 
who  leaped  on  the  Orpheus'  quarter-deck,  and  then  An- 
drew Drewett  appeared,  hat  in  hand,  a  face  all  smiles,  eyes 
that  told  his  tale  as  plain  as  any  tongue  could  have  uttered 
it,  and  such  salutations  as  denoted  the  most  perfect  inti- 
macy. Lucy  took  my  arm  involuntarily,  and  I  could  feel 
that  she  trembled.  The  two  vessels  were  now  so  near,  and 
everything  around  us  was  so  tranquil,  that  by  Lucy's  ad- 
vancing to  the  Wallingford's  quarter-deck,  and  Drewett's 
coming  to  the  taflfrailof  the  Orpheus,  it.  was  easy  to  converse 
without  any  unseemly  raising  of  the  voice.  All  that  had 
been  said  between  me  and  the  skipper,  indeed,  had  been 
said  on  a  key  but  little  higher  than  common.  By  the 
change  in  Lucy's  position  I  could  no  longer  see  her  face ; 


456  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

but  I  knew  it  was  suffused,  and  that  she  was  far  from  being 
as  composed  and  collected  as  was  usual  with  her  demeanor. 
All  this  was  death  to  my  recent  happiness,  though  I  could 
not  abstain  from  watching  what  now  passed,  with  the  vigi- 
lance of  jealousy. 

"  Good  morning,"  Lucy  commenced,  and  the  words 
were  uttered  in  a  tone  that  I  thought  bespoke  great  fa- 
miliarity, if  not  confidence  ;  "will  you  have  the  goodness 
to  tell  your  mother  that  Mrs.  Ogilvie  begs  she  will  not 
leave  Albany  until  her  arrival  ?  The  other  sloop,  Mrs. 
Ogilvie  thinks,  cannot  be  more  than  an  hour  or  two  after 
you,  and  she  is  very  desirous  of  making  a  common  party 
to — ah !  there  comes  Mrs.  Drewett,"  said  Lucy,  hastily  in- 
terrupting herself,  "and  I  can  deliver  my  message  myself." 

Mrs.  Drewett,  coming  aft  at  this  instant,  Lucy  certainly 
did  turn  to  her,  and  communicated  a  message  which  it 
seems  the^lady  in  the  Gull  had  earnestly  requested  her  to 
deliver  in  passing. 

"  And  now,"  returned  Mrs.  Drewett,  when  Lucy  had 
ceased,  first  civilly  saluting  me,  "  and  now,  my  dear  Lucy, 
we  have  something  for  you.  So  sudden  was  your  depart- 
ure, on  the  receipt  of  that  naughty  letter " — my  letter, 
summoning  the  dear  girl  to  the  bedside  of  her  friend,  was 
meant — "that  you  left  your  work-box  behind  you,  and  as 
I  knew  that  it  contained  many  notes  besides  bank-notes,  i 
would  not  allow  it  to  be  separated  from  me  until  we  met 
Here  it  is  ;  in  what  manner  shall  we  contrive  to  get  it  into 
your  hands  ?" 

Lucy  started,  and  I  could  see  that  she  both  felt  and 
looked  anxious.  As  I  afterward  learned,  she  had  been 
passing  a  day  at  Mrs.  Drevvett's  villa,  which  joined  her 
own,  both  standing  on  the  rocks  quite  near  to  that  spot 
which  a  mawkish  set  among  us  is  trying  to  twist  from 
plain,  homely,  up-and-down,  old-fashioned  Hell-Gate  into 
the  exquisite  and  lackadaisical  corruption  of  /ft/rAGate — 
Heaven  save  the  mark  !  What  puny  piece  of  folly  and 
affectation  will  they  attempt  next  ?  But  Lucy  was  paying 
this  visit  when  she  received  my  letter,  and  it  appears  such 
was  her  haste  to  get  to  Grace,  that  she  quitted  the  house 
immediately,  leaving  behind  her  a  small  work-box  unlocked, 
and  in  it  various  papers  that  she  did  not  wish  read.  Of 
course  one  of  Lucy's  sentiments  and  tone  could  hardly  sus- 
pect a  lady,  and  Mrs.  Drewett  was  strictly  that,  of  rummag- 
ing her  box  or  of  reading  her  notes  and  letters  ;  but  one  is 
never  easy  when  such  things  can  be  supposed  to  be  in  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  457 

way  of  impertinent  eyes.  There  are  maids  as  well  as  mis- 
tresses, and  I  could  see  in  a  moment  that  she  wished  the 
box  was  again  in  her  own  possession.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, therefore,  I  felt  it  time  to  interfere. 

".If  .your  sloop  will  round-to,  Mr.  Drewett,"  I  remarked, 
receiving  a  cold  salutation  from  the  gentleman,  in  return 
for  my  own  bow,  the  first  sign  of  recognition  that  had 
passed  between  us,  "  I  will  round-to,  myself,  and  send  a 
boat  for  the  box." 

This  proposal  drew  all  eyes  toward  the  skipper,  who  was 
still  leaning  against  his  tiller,  smoking  for  life  or  death. 
It  was  not  favorably  received,  extorting  a  grunt  in  reply, 
that  any  one  could  understand  denoted  dissent.  The  pipe 
was  slo'wly  removed,  and  the  private  opinion  of  this  per- 
sonage was  pretty  openly  expressed,  in  his  Dutchified 
dialect. 

"  If  a  body  coult  get  a  wint  for  der  ask  in' ;  dis  might 
do  very  well,"  he  said  ;  "  but  nobody  rounts-to  mit  a  fair 
wint." 

I  have  always  remarked  that  they  who  have  used  a  dia- 
lect different  from  the  common  forms  of  speech  in  their 
youth,  and  come  afterward  to  correct  it,  by  intercourse 
with  the  world,  usually  fall  back  into  their  early  infirmities 
in  moments  of  trial,  perplexity,  or  anger.  This  is  easily 
explained.  Habit  has  become  a  sort  ©f  nature,  in  their 
childhood,  and  it  is  when  most  tried  that  we  are  the  most 
natural.  Then,  this  skipper,  an  Albany — or  Alfo/my  man, 
as  he  would  probably  have  styled  himself,  had  got  down 
the  river  as  far  as  Sing  Sing,  and  had  acquired  a  tolerable 
English  ;  but,  being  now  disturbed,  he  fell  back  upon  his 
original  mode  of  speaking,  the  certain  proof  that  he  would 
nevergivein.  I  sawat  once  the  hopelessness  of  attempting 
to  persuade  one  of  his  school,  and  had  begun  to  devise 
some  other  scheme  for  getting  the  box  on  board,  when  to 
my  surprise,  and  not  a  little  to  my  concern,  I  saw  Andrew 
Drewett,  first  taking  the  box  from  his  mother,  step  upon 
the  end  of  our  main-boom,  and  move  along  the  spar  with 
the  evident  intention  to  walk  as  far  as  our  deck  and  de- 
liver Lucy  her  property  with  his  own  hands.  The  whole 
thing  occurred  so  suddenly,  that  there  was  no  time  for 
remonstrance.  Young  gentlemen  who  are  thoroughly  in 
love,  are  not  often  discreet  in  matters  connected  with  their 
devotion  to  their  mistresses.  I  presume  Drewett  saw  the 
boom  placed  so  favorably  as  to  tempt  him,  and  he  fancied 
it  would  be  a  thing  to  mention  to  carry  a  lady  her  work- 


458  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

box  across  a  bridge  that  was  of  so  precarious  a  footing. 
Had  the  spar  lain  on  the  ground,  it  would  certainly  have 
been  no  exploit  at  all  for  any  young  man  to  walk  its 
length,  carrying  his  arm-full  of  work-boxes  ;  but  it  was  a, 
very  different  matter  when  the  same  feat  had  to  be  per- 
formed on  a  sloop's  boom  in  its  place,  suspended  over  the 
water,  with  the  sail  set,  and  the  vessel  in  motion.  This 
Drewett  soon  discovered,  for,  advancing  a  step  or  two,  he 
grasped  the  topping-lift,  which  luckily  for  him  happened 
to  be  taut,  for  a  support.  All  this  occurred  before  there 
was  time  for  remonstrance,  or  even  for  thought.  At  the 
same  instant  Neb,  in  obedience  to  a  sign  previously  given 
by  me,  had  put  the  helm  down  a  little,  and  the  boom-end 
was  already  twenty  feet  from  the  quarter-deck  of  the 
Orpheus. 

Of  course,  all  the  women  screamed,  or  exclaimed,  on 
some  key  or  other.  Poor  Mrs.  Drewett  hid  her  face,  and 
began  to  moan  her  son  as  lost.  I  did  not  dare  look  at 
Lucy,  who  remained  quiet  as  to  voice,  after  the  first  invol- 
untary exclamation,  and  as  immovable  as  a  statue.  Luckily 
her  face  was  from  me.  As  Drewett  was  evidently  discom- 
posed, I  thought  it  best,  however,  to  devise  something  not 
only  for  his  relief,  but  for  that  of  Lucy's  box,  which  was 
in  quite  as  much  jeopardy  as  the  young  man,  himself; 
more  so,  indeed,  If  the  latter  could  swim.  I  was  on  the 
point  of  calling  out  to  Drewett  to  hold  on,  and  I  would 
cause  the  boom-end  to  reach  over  the  Orpheus'  main-deck, 
after  which  he  might  easily  drop  down  among  his  friends, 
when  Neb,  finding  some  one  to  take  the  helm,  suddenly 
stood  at  my  side. 

"  He  drop  that  box,  sartain,  Masser  Mile,"  half  whispered 
the  negro  ;  "  he  leg  begin  to  shake  already,  and  he  won'er- 
ful  skear'd  !  " 

"  I  would  not  have  that  happen  for  a  good  deal.  Can 
you  save  it,  Neb  ? " 

"  Sartain,  sir.  Only  hab  to  run  out  on  e'  boom  and 
bring  it  in,  and  gib  it  Miss  Lucy  ;  she  mighty  partic'lar 
about  dat  werry  box,  Masser  Mile,  as  I  see  a  hundred  time, 
and  more  too." 

"  Well,  lay  out,  boy,  and  bring  it  in,  and  look  to  your 
footing,  Neb." 

This  was  all  Neb  wanted.  The  fellow  had  feet  shaped 
a  good  deal  like  any  other  aquatic  bird,  with  the  essential 
difference,  however,  that  no  small  part  of  his  foundation 
had  been  laid  abaft  the  perpendicular  of  the  tendon  Achil- 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  459 

ies,  and  being  without  shoes,  he  could  nearly  encircle  a 
small  spar  in  his  grasp.  Often  and  often  had  I  seen  Neb 
run  out  on  a  topsail-yard,  the  ship  pitching  heavily,  catch- 
ing at  the  lift,  and  it  was  a  mere  trifle  after  that  to  run  out 
on  a  spar  as  large  as  the  Wallingford's  main-boom.  A  tol- 
erably distinctive  scream  from  Chloe  first  apprised  me 
that  the  negro  was  in  motion.  Looking  in  that  direction, 
I  saw  him  walking  steadily  along  the  boom,  notwithstand- 
ing Drewett's  loud  remonstrances  and  declarations  that  he 
wanted  no  assistance,  until  he  reached  the  spot  where  the 
young  gentleman  stood  grasping  the  lift,  with  his  legs  sub- 
mitting to  more  tremor  than  was  convenient.  Neb  now 
grinned,  looked  as  amiable  as  possible,  held  out  his  hand, 
and  revealed  the  object  of  his  visit. 

"  Masser  Mile  t'ink  'e  gentleum  better  gib  me  Miss  Lucy 
box,"  said  Neb,  as  politely  as  he  knew  how. 

I  believe  in  my  soul  that  Drewett  could  have  kissed  Neb, 
so  glad  was  he  to  obtain  this  little  relief.  The  box  was 
yielded  without  the  slightest  objection,  Neb  receiving  it 
with  a  bow,  after  which  the  negro  turned  round  as  coolly 
as  if  he  were  on  the  deck,  and  walked  deliberately  and 
steadily  in  to  the  mast.  He  stopped  an  instant  just  at  the 
small  of  the  spar,  to  look  back  at  Drewett,  who  was  saying 
something  to  pacify  his  mother,  and  I  observed  that,  as  he 
stood  with  his  heels  in  a  line,  the  toes  nearly  met  under- 
neath the  boorn,  which  his  feet  grasped  something  in  the 
manner  of  talons.  A  deep  sigh  reached  my  ear  as  Neb 
bounded  lightly  on  deck,  and  I  knew  whence  it  came  by 
the  exclamation  of  "  De/>/-ler  !  " 

As  for  Neb,  he  advanced  with  his  prize,  which  he  of- 
fered to  Lucy  with  one  of  his  best  bows,  but  in  a  way  to 
show  he  was  not  conscious  of  having  performed  any  un- 
usual exploit.  Lucy  handed  the  box  to  Chloe,  without 
averting  her  eyes  from  Drewett,  in  whose  situation  she 
manifested  a  good  deal  more  concern  than  I  liked,  or  fan- 
cied he  deserved. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Drewett,"  she  said,  affecting  to  think 
the  box  had  been  recovered  altogether  by  his  address  ; 
"  it  is  now  safe,  and  there  is  no  longer  any  necessity  for 
your  coming  here.  Let  Mr.  Wallingford  do  what  he  says  " 
— I  had  mentioned,  in  a  low  voice,  the  practicability  of  my 
own  scheme — "  and  return  to  your  own  sloop." 

But  two  things  now  interposed  to  the  execution  of  this 
very  simple  expedient.  The  first  was  Drewett's  pride, 
blended  with  a  little  obstinacy,  and  the  other  was  the 


460  AFLOAT  AND  ASPfORE. 

"Altonny"  skipper's  pride,  blended  with  a  good  deal  oi 
obstinacy.  The  first  did  not  like  to  retreat,  after  Neb  had 
so  clearly  demonstrated  it  was  no  great  matter  to  walk  on 
the  boom,  and  the  latter,  soured  by  the  manner  in  which 
we  had  outsailed  him,  and  fancying  Andrew  had  deserted 
to  get  on  board  a  faster  vessel,  resented  the  whole  by 
sheering  away  from  us  to  the  distance  of  a  hundred  yards. 
I  saw  that  there  remained  but  a  single  expedient,  and  set 
about  adopting  it  without  further  delay. 

"Take  good  hold' of  the  lift,  Mr.  Drewett,  and  steady 
yourself  with  both  hands  ;  ease  away  the  peak  halyards  to 
tauten  that  lift  a  little  more  forward.  Now,  one  of  you 
stand  by  to  ease  off  the  guy  handsomely,  and  the  rest  come 
aft  to  the  main-sheet.  Look  out  for  yourself,  Mr.  Drew- 
ett, we  are  about  to  haul  in  the  boom,  when  it  will  be  a 
small  matter  to  get  you  in  upon  the  taffrail.  Stand  by  to 
luff  handsomely,  so  as  to  keep  the  boom  as  steady  as  pos- 
sible." 

But  Drewett  clamorously  protested  against  our  doing 
anything  of  the  sort.  He  was  getting  used  to  his  situa- 
tion, and  intended  to  come  in  Neb-fashion  in  a  minute 
more.  All  he  asked  was  not  to  be  hurried. 

"  No — no — touch  nothing,  I  entreat  of  you,  Captain  Wai- 
lingford" — he  said  earnestly.  "If  that  black  can  do  it, 
surely  I  ought  to  do  it,  too." 

"  But  the  black  has  claws,  and  you  have  none,  sir  ;  then 
he  is  a  sailor,  and  used  to  such  things,  and  you  are  none, 
sir.  Moreover,  he  was  barefooted,  while  you  have  got  on 
stiff,  and,  I  dare  say,  slippery  boots." 

"  Yes,  the  boots  are  an  incumbrance.  If  I  could  only 
throw  them  off,  I  should  do  well  enough.  As  it  is,  how- 
ever, I  hope  to  have  the  honor  of  shaking  you  by  the  hand, 
Miss  Hardinge,  without  the  disgrace  of  being  helped." 

Mr.  Hardinge  here  expostulated,  but  all  in  vain  ;  for  I 
saw  plainly  enough  Drewett  was  highly  excited,  and  that 
he  was  preparing  for  a  start.  These  signs  were  now  so  ap- 
parent that  all  of  us  united  our  voices  in  remonstrances  ; 
and  Lucy  said  imploringly  to  me,  "Do  not  let  him  move. 
Miles — I  have  heard  him  say  he  cannot  swim." 

It  was  too  late.  Pride,  mortified  vanity,  obstinacy,  love, 
or  what  you  will,  rendered  the  young  man  deaf,  and  away 
he  went,  abandoning  the  lift,  his  sole  protection.  I  saw, 
the  moment  he  quitted  his  grasp,  that  he  would  never 
reach  the  mast,  and  made  my  arrangements  accordingly. 
I  called  to  Marble  to  stand  by  the  luff ;  and,  just  as  the 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  461 

words  passed  my  lips,  a  souse  into  the  water  told  the  whole 
story.  The  first  glance  at  poor  Drewett's  frantic  manner 
of  struggling  told  me  that  Lucy  was  really  aware  of  his 
habits,  and  that  he  could  not  swim.  I  was  in  light  duck, 
jacket  and  trousers,  with  seaman's  pumps  ;  and  placing  a 
foot  on  the  rail,  I  alighted  alongside  of  the  drowning 
young  man,  just  as  he  went  under.  Well  assured  he  would 
reappear,  I  waited  for  that,  and  presently  I  got  a  view  of 
his  hair,  within  reach  of  my  arm,  and  I  grasped  it,  in  a 
way  to  turn  him  on  his  back,  and  bring  his  face  upper- 
most. At  this  moment  the  sloop  was  gliding  away  from 
us,  Marble  having  instantly  put  the  helm  hard  down,  in 
order  to  round-to.  As  I  afterward  learned,  the  state  of 
the  case  was  no  sooner  understood  in  the  other  sloop, 
than  the  A.Lfo/my  men  gave  in,  and  imitated  the  Walling- 
ford. 

There  was  no  time  for  reflection.  As  soon  as  Drewett's 
hair  was  in  my  grasp,  I  raised  his  head  from  the  water,  by 
an  effort  that  forced  me  under  it,  to  let  him  catch  his 
breath  ;  and  then  relaxed  the  power  by  which  it  had  been 
done,  to  come  up  myself.  I  had  done  this  to  give  him  a 
moment  to  recover  his  recollection,  in  the  hope  he  would 
act  reasonably  ;  and  I  now  desired  him  to  lay  his  two  hands 
on  my  shoulders,  permit  his  body  to  sink  as  low  as  possible 
and  breathe,  and  trust  the  rest  to  me.  If  the  person  in 
danger  can  be  made  to  do  this,  an  ordinarily  good  swim- 
mer could  tow  him  a  mile,  without  any  unusual  effort. 
But  the  breathing  spell  afforded  to  Drewett  had  the  effect 
just  to  give  him  strength  to  struggle  madly  for  existence, 
without  aiding  his  reason.  On  the  land,  he  would  have 
been  nothing  in  my  hands ;  but,  in  the  water,  the  merest 
boy  may  become  formidable.  God  forgive  me,  if  I  do  him 
injustice  !  but  I  have  sometimes  thought,  since,  that  Drew- 
ett was  perfectly  conscious  who  I  was,  and  that  he  gave 
some  vent  to  his  jealous  distrust  of  Lucy's  feelings  toward 
me.  This  may  be  all  imagination  ;  but  I  certainly  heard 
the  words,  "Lucy,"  "  Wallingford,"  "  Clawbonny,"  "hate- 
ful," muttered  by  the  man,  even  as  he  struggled  there  for 
life.  The  advantage  given  him  by  turning  to  allow  him  to 
put  his  hands  on  my  shoulders,  liked  to  have  cost  me  dear. 
Instead  of  doing  as  I  directed,  he  grasped  my  neck  with 
both  arms,  and  seemed  to  wish  to  mount  on  my  head, 
forcing  his  own  shoulders  quite  out  of  water,  and  mine, 
by  that  much  weight,  beneath  it.  It  was  while  we  were 
thus  placed,  his  mouth  within  an  inch  or  two  of  my  very 


462  AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE. 

ear,  that  I  heard  the  words  muttered  which  have  been 
mentioned.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  he  was  tin 
conscious  of  that  which  terror  and  despair  extorted  from 
him. 

I  saw  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  my  efforts  became 
desperate.  I  first  endeavored  to  swim  with  this  great  in- 
cumbrance  ;  but  it  was  useless.  The  strength  of  Hercules 
could  not  long  have  buoyed  up  the  under  body  of  such  a 
load  sufficiently  to  raise  the  nostrils  for  breath  ;  and  the 
convulsive  twitches  of  Drewett's  arms  were  near  strangling 
me.  I  must  throw  him  off,  or  drown.  Abandoning  the 
attempt  to  swim,  I  seized  his  hands  with  mine,  and  en- 
deavored to  loosen  his  grasp  of  my  neck.  Of  course  we 
both  sunk  while  I  was  thus  engaged  ;  for  it  was  impossible 
to  keep  my  head  above  water,  by  means  of  my  feet  alone, 
with  a  man  of  some  size  riding,  from  the  shoulders  up, 
above  the  level  of  my  chin. 

I  can  scarcely  describe  what  followed.  I  confess  I 
thought  no  longer  of  saving  Drewett's  life,  but  only  of 
saving  my  own.  We  struggled  there  in  the  water  like  the 
fiercest  enemies,  each  aiming  for  the  mastery,  as,  if  one 
were  to  live,  the  other  must  die.  We  sunk  and  rose  to  the 
surface  for  air,  solely  by  my  efforts,  no  less  than  three 
times  ;  Drewett  getting  the  largest  benefits  by  the  latter, 
thus  renewing  his  strength  ;  while  mine,  great  as  itivas  by 
nature,  began  gradually  to  fail.  A  struggle  so  terrific 
could  not  last  long.  We  sunk  a  fourth  time,  and  I  felt  it 
was  not  to  rise  again,  when  relief  came  from  an  unexpect- 
ed quarter.  From  boyhood,  my  father  had  taught  me  the 
important  lesson  of  keeping  my  eyes  open  under  water. 
By  means  of  this  practice,  I  not  only  /<?//,  but  saw  the  nat- 
ure of  the  tremendous  struggle  that  was  going  on.  It  also 
gave  me  a  slight  advantage  over  Drewett,  who  closed  his 
eyes,  by  enabling  me  to  see  how  to  direct  my  own  exer- 
tions. While  sinking,  as  I  believed,  for  the  last  time.  I  saw 
a  large  object  approaching  me  in  the  water,  which,  in  the 
confusion  of  the  moment,  I  took  for  a  shark,  though 
sharks  never  ascended  the  Hudson  so  high,  and  were  even 
rare  at  New  York.  There  it  was,  however,  swimming  to- 
ward us,  and  even  descending  lower,  as  if  to  pass  beneath, 
in  readiness  for  the  fatal  snap.  Beneath  it  did  pass,  and  i 
felt  it  pressing  upward,  raising  Drewett  and  myself  to  the 
surface.  As  I  got  a  glimpse  of  the  light,  and  a  delicious 
draft  of  air,  Drewett  was  drawn  from  my  neck  by  Marble, 
whose  encouraging  voice  sounded  like  music  in  my  ears 


AFLOAT  AND  ASHORE.  463 

At  the  next  instant  my  shark  emerged,  puffing  like  a  por- 
poise ;  and  then  I  heard  : 

"  Hole  on,  Masser  Mile — here  he  nigger  close  by  ! " 
I  was  dragged  into  the  boat,  I  scarce  know  how,  and  lay 
down  completely  exhausted  ;  while  my  late  companion 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  lifeless  corpse.  In  a  moment,  Neb, 
dripping  like  a  black  river-god,  and  glistening  like  a  wet 
bottle,  placed  himself  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  took  my 
head  into  his  lap,  and  began  to  squeeze  the  water  from  my 
hair,  and  to  dry  my  face  with  some  one's  handkerchief — I 
trust  it  was  not  his  own. 

"Pull  away,  lads,  for  the  sloop,"  said  Marble,  as  soon  as 
everybody  was  out  of  the  river.  "  This  gentleman  seems 
to  have  put  on  the  hatches  for  the  last  time — as  for  Miles, 
ke'll  never  drown  in  fresh  water." 


THE  KNDi 


NRLF 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


RETURNED 


JUH  1  3  2000 


12,000(11/95) 


